Candle light moths fall into a large group of moths which have earned their nickname because they are attracted to most any light. If you burn a patio, deck or flood light around your home, you’ll likely see some alight to your homes siding close to the fixture.
In general these moths are harmless BUT when given the chance, they will become a nuisance. When hanging around lights, males will be seeking females and if there is sufficient turf close by, chances are high the females will be laying eggs either on the home or in the ground on that side of the house.
Egg sacs will be laid on windows, shutters and the home siding. These eggs will hatch little larvae which naturally feed on organic matter found in the turf like decaying leaves, mulch and other dead plants.
Once they get their full, they’ll pupate and emerge during the summer and fall repeating this process. Homes left untreated will naturally develop larger and larger problems as the population increases.
To control a local problem is requiring just 1-2 sprayings. The first one will “clean out” the current activity and the followup treatment a month later to kill any hatching young or stragglers.
THE RISK OF CANDLE LIGHT MOTHS COMING BACK IS HIGH SINCE MOTHS LEAVE STRONG PHEROMONES AS A SIGNAL FOR OTHER MOTHS. THESE PHEROMONES SERVE AS “INDICATORS” FOR OTHER MOTHS TO COME USE THE STRUCTURE OR YARD FOR NESTING AND EGG LAYING!
For this reason its best to treat active areas on the house or in the yard so local numbers don’t grow unmanageable.
BEST CANDLE MOTH SPRAY
We have two sprays that are highly effective against annoying candle moths.
CANDLE MOTH HOUSE SPRAY
For activity focused on your porch, flood or deck lights, spray BITHOR mixed 1.5 oz per gallon of water to the homes side.
This “non repelling” concentrate is odorless and undetectable by candle moths. They’ll readily land on it, pick up a lethal dose and within a few days, die.
Within a week, the local activity will end and the problem will be gone for a few weeks. Eventually their local offspring will be hatching into adults and a new “wave” of activity will require a new treatment.
Generally one treat using 2-3 gallons of mixed solution will protect the side of the home and a followup treatment 3 weeks later will knock out the current problem. After that plan on spraying once every 3 months to insure they don’t return.
YARD SPRAY FOR CANDLE MOTHS
If the problem is out in the yard around ground, accent or pole lights, use MAXTHOR EC. This strong “repellent” spray is both fast killing and highly repellent to insects meaning they will detect it and stay away.
Maxthor is not suggested for use on the home since it tends to “scatter” these moths to hard to reach areas. When used on structures, moths will still come around but find “gaps” in the treatment ultimately bypassing your effort. For this reason Bithor is best suited for on the home; Maxxthor is best for the yard.
When spraying the yard, cover as much of the local bushes, trees, grass and ground cover. Remember, candle moths will be laying eggs on any or all of these surfaces so a good spraying will insure they can’t use any one location for reproducing.
To get the most of your treatment, add SPREAD-X BOOST to your tank mix along with the Maxxthor. Boost is an adjuvant, also known as a wetter spreader or spreader sticker. It basically makes water and the mixture more “slippery” so you get better coverage. Treatments will spread 2-3 times wider and penetrate deeper. This is super important when spraying trees and shrubs where moths will be resting. Boost will help the Maxxthor penetrate their powdery “deflecting” shield for faster kills.
The following short video summarizes why Boost can help deliver your treatment better.
Add no more than the rate you’re applying the Maxxthor so in this case, if you’re adding 2.5 oz of Maxxthor to the hose end sprayer, add 2.5 oz of Boost too before adding water. If you’re adding Maxxthor to a pump sprayer at the rate of 1 oz per gallon, use 1 oz of Boost.
BEST CANDLE MOTH SPRAYERS
To apply the Bithor or Maxxthor, we have three sprayer options.
STANDARD PUMP SPRAYER
The first is a simple PUMP SPRAYER. It holds 1 gallon of water, needs to be pumped up to spray and can reach up 10-15 feet when under full pressure.
STANDARD HOSE END SPRAYER
The second option is our 20 GALLON HOSE END SPRAYER. These use the power of your garden hose and are well suited for spraying the yard or if you need to reach up high.
Add 2.5 oz of Maxxthor to the sprayers tank and then some water up to the 5 gallon line. Next hook it to your hose and spray away. Our online video for this details how to use it properly (see the video on the 20 GALLON SPRAYER PAGE).
OUR “NO PUMP” SPRAYER
Now if you don’t feel like pumping and pumping a regular pump sprayer or if you need to reach high parts of the home, consider getting one of our NO PUMP SPRAYERS. This unique sprayer is simple yet very good, easy to use and one of our “favs” for applying insecticides to your homes exterior and landscape (its too powerful for use inside).
Ideally suited for reaching heights of 40+ feet, it has no moving parts other than the valve you hold for spraying and the adjustable brass “bullet” nozzle.
This sprayer is essentially a tank that can hold water, chemical and up to 130 psi of air. The top lid has a clamp and rubber gasket that seats on the “inside” of the sprayer so as you fill it with air, the seal will naturally remain in place, nice and tight.
The top has 3 “ports” (pic below). The port to the far left is used to fill the tank with air. Using any electric air pump (the kind you would use the fill tires on your car), you can safely pressurize this sprayer up to 80 psi. The tank is rated for up to 130 lbs but the relief valve will only allow you to fill it to 80-90 psi before it starts to release. This happens as a safety precautionary action.
For normal use around the home, 50-60 psi should be enough for you empty the liquid from the 2.5 gallon tank assuming you only add 1 gallon of mixed product. True, the sprayer can “hold” 2.5 gallons of liquid but you need room for the air. Our tests show that 50-60 psi will pump out an entire gallon of spray allowing you to reach 25-30 feet heights.
For reaching 40+ feet or higher targets, pressurize the sprayer to 80 psi and again, mix up only what you plan on using and no more than 1 gallon of mixed solution at one time so the tank has enough room left to store all the needed “air”. One charge of 80 psi is enough to get the entire mixture to spray out so you don’t have to be concerned about constantly recharging.
The 5 GALLON NO PUMP can hold over 2 gallons of mixed material and can perform equally as well.
Remember, YOU WILL NEED AN AIR COMPRESSOR POWERFUL ENOUGH TO FILL THIS SPRAYER!! WE RECOMMEND ONE THAT CAN DO AT LEAST 100 PSI.
3 GALLON SETUP (remember to only fill it with 1 to 1.5 gallons of mixed solution to leave room for air)
(10% OFF WHEN ORDERING ONLINE)
5 GALLON SETUP (remember to only fill it with 2.5 (3 gallons max) if you want one tankful of air to pump it empty)
(10% OFF WHEN ORDERING ONLINE)
WATCH THIS VIDEO ON THE “NO PUMP” SPRAYER FOR OPERATIONAL DETAILS
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