How to Kill Tree Roaches
Tree roaches do not bite or spray. But they are huge, sometimes airborne and unpleasant to have around. However, unlike their smaller relatives they do not live or breed in your home but wander in from the outside. Unfortunately this means that they are also harder to kill. Because they live out of doors and have no central nest, it is nearly impossible to kill the entire population. However, you can kill the tree roaches that visit your home and keep new ones from coming back.
Seal the perimeter. Tree roaches find their way into your home through cracks, gaps and other openings. Make sure that all doors and windows are properly sealed and check your attic and basement for any possible points of entry.
- Tree roaches do not bite or spray.
- However, you can kill the tree roaches that visit your home and keep new ones from coming back.
Stop luring tree roaches to your home. Tree roaches are attracted to food, water and light. Make sure that all food, especially dog food, is carefully sealed and put away. Any standing water, even small amounts, should be dried. If there is a wood pile near your home, remove it. It is likely a food source and breeding ground for local tree roaches. Finally, turn of outdoor lights at night in the summer when tree roaches are the most active. They attract male roaches.
- Stop luring tree roaches to your home.
- Any standing water, even small amounts, should be dried.
Kill any tree roaches that you find in your home.
Spray possible entry points around your home with an outdoor insecticide. Also spray around the foundation of any firewood piles.
Call a professional exterminator if the tree roach infestation is severe or unresponsive to the above methods.
Kill Roaches In A Garden
Examine your garden for sources of decaying wood, such as mulch, landscaping timbers or wood piles. Roaches often nest under layers of decaying organic material found beneath thick mats of ivy or mulch. If your garden contains old mulch, shovel it into trash bags and dispose of it. Keep pet food in sealed containers and do not leave excess pet food out over night. Place bait stations near the areas where you found cockroaches nesting and around any sources of water in your garden. In most cases bait stations are slow acting and may take a week or more to begin killing significant numbers of roaches. Check your bait stations on a weekly basis and replace or refill them as necessary. Monitor the area around your garden for potential food sources that could draw the roaches away from your bait stations and remove them.
- Kill any tree roaches that you find in your home.
- Place bait stations near the areas where you found cockroaches nesting and around any sources of water in your garden.
Related Articles
References
- Iowa State University: Wood Cockroach
- University of Missouri: Cockroaches
- Ask the Exterminator: Wood Roach
- University of California Cooperative Extension: Cockroaches
- University of California Agriculture: The Smokybrown Cockroach
- University of California Cooperative Extension: Cockroaches
- University of California Integrated Pest Management: Cockroaches
Writer Bio
Based in Houston, Texas, Meg Butler is a professional farmer, house flipper and landscaper. When not busy learning about homes and appliances she's sharing that knowledge. Butler began blogging, editing and writing in 2000. Her work has appered in the "Houston Press" and several other publications. She has an A.A. in journalism and a B.A. in history from New York University.
