Roaches?!

[Urban_Garden]

Tonight I went out with a flashlight and gathered two big slugs and a baby slug, but I discovered to my horror, roaches EVERYWHERE in the garden.
Are roaches bad for the garden? And if so, how can I get rid of them?!

[tedln]

I'm not aware of the common German cockroach harming living plants. I could easily be wrong but I've never seen one on a plant in my garden and I've never seen them listed as a garden pest.

There are however a number of insects that many people identify as "roaches" which are not roaches and can harm plants. Are you sure what your seeing are in fact roaches?

Ted

[Urban_Garden]

They look like roaches, they burrow in the ground, and they are horrified of light. They could be something else.
I read that they are beneficial, but I'm still nervous.

[rainbowgardener]

It does sound a little creepy.

But roaches are detritovores, they are part of the process of breaking down dead decomposing stuff. They don't attack living plants. I usually have a few in my compost pile, in the section where the fresh stuff is. By the time the compost is finished, they have moved on because there is nothing left they are interested in.

Did you perhaps recently put compost or manure or something around your garden?

[tedln]

I don't think I would worry about them unless you see actual damage to your plants caused by them. Like rainbowgardener said, they are simply part of the natural process of recycling organic materials.

If you want to kill roaches, the best method I've seen is sprinkling "Borax" around. I don't know if they still sell it in grocery stores in the laundry products section, but they used to. German cockroaches are attracted to Borax and it kills them. I have no idea what the effect of Borax on your soil would be and it should be researched before using it.

Ted

[cynthia_h]

I'm not sure, either, whether Borax kills roaches, but I *can* verify that it's still sold in grocery stores and drug stores. I buy it regularly to use in my laundry. Good ol' Twenty Mule Team Borax. But the boxes are a light sea-foam green/turquoise these days, not the old-fashioned black.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[kimbledawn]

Something I can help with well a little.

If you want to kill roaches, the best method I've seen is sprinkling "Borax" around. I don't know if they still sell it in grocery stores in the laundry products section, but they used to. German cockroaches are attracted to Borax and it kills them. I have no idea what the effect of Borax on your soil would be and it should be researched before using it.

Ted

If you want to use borax I did read that a souce of Boron(something that broccoli like) is borax from the laundry section of the store. So I think that It may not harm the soil. Look uo growing broccoli and they mention it.

[albucsfan]

Something I can help with well a little.


If you want to use borax I did read that a souce of Boron(something that broccoli like) is borax from the laundry section of the store. So I think that It may not harm the soil. Look uo growing broccoli and they mention it.

When my better half was first starting forge welding he was using a very expensive boron based welding flux.....and I have to admit that I laughed at hime when he told me what it was and how much he was paying for it....
Then took him to the grocery store and bought him a $.99 box of Borax
Works great...that's all he uses now

Apparently it's pretty multi-purpose stuff!


Steph

[tedln]

Before "built in" kitchen appliances became popular, cooking particles and dust bunnies would form a community under and behind appliances. It was the perfect environment to support a population of roaches. Home owners would purchase Borax and sprinkle a little behind and under the appliances. The result was no more roaches.

There used to be a popular brand of "roach powder" advertised almost as much as Twenty Mule Team brand Borax was for the laundry. I don't remember the brand name, but it was nothing but Borax sold to kill roaches.

Ted

[malkore]

Its not roaches. They are water beetles. We get them all over here in Lincoln, including inside the house, especially the day after a rain.

I doubt you have true cockroaches in the garden, but if you used compost that had a lot of food waste that didn't compost fully, I could see that attracting roaches.

[rainbowgardener]

Over here any way, water beetles look like cockroaches "on steroids," maybe 3 times the size. And cockroaches can occur in big numbers. I have (fortunately!) only ever seen one water beetle at a time. They seem to be loners.

[tedln]

When we lived in East Texas in the forest, we had what were locally called tree roaches. They were about 1 1/2" long and liked to fly. They could get in a home through the smallest opening. They would cling to the ceiling and then drop as you walked under them. I've seen some women come close to a heart attack when one of those things landed in their hair.

They were called tree roaches because they normally lived under the loose bark on pine trees. They were a favorite snack for copperhead snakes. The snakes would come out at night looking for them and I would go out at night with a flashlight and a 22 pistol looking for the copperheads which were usually gathered around pine trees looking for roaches. The good thing about them was they didn't mess with my garden.

Ted

[kgall]

If one of those things fell on me I am pretty sure I would stroke out.
We don't have them here but now I am grossed out, thanks Ted, and will be looking at all the trees when I am in the woods!

[tedln]

I don't think you have to worry kgall. I've never seen one more than a hundred miles from the gulf coast. They seem to like really hot and humid climates.

Ted

[orgoveg]

If they were cockroaches, most likely they were oriental cockroaches. They live in the garden where they feast on decaying organic matter. They don't multiply the way germans and americans do and they won't invade your home. Occasionally you might see one or more wander into the house, but they won't create an infestation. They are however, capable of transmitting disease and they are known to enjoy sewage system cuisine.

Pest control salesmen will try to convince you that these are among the worst pests imaginable, so they can sell you a year-round treatment contract. It just ain't so. I used to work for one of the biggest pest control companies. (Yes, I was once a chemical guy). That's part of the reason I now garden strictly organically and there no chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides in my home.

If I ever find german or american cockroaches however, I might cross back to the dark side temporarily. They are incredibly prolific breeders.

Another use for borax: If you find mold in a humid basement, borax kills it. Bleach will only provide water for it to grow.

[TZ -OH6]

I would be careful about spreading large amounts of borax or boric acid roach powder on the grade or compost. Boron is a trace nutrient, but in higher concentrations is toxic to plants. The roaches have to go some place during the day so that would be the place to spread the stuff.