[Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

[Mark Di Lucido]

Ken:

I bordered planters and supported a deck in my yard with railroad ties, only
to discover that the small voids in the ties provided shelter, trapped
water, and provided perfect space for roach eggs, in short made excellent
roach habitat.  You would think the chemicals used to waterproof the wood
would dissuade the roaches from inhabiting the ties.  Not so, at least in
older ties that have had some chemicals leach away and have developed cracks
and voids from drying out.  

I eventually replaced the ties with materials less conducive to forming
roach habitat (mortared brick, plastic edging, etc.) and noticed some
improvement, however, once they've established, they're hard to exterminate
without poisons.  I also tried boric acid with some success and didn't
poison our dogs or wipeout the lizards and geckos in our yard.  You didn't
mention where you're located, but the City of Phoenix used to routinely
spray manholes to reduce roach populations, and, there are reptiles and
mammals that routinely consume roaches as part of their diet but I don't
have that info.


Mark Di Lucido
(Not a Master Gardener) 


-----Original Message-----
From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of
krgaston at msn.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 2:43 PM
To: arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

Ken Gaston
85029
krgaston at msn.com

How do I control large brown roaches out of doors? I have many in flower
boxes (railroad ties) and under deck. We see them in the evening on fence,
patio and deck.  I do not want to use poisons because I have lizards,
geckos, birds and pets. 

Thanks!!


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