one1cookie
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Pantry moths please help!

Hello
So I'm a student I live in a small studio. I had bought a pretty large quantity of walnuts and almonds and put them in what I thought was an airtight plastic vase. Yesterday I opened the vase and lo and behold, silk and worms. I immediately threw it out of course. Now I've never seen any adult moth around, so is it possible that the infestation was contained in the vase? Keep in mind that I moved into the studio around 2 months ago, that's when I bought the almonds and around one and a half week ago my mom had come and thoroughly cleaned the whole apartment and that's when we had seen only some silk in the vase.
So is my entire home possibly infested or not? Please tell me so I can do something about it!!
I actually kept the vase on a box next to a table, so it wasn't in my cupboards and it was pretty sunny always and I open my windows every day.
I've cleaned the area that I call "ground zero" and around it with warm water and soap today. When my mom had come, she used hot water&soap and after that she went over everything with bleach.
Help

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applestar
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For what you are trying to do, the best course of action would be to get “Pantry moth traps”. These are typically open cardboard box with adhesive coating the inside and comes with a pheromone attractant specific to pantry moths. Same design as most others of this type (like roach motels, etc.)

This may not get every one of them, but will definitely tell you if there are any still around.

For the future, large quantity nuts are best kept in freezer for lengthy storage, especially in the hot months (or refrigerator, but freezer is best). Otherwise, the nut oils can become rancid. For the same reason, nuts should be stored in the dark — not in sunny area.

You can keep out smaller quantities for ready use in freezer weight zip bags if there is no chance of mice or beetles (like weevils) which can chew through the bags. For more secure cupboard storage, use tight sealing plasticware — I Tend to reuse Deli and Chinese store containers, or -better yet- GLASS CANNING JARS (or recycle pasta sauce jars, etc. —label adhesive can be removed completely with inexpensive vegetable oil). Using same design containers gives them a “collection” feel. If in doubt, test for tight seal first by putting water in it and turning it — dry thoroughly afterwards. In high humidity, nuts can get moldy, so use drying agents like silicagel packets, or keep in bin of white rice.

If your moths appeared inside the sealed container, it’s possible the nuts were already infested (eggs or larvae inside the nuts) especially if you got them from open bulk bin of the store. Inspect closely for holes in the nuts before buying. Excessive powdery debris in the bag or bin is another sign. I have pointed out such signs and even actual webbing/pupae in the bins at the store before — yes I do stuff like that.

If you can accept that such infestations do happen in nature and is ultimately unavoidable... and turn a blind eye, then freezing or lightly toasting the purchased nuts is one way to kill them and ensure they don’t grow. (Think Lion King) Note that toasted nuts can still become re-infested if not kept sealed.

USDA allows a certain % of contamination. There are maybe two ways the producers and vendors can try to minimize infestation — fumigating the nuts and/or storage area with chemical insecticide, or introducing something like diatomaceous earth (DE) powder to the nuts. There ARE feed grade diatomaceous nuts sold for this purpose. It is an accepted organic additive in animal feed. You CAN buy DE that is labeled as safe for human consumption, but they are very expensive.

ronbart
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We used to fight them on a regular basis and bought tons of the traps. The traps work but I have a suspicion that they also draw them to your pantry just like a Japanese beetle trap draws them to your yard. My wife learned somewhere that if you put rosemary cuttings in the cabinet it will repel them. It really works. We never have them in the pantry even if I occasionally will see one flying in the kitchen. We also freeze items and use glass storage as suggested but the rosemary seems to be what did the trick. We even use it in our bulk dog food storage successfully.

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applestar
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You have a good point. I never use the pheromone traps for anything other than “indicators” to find out if they are around. I wouldn’t keep them in the pantry on regular basis. I dislike marketing tactics that fail to warn you about this kind of adverse effects.

That’s a great tip about using rosemary as repellant. I’m going to start doing that, too. I love benign, effective solutions like this.

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rainbowgardener
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We've been fighting them at our house. Very persistent and difficult to get rid of!

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applestar
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What have you tried @rainbowgardener?

one1cookie
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Thank you all so much!!
I'm planning to buy these glass vases, but honestly I'll probably stay away from any kind of nuts for a while, I just can't get the horrible picture of the silk and the bugs and all that out of my head.
Maybe I'll put the pasta and the rice I have in the fridge? Will that help?
I'll also try the rosemary cuttings.

I read somewhere that bay leaves also repel them. What do you think about that?

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rainbowgardener
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Been through every cupboard and got rid of everything that could possibly harbor them (leaving my cupboards quite bare!). Discovered that EVERY cardboard box that had food stuffs inside, EVEN THOUGH UNOPENED, had evidence of the moths inside, when I did open them. Don't buy stuff in cardboard, or if you do, immediately transfer it to transparent, air tight glass or plastic.

Got rid of the shelf paper and wiped down all the cupboards with soapy water.

Put the traps up.

I will try the rosemary.

I have always kept a stocked kitchen, so that when I wanted to cook something, the ingredients would be at hand. No more. We decided we need to do the European style and shop that day for what we need. Helps that I am no longer eating rice or flour or other grains!!

With all this, we have reduced the population, but not yet entirely eliminated them.....

imafan26
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One way to deter any larvae in the product is to freeze them at least a month to kill the eggs, then you can store them in a sealed container like a jar with a lid or a vacuum bag. I always freeze or refrigerate nuts because they do go rancid, but I also refrigerate or freeze flour, rice (if you cannot eat it in 3 months), cake mixes, pasta, and baking mixes. I usually don't have to freeze cornstarch, but some of the beetles got into one of the boxes this year. I think it came from a box of cake mix, normally, cornstarch is good for years on the shelf. It also helps to go through your pantry shelf every three months or so and plan your meals to use up what you have before it expires.

Remember, your mother won't always be around to clean up after you, so learn to do it yourself.

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applestar
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Oh dear that sounds serious. Good luck @rainbowgardener.

I always thought Dry pasta, flour, and white rice shouldn’t go in the fridge because condensation can create humidity and they will get damp (In the refrigerator, dry goods can take on odors, too.), but if imafan is doing it successfully, then it must be OK?

Whole grain brown rice and other grains, on the other hand, benefits from being stored in the freezer because the natural oils and enzymes in the bran can become rancid. Trick is to allow frozen (and maybe refrigerated too) dry goods to warm to room temperature before opening/using them. When I do this, I take out smaller, consumable portions out to put in a tightly sealed storage jar/container in the pantry for convenient use, and store the bulk in the freezer.

They sell extra tall pasta storage containers with tight seal. Vacuum-seal type is even better. Similarly, there are specialty pantry storage containers if you have the budget for them. Another possibility is investing in vacuum sealer — typical heat-sealed bags are heavy duty. Divide into convenient amounts. Organize the sealed bags in boxes.

When I was single and lived in my own apartment, I found a pasta sauce brand that was sold in pseudo-mason/canning jars (they were apparently not REAL canning jars and couldn’t be used for hot water or pressure bottling, but the press-molded glass jars looked like them, and could use the real mason jar lids.) I ate this pasta sauce exclusively and collected the jars for pantry storage. I laid them on their sides with the glass bottom facing out, and stacked the square-ish jars so I could see the contents. It made for fun organization and neat appearance received many kudos. Glass jars don’t absorb odors and can be sterilized - hot/boiling water, alcohol, etc. and being able to replace the lids kept everything clean.

imafan26
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Freezing is not a problem if everything is dry. It is important to make sure the bags are sealed. We freeze 25 lb bags of rice and take them out after 1-3 months. Rice is a natural desiccant, people use it here to keep salt from caking up in the shakers. White rice does not have the husk so it is actually drier than brown rice. It also helps to save the desiccant bags from the food packages and put them in any open bags that are stored to keep moisture controlled. A container of cat litter, in the closet helps too. Just stir it once in a while. I found out by accident. The only closet in the house that did not have mildew was the cat's closet. Damp rid buckets overflow in my closet especially after it rains.



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