It’s winter now but I get springtails from April through to Oct. When should I treat? I started last year but didn’t do anything outside for the last two months and I want to do all possible. Your article says to treat the soil with those Bif granules but should I be doing that now?
As our SPRINGTAIL CONTROL article explains, this pest thrives around homes and once established, will move inside. If you have a springtail problem, no doubt the outside needs to be treated. And if you have mulch like pine straw or wood chips, they’ll be drawn to live just underneath this material all year long because it will provide both food and warmth. Remember, mulch is constantly decomposing and in the process, organisms like springtails will be drawn to the area. When mulch is close to the house, it only makes sense springtails will be there to.
Since most homes are well heated during the winter, the soil immediately adjacent to the home will be kept unnaturally warm too through the process of “radiant heat”. This warmer soil can many times support all kinds of insect activity including springtails. For these reasons, homes which have ongoing springtail infestations should be treated outside throughout most of the year even if you aren’t seeing any.
So what should do now since it’s winter? The best thing for now is to apply some BIFEN GRANULES around the home making sure to treat at least 20 feet out from each side of the house. Do this on each side that has soil. And if it turns out the springtails are mostly active on a side that has a cement slab like a driveway or patio, you may need to do some of the sub slab treatments described in our article. Any sub slab treatments should be done in the spring or summer and not now.
Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:
Springtail Control: https://bugspray.com/springtail_control.html
Bifen Granules: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/granule/bifenthrin-g-25-lb
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