Hi-

I live in South Georgia and we have a bad problem with Mole Crickets and My good friend who lives in Abilene, TX told me you could probably help me with my problem. I have used Diazonal and Seven over the years and they do not seem to affect mole crickets. Is there some kind of organic item I can use to get rid of them? In case you don't know what a mole cricket is, it lookes like a cricket, but its bigger and uglier and they live under the ground and eat the roots of your grass. They make little tunnels in the ground.

Thanks,
Nina
bramsmema@hotmail.com

Assuming chickens are out of the question, you can encourage other birds to your yard that will help. Install bird baths, bird feeders, and bird houses on your property.

Once you go organic and get the chemicals purged from your soil, you will have a "sudden" return of lizards, geckos, toads, and birds. These predators will keep the insects in check. While you're stopping the use of insecticide, you should stop the use of herbicide, too. And if you have paper wasps on your property, cheer them on. They are very social beasts and are extremely important to the health of your garden.

Since you have been using chemical insecticides for years, I would suggest you start your organic life with 1 cubic yard of excellent compost per 1,000 square feet. This is hardly anything at all but will start you off. At the same time, apply 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet of an organic fertilizer. I like corn meal, alfalfa, coffee grounds, milo, and soy meals because I can get them really cheap at the feed store (except coffee which come free at Starbucks).

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David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum

For immediate help, besides the general organic program that David explained, see my post about 2/3 down the page here:

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/forum/viewtop ... 1d97#11192

You might have to mail order the nematodes, and there are plenty of places that provide them. From the Florida references I've seen, they must be fairly available there. One Cal. supplier's link I happen to have handy is: http://www.naturescontrol.com/thrip.html#pn (about halfway down the page). They don't mention mole crickets explicitly, but any mix containing the scapterisci species should work. For information on this forum about how to apply them, search for "nematodes" using the search function at the top of the page.

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In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they aren't -- lament of the synthetic lifestyle.

Although you may have a sudden appearance of beneficials, you will also have a sudden boom in the growth of destructive bug populations when you make the transition from pesticide use to organic, so don't panic and decide that it doesn't work. It does work, but it will take at least a couple of years or more to achieve some kind of balance if you switch to organic gardening. I just wanted you to know that the change will take some effort and a great deal of patience on your part. Hope you get this problem resolved.

I would like to introduce you to a possible solution with the crickets. We have a silica based 100% natural product that is a water retention mineral. This mineral is made up of Fresh water diatoms and volcanic ash. The diatoms are silica based, and the crickets can eat the mineral, and it can cause them to bleed to death while ingesting it.

Sounds horrible, but seems to work effectivly. If you would like to try some, there is a warehouse in your area you can get a bag or 2 and try it out.
They have done some studies, but Im not sure what the outcome was if the study got completed.

My website is located at http://water-it-less.com and my email is stan@twinportswaterlok.com

You may phone me toll free at 800-601-3498

I will help find a warehouse in your area, and if it isnt within driving distance, we can get it shipped to you. We also have smaller Plant Paks,
http://twinportswaterlok.com/water-it-less.html if you want to gather some crickets and try a 1.5 lb sample for about 15.00

Stan

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Stan R Miller