Roaches in Mulch? Help!

successfulwife

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Hi can anyone give me info. I just purchased a home that is about 4 years old. I asked my landscaper to please put down black mulch. They did a great job. After the job was done they told me about their mulch and to make sure I turn it over ever 3 months because I will find beds and beds of Roaches. They stated they live not far from my home and every three months when they turn it over there are tons of Roaches. I have had black mulch in the last 2 of my home and never had this. I have turned over mulch I can't count how many times. Did I just ruin my home and what can I put in the mulch if anything that will kill the Roaches I don't want them to get in the home and I love my flowers. Am I doomed? Thank you for anything you can help me with in advance. I really appreciate it.
 

AVB

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It depends which type roaches they are as getting into your home. If wood roaches they don't tend get into homes. It is the German roaches that you got to worry about. I would use some liquid Sevin or Premithrin spray over the mulch and this should kill most of the insects. Another solution for me was chickens. They love these little monsters but they scratch out the mulch so it is constant work putting it back.

For German roaches in my home I have always used Boric Acid mix with margarine on aluminum sheets in my cabinets out the reach of pets and kids. Now if I can keep the kinfolks out I don't see any new infestations. Btw I can't stand roaches either.
 

tom3

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I used to fight termites in that black mulch too. Just a standard wood shredded and dyed seems like. I dug it all out and replaced the mulch with crushed red clay tile stuff, looks good and no pests. And the leaf blower vac. attachment won't suck up the rock when I vacuum up leaves in the fall.
 

bertsmobile1

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In nature roaches help break down forest floor debris and recycle the nutrients to the soil
Their excrement is a very rich fertiizer
If you are worried about them getting into your house then use some barrier spray / powder around your house.
If you want a greenish solution then get some running birds ( chickens even ) and they will clean up excess cockroaches in no time flat.
Ground dwelling spiders also like the odd cockkie or 2000

Do some research on cockroaches.
They are a very high benefit insect.
It is just unfortunate that they look so ugly to humans.
When I was a kid my a'hole uncle showed me a trick with cockroaces & huntsman spiders .
He tossed a huntsman into the bath tub and then a couple of cockroaches.
We watched as the cockies desperately tried to get out because it was too light for them
And every time they got to 1 spiders length away from the huntsman it leaped across , stuck its feeding tube into the cockroaches, sucked their inside out then returned to it's original position.
This all happens faster than a human eye can follow.
The idea was to embarass my mother.
However it cured both my sister's fear of both spiders & cockroaches as they now became play things.

And of course at college we used to play cockroach football on the kitchen table .

Excessive amounts of cockroaches shows there is a problem with the way they process their compost.
It is not getting hot enough to kill the cockroach eggs which means it is also not getting hot enough to kill harmful bacteria , other pathogens and more importantly WEED SEEDS .
I would not buy any more compost from them.
Make your own it is very easy to do I make about 50 yards a year using some old compost bins that were throw outs,
I do have to buy in some chicken poop and when the tree munchers are in the area I get them to dump a load of shredded trees out front.
The tree shredings get tossed with fresh horse / cow dung & I relieve myself on the pile .
The more squeemish can buy urea fertilizer.
keeping the pile acid discourages cockies from living there, that like alkaline soils.

Currently I have 9 bins in operation & the compost gets tossed from one to the other.
In summer it takes about 10 days to get to safe mulch state ( brown compost ) and some gets used like that & the rest goes into bigger bins that do not get tossed but i add water and worms to that bin.
In around 3 months that bin is black compost and has been reduced to about 1/3 the volume and that is what goes around the flowers & veggies.
It takes about 3 minutes to toss each bin so around a 1/2 hour of pleasent light work.
made even better by the native birds than come & stand by my legs waiting for curl grubs or cockies that are disturbed during the toss.
 

Darryl G

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I recommend getting undyed mulch made from forest products rather than the dyed stuff which is often made from construction and demolition wastes. They dye it and grind it fine for a reason - it's junk!

Cedar bark mulch is my favorite because it has natural insect repelling qualities.
 

successfulwife

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It depends which type roaches they are as getting into your home. If wood roaches they don't tend get into homes. It is the German roaches that you got to worry about. I would use some liquid Sevin or Premithrin spray over the mulch and this should kill most of the insects. Another solution for me was chickens. They love these little monsters but they scratch out the mulch so it is constant work putting it back.

For German roaches in my home I have always used Boric Acid mix with margarine on aluminum sheets in my cabinets out the reach of pets and kids. Now if I can keep the kinfolks out I don't see any new infestations. Btw I can't stand roaches either.
Update, absolutely love your reply, thank you.
 

successfulwife

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In nature roaches help break down forest floor debris and recycle the nutrients to the soil
Their excrement is a very rich fertiizer
If you are worried about them getting into your house then use some barrier spray / powder around your house.
If you want a greenish solution then get some running birds ( chickens even ) and they will clean up excess cockroaches in no time flat.
Ground dwelling spiders also like the odd cockkie or 2000

Do some research on cockroaches.
They are a very high benefit insect.
It is just unfortunate that they look so ugly to humans.
When I was a kid my a'hole uncle showed me a trick with cockroaces & huntsman spiders .
He tossed a huntsman into the bath tub and then a couple of cockroaches.
We watched as the cockies desperately tried to get out because it was too light for them
And every time they got to 1 spiders length away from the huntsman it leaped across , stuck its feeding tube into the cockroaches, sucked their inside out then returned to it's original position.
This all happens faster than a human eye can follow.
The idea was to embarass my mother.
However it cured both my sister's fear of both spiders & cockroaches as they now became play things.

And of course at college we used to play cockroach football on the kitchen table .

Excessive amounts of cockroaches shows there is a problem with the way they process their compost.
It is not getting hot enough to kill the cockroach eggs which means it is also not getting hot enough to kill harmful bacteria , other pathogens and more importantly WEED SEEDS .
I would not buy any more compost from them.
Make your own it is very easy to do I make about 50 yards a year using some old compost bins that were throw outs,
I do have to buy in some chicken poop and when the tree munchers are in the area I get them to dump a load of shredded trees out front.
The tree shredings get tossed with fresh horse / cow dung & I relieve myself on the pile .
The more squeemish can buy urea fertilizer.
keeping the pile acid discourages cockies from living there, that like alkaline soils.

Currently I have 9 bins in operation & the compost gets tossed from one to the other.
In summer it takes about 10 days to get to safe mulch state ( brown compost ) and some gets used like that & the rest goes into bigger bins that do not get tossed but i add water and worms to that bin.
In around 3 months that bin is black compost and has been reduced to about 1/3 the volume and that is what goes around the flowers & veggies.
It takes about 3 minutes to toss each bin so around a 1/2 hour of pleasent light work.
made even better by the native birds than come & stand by my legs waiting for curl grubs or cockies that are disturbed during the toss.
Update, thank you so much for being so detailed. Thank you.
 

successfulwife

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Update, absolutely love your reply, thank you.
Hi can anyone give me info. I just purchased a home that is about 4 years old. I asked my landscaper to please put down black mulch. They did a great job. After the job was done they told me about their mulch and to make sure I turn it over ever 3 months because I will find beds and beds of Roaches. They stated they live not far from my home and every three months when they turn it over there are tons of Roaches. I have had black mulch in the last 2 of my home and never had this. I have turned over mulch I can't count how many times. Did I just ruin my home and what can I put in the mulch if anything that will kill the Roaches I don't want them to get in the home and I love my flowers. Am I doomed? Thank you for anything you can help me with in advance. I really appreciate it.
Update. Thank you so much everyone for your replies. I am off to Home Depot and Lowes today to get the suggestions. Praying to God this works for us. Would like to stop trouble before it starts. Thank you.
 

7394

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They also make mulch outta ground up automobile tires, costs more initially, but never needs replaced.

Just throwing it out there.
 

rohitkhan

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I recently came across this thread and wanted to share my experience with a similar pest problem. I had a serious issue with pests in my own home, and it was really stressful trying to find a solution. However, I was lucky enough to discover a great pest control service that helped me solve my problem. If you're still struggling with roaches in your mulch, I highly recommend checking out their website at https://ajverminatorpestcontrol.com/wasp-pest-control-sunderland
I know it can be really frustrating dealing with pests, especially when you want to protect your home and your flowers. It sounds like your landscaper gave you some good advice about turning over the mulch every few months to keep the roaches away. But if you're still having trouble, it might be worth reaching out to a professional pest control service to see if they have any recommendations.
 
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