I keep getting springtails on the house siding and its like they don’t care about what I’m spraying. Its vinyl and when I spray, they die but then the next night I can find more crawling around. Why are your products better? I have been using Talstar, Bifen, Demand, Onslaught, Sevin. Also different granules like the Bifen and Complete but in my wood chips, if I dig down 3-4 inches, there are little baby springtails. Thousands of them! Are they getting resistant to my treatments? This is now in the third year and they always come back around may or june for the summer. Now they’re crawling out from the baseboards and when I spray the Bifen inside, they die but 2-3 days later more get in. Can you help?
After doing this for over 30 years, we have figured out two things that can end springtail infestations. First, its key to use the right chemical and second, it needs to reach their nests. So yes, they are coming from the dirt around the home but rest assured, once they got up your home’s siding, they moved under it and have been nesting there too. This is why you keep seeing them on the siding.
And from the siding, they have migrated into wall voids and why you’re seeing them coming out from baseboards inside the home.
Now the products you’ve been using will work as a contact killer. That means when you spray, any out and about will die. But all of those products were designed to lay on treated surfaces for larger crawling pests like ants or palmetto bugs. In other words, they will not penetrate deep into the home’s siding where the springtails are nesting. So to end the issue, you need the chemical that will do that best and for sure, its the Maxxthor/Boost combo.
Maxxthor EC is very different from all the brands you listed. There are two main differences. The first is that it’s oil based. This is huge. Oil based products are designed to either “spread” or “penetrate” treated surfaces. In this case, since Maxxthor was built to protect plants and trees, it will penetrate better than any other concentrate. This is what you need to reach the nests behind the home siding.
The second reason is the super small chemical particles. Maxxthor uses active ingredients that are 1/10th the size when compared to the brands you listed. And when mixed with Boost, these smaller particles can penetrate to the depths needed to solve pest issues.
The following scale should provide some more clarity.
Surface sprays like you have been using will score a 0-1 on the PPS (penetrating power scale: 1 being least penetrating and 10 being most penetrating). Maxxthor by itself will score a 4-5. With Boost, a 7-8. And then with Base Oil? A solid 10.
And the proof of this ability is in the results our customers achieve. For the past 30 years, our data tells us that 50-75% of our customers will end the outside issue using Maxxthor and Boost. For the remaining 25%, they’ll have to do some Power Injecting to get it deep enough under the siding. This seems to be the final tipping point to end the issue if the home has vinyl, aluminum, stucco or cedar shakes. We’re not 100% sure but it seems like the customers who have the lingering issues that need to Power Inject also have the homes prone to home siding nests (vinyl, aluminum, stucco or overlapping wood like cedar shakes). So customers with brick, masonite, gypsum and other solid sheathing seem to end their issue with spraying only.
Now what about the ground around home? This is where they are thriving and so for sure, its very important your turf gets the best treatment too.
Now you could spray the liquid Maxxthor on the ground around the home as our SPRINGTAIL ARTICLE explains. The goal there is to create a 10 foot band of treated area around the home. But the spray alone won’t penetrate deep enough to have the effect you want. Here’s why.
Springtails are subterranean by nature. This means they’re like termites and prefer to live deep down in the ground (5-10 feet actually). Now when those populations grow, they will migrate up and first “onto” homes. And if the home’s siding is accommodating (like vinyl, aluminum, stucco or cedar shakes), they will start to nest under it.
So to stop them from coming “up” from the ground, the Maxxthor Granules are best. Why? They use a very fine sand and that same small particle size so that treatments will sink down 1-2 feet. The granules you have been using are huge and designed to stay up top, above ground, to intercept crawling pests. Maxxthor won’t help much for them but it will do better than anything else for any subterranean pest like grubs, clover mites, millipedes, springtails, etc. Plan on using it once a month. After 2-3 months, you’ll have a good 1-2 feet of top soil free of springtails in place and if you treat all year long, no chance of any insect making a nest around your home.
Now the bad news. The springtails you’re seeing inside? They’re nesting inside. Springtails love living on wood. So any structural members like sill plate, 2×4 studs, 2×6 floor joists or rafters are all likely places for them to live and breed. If you have a wood deck? Check the joints where the decking rests on the joists or adjoins the railing; it will likely have some hiding there.
So the ones you’re seeing on the baseboards or crawling around windows on the walls? They’re nesting right there. And the sprays you’ve been using are all highly repellent to them which means they will chase them around. True, they will kill when sprayed. But as soon as they dry, springtails will avoid the treatment and you’ll be seeing them like before. But not with Bithor.
Bithor uses two actives. One that will get them agitated to move around but that active goes away within a day or two. The second active then kicks in. It’s undetectable by them so when they forage over it, they don’t even know it’s there. The net impact is that 1-2 days later, they’re dead too. So in the end, Bithor is your best active to stop them from spreading inside.
But as good as Bithor is, it won’t get them living under the baseboards. To reach those, you’ll need our Power Injector. And since you have them under the home’s siding too, the Power Injector will be needed for you solve this issue for good.
Use it to inject the Bithor under the siding. For most of our customers, this solves the issue. Now you can inject the Maxxthor too. It will reach further since its oil based so overall, it will yield better results. And if that doesn’t do the trick, use the Maxxthor with Base Oil. It’s not needed for most of our customers but 5-10% have them very bad – especially if you have a slab home or finished basement with issues – and need the extra penetrating power the Base Oil provides to end the issue for good.
In summary, the small particle size of Maxxthor spray and granules makes it the best formulation for outside treatments when it comes to small soil dwelling pests like springtails or clovermites. Basically anything small that lives in the ground. And if you use the Power Injector to treat under the home siding, baseboards and around windows/doors, you can end your problem for good.
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