How to Keep Termites Away from Your Plants
How to Deter Termites from Your Garden
We are all familiar with how termites can infest our homes and cause significant damage to its internal structure. In nature, however, termites perform the important role of recycling nature’s most abundant organic material, cellulose, and turning it back into soil. Termites also help to aerate the soil by tunneling through underground.
If you have found termites in your garden or potted plants, it is useful to think about where the garden or pot is located and the possible reasons for the infestation. These considerations can help decide what kind of treatment plan to choose when looking at pest control options.
Why Potted Plants?
Potted plants may seem like a strange place for termites to make their home. There is not a lot of wood available and typically not a lot of space. However, if the weather is dry, termites will seek out potted plants for the moisture they provide. If there is little to no other food source, termites will feed on plant roots. If there is no resource scarcity, termites tend to be harmless to non-woody plants. If your pots or planters are made of wood or other fibers, the termites may be working their way through the planter as well, so check for damage to prevent the collapse of the pot itself.
Prevent Termites from Getting into Your Plants
To prevent pots from termite infestation, never put pots in direct contact with the ground. Termites typically enter plants from the bottom, so this will help deter them from entering the pot itself. Additionally, potted plants often leak moisture into nearby soil which attracts termites, especially when it’s very dry. Transfer any uninfected potted plants to an area free from soil like a cement patio or rock garden with several inches of rock between the ground and the bottom of the potted plant.