Welcome to Randy Lemmon's "KPRC TALKRADIO Gardenline" Tip of the Week Text-Only Edition Date- April 04, 2002 Issue #16 http://kprcradio.com By Subscription Only! You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => New Fire Ant And Termite Controls The big picture... ------------------------------------------------------------ Gardenline Tip of the Week - Randy Lemmon ------------------------------------------------------------ Despite the colder-than-normal winter and early March, don't be fooled into thinking that many of our bug/pest problems have disappeared. Fire Ants, Fleas and Termites have all been pretty much been "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" lately. But with the spring rains, they will come roaring back. To get you battle ready for some of these pest problems, today I want to focus on new technology for Fire Ants and for Termites. Plus, just this past weekend on the radio program, I got calls regarding termite swarming season and an obvious resurgence of fire ant mounds. Let's start with Fire Ants... the new technologies are very promising and seemingly pricey, but hear me out on this. You will hear a lot about a new product known as Garden Tech's OVER AND OUT in the coming months. This is a Fipronil-based product and studies have shown that you only have to put it down once a season. To me that's two times a year in the Houston area thanks to our wild weather swings. And at upwards of $25 a bag, that may seem fairly pricey to some folks. But it's not, if you do the math. Just figure out how many bags of $9.99 insect granules you buy over a period of a year. You know how much I like the Deltamethrin-based products for long-term ant control!?! Well, if this Fipronil-based product does what it claims, I can certainly see me recommending it just as strongly as I've recommended Deltamethrin. Coincidentally, Fipronil will be in a new Termite control as well. At this moment, it's not readily available, in names like Termidor, but it will be by this time next year. For the organically minded folks, there are new products that are SPINOSID-based to control fire ants. Spinosid/Spinosad are naturally occurring bacteria that work on fire ants very effectively, and are as close to an organic bait control as there is on the market today. (Not that there are many organic baits by definition.) While the earlier discussed Fipronil products will be more readily available this spring, the Spinosid for some reason is much harder to find. No matter how good the manufacturers make these new products sound, and no matter how much I seem to think about them already, don't forget that success in fire ant control is in the TWO- STEP METHOD. Click below to learn more about that method and to get you closer to the link for the Texas A&M Fire Ant Page: http://kprcradio.com/gardenline-fireants.html As for new methods of Termite Control, I mentioned the new Fipronil-based Termidor for the do-it-yourselfer, but there's still nothing better than having a pest control company install a Sentricon Colony Elimination System. Plus, as mentioned Termidor is still not readily available for the homeowner. As of this writing, it was still considered a restricted use product, and only available to those with an applicators license. You will also be hearing about new products you can put around the perimeter of the house yourself for termite control, but they are no more than Permethrin-based.. And unless you put it out every month, they will never be 100% effective. And all it takes is you forgetting a control application for a few months, and the termites can find their way up from the ground through a tube of their own making into a weep hole... and the rest as they say... well, you know! The beauty of hiring a pest control company to do the Sentricon System is that if by chance there are termites underground in your immediate area, they will first go to the easily accessible bait of the Sentricon System. Then, with the pest control company on your payroll -- so to speak -- they will monitor and then bait the stations upon detection of activity. And this is all done a few feet away from the house on an entire perimeter. By the way, professional pest control operators are always able to use products for the elimination purposes that you'll never be able to use, due to education and licensing. Finally, don't let the price of the Sentricon System scare you. If you look at it as a long-term security system against termites, it comes out to a few dollars a month if you're going to live in that house for an extended time. Don't use this as a quote, but it's a good average... If a Sentricon System costs $1,200 (it can be less for smaller homes, and it can be more for larger homes) for the installation and long-term monitoring by the professionals... and you live in the house for the next 7 years (the average length of stay these days).... It comes out to 14 dollars a month. If you stay longer, the better the deal gets. speak for a pest control company on the radio program, but since I've never used these emails as a forum of advertising per se, in an effort to be fair, I've included a short list of local pest control operators. And I feel confident in this list of operators, not only in the installation but more importantly in their monitoring of the Sentricon Systems. Now, if you know which one of these operators is the sponsor of the program, you can get 10% off by mentioning my name... But I'll let you figure that out, in the spirit of fair play. Modern Pest Control 281-561-0100 Northwest Pest Patrol 281-469-7378 ABC Pest Control 281-730-9500 If you would like to learn even more about the Sentricon System, here's a link worth checking out: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/pdf/t-bait.pdf (The free plug-is available at - http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html Adobe Acrobat required to read this) Until next week, here's to Great Gardening from the GardenLine, heard exclusively weekend mornings from 8 to noon on Talkradio 950 KPRC. *********************************************************** Where in the world is Randy Lemmon… This Weekend? Here’s your chance to talk to Randy one-on-one, or bring your plant and pest samples by for Randy to look at. These are the upcoming appearances scheduled for Randy at local nurseries, garden centers and special occasions. (Subject to change!)The Talkradio 950 KPRC Prize Wheel will be at each of these locations! Some come on out and get you free KPRC goodies and get your gardening questions answered in person. SATURDAY APRIL 6 -- Half Price Books, 2537 University (Corner of University & Kirby) 1-3 p.m. Half Pint Book Drive - Bring used kids books and I’ll give you one of my gardening books for free! WEDNESDAY APRIL 10 - Wal-Mart Garden Center 3040 College Park (In the Woodlands) Noon - 2 p.m. SATURDAY APRIL 13 - Nelson’s Water Garden & Nursery - Live GardenLine Broadcast 8 a.m. - Noon 1502 Katy Ft. Bend County Rd. (Exit 742 off the Katy Fwy.) 1 mile to the North. SATURDAY APRIL 27 -- Lowe's Home Improvement (Amdro Appearance), 1 - 3 p.m. 1000 Gulfgate Center Mall on I-45 at the 610 Loop ------------------------------------------------------------ AT THE TALKRADIO 950 WEB SITE: ------------------------------------------------------------ Introducing your source for some of the best buys on the Internet. Check out The TALKRADIO Discount Warehouse every day for new brand-name merchandise ... even FREE items if you pay a few bucks for shipping. Brand names in almost every product category ... jewelry, apparel, books, computers, electronics, health and beauty products, housewares and more!!! http://www.itswholesale.com/ar/iwc.arw_reseller_home_body.jsp?id=1033 ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright Information ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001 Clear Channel Interactive List Maintenance: To subscribe-- Send a blank email message to "kprc-epub-text@ev1.net" with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. To unsubscribe-- Send a blank email message to "kprc-epub-text@ev1.net" with "REMOVE" in the subject line. Online TEXT issue can be found at http://kprcradio.com/listenernewsletter/GardenTalk_04-04-02.txt http://kprcradio.com