topic Re: Help! Moth Invasion in Community Chat

Help! Moth Invasion

Kalli — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 03:56:28 GMT

Not pantry moths.

Last spring I started having moths, mostly in my hallway. I thought it was associated with my very tall umbrella? plant. Put it outside over summer and moth situation seemed to go away. Plant didn’t like being outside as judging by its appearance by the end of the summer but I left it out until close to first frost.

Brought it in Nov until now. Plant looks much better. No moths all winter, until a few weeks ago. Now I’m killing several each night. The invasion is back!

Any help will be appreciated. I know this plant doesn’t like being outside and it’s still too cold at night to put it out but I’m getting desperate!

I did buy the moth sticky traps for pantry moths but that was a few weeks ago and only caught one which I think just by luck, not because it was drawn to the trap.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

ECBG — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 03:59:09 GMT

Did you look at the underside of the leaves? I had a peace lily get white dots once and I cleaned them off with alcohol cotton balls.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

Kachina624 — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 04:14:04 GMT

I've been having an invasion of tiny moths off and on since last summer. Recently they've gotten worse. They also are not pantry moths. They seem to spend the days in folds of fabric and towels, coming out at night.

I ordered one of the Q's Dynatrap 1/2 acre bug zappers. You ought to see the moths it has collected....several hundred of them. I don't know how you totally eliminate them though since they hide out all day. I though of those aerosol bombs but if they're deep in fabric, doubt that would work. Any ideas?

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

ECBG — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 04:20:44 GMT

@Kachina624 So sorry to hear anyone is having this problem. You might want to get a professional to come in and clean the carpets as well. They could get into your vents and air ducts and set up.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

homedecor1 — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 04:57:52 GMT

My friend was also having moth invasion in her laundry room closet & guest room.

She had a open bag of cat dry food and potting soil they were in there! and in her linen closets😮. She had exterminator there serveral times and they just keep coming. Finally she was told to remove all plants as they had larve in the leaves & soil😳.

They also set traps all over like stickypaper boxes. they're finally gone as of last week🤞🏻

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

x Hedge — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 05:15:57 GMT

In April 2013 I spotted tiny moths, only a quarter inch long, fluttering on one side of the basement.

Normally I put the snow shovels in the garage in spring, but I'd taken them down to the basement that year. I'm convinced the tiny eggs were somewhere on those shovels.

I saw them for three, maybe four months. Then no more. Since I'd committed about an hour each day to hunting them down I thought I'd wiped them out.

Surprize! Next year they were back, and spreading to the other side of the basement.

Among the summer toys at Dollar Tree I found "butterfly nets" with a nice long bamboo handle.

I bought a few. I have become proficient at swiping those little moths out of the air, mid flight.

I've also come to recognize them in their other life stages, since they only fly to find mates during a few months.

Yes, they like to hide in fabric and eat fibers. Have caught several on the surface of carpet in basement.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

sensibleshoppingsoothes — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 05:23:29 GMT

the Safer brand moth traps eliminated my huge moth problem. If they don't work, I would advise bringing in a professional. Moths are stubborn!

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

KingstonsMom — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 13:20:13 GMT

If they're small solid white 'moths', kinda triangle shaped, they're likely sod whiteflies.

You can google for a photo. They actually live in sod/grass and sneak into the house through any nook or cranny or when we come in or out of our doors.

I'm having a problem with them too right now.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

conlt — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 12:16:05 GMT

Well if you bought the moth sticky traps for pantry moths, and they did not work then your moths are probably not the pantry moths. I bought some bird seed for the outdoors, closed the bag and had it in the house and all of a sudden I had a moth problem. It was awful. The moth sticky traps worked for me but I had to dig around in everything in my kitchen to get rid of them. They got into a sealed container of breadcrumbs. It had a plastic lid but had a little indentation in the container and they got in. Look for the infestation in your kitchen, if it is not there, it is somewhere else, the garage maybe. Good luck a moth problem is terrible.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

SilleeMee — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 12:23:04 GMT

We get moth invasions on occasion. When they (Miller moths) migrate here they come in huge numbers. What I do at night is keep all of my outdoor lights on so that the moths won't be attracted to the lights inside my house and that what they stay outside mostly. A few always seem to come inside, however, no matter what I do. I end up chasing them around the house until I get them.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

judy0330 — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 14:30:29 GMT

We have been getting them too -- for the first time ever. Tiny moths. For us it has been one of two every few days which is making me crazy enough. They almost always show up later at night -- often when I am reading in bed on my iPad and they are attracted by the light. We had a professional exterminator here twice. I haven't seen any for a few days. Question: Has anybody had any damage from them? As far as I know we have not. No holes in clothing -- etc. I have all of my sweaters moved into sweater bags for now but have seen no evidence of them attacking clothing.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

ROMARY — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 19:53:23 GMT

From what I've heard, moths dislike lavender.

For closets and drawers, make sachets from bulk lavender seeds (or whatever they're called).

Don't put directly on fine clothing, just in case.

Worked for me years ago.

No more moths in closets, so far.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

Seashell girl — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 23:39:53 GMT

I work at a hardware store. We have moths in our store due to the bird seed we sell. They hatch in the seed and invade our store. Just a tip...do not store bird seed in the house. Just a thought

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

SeaMaiden — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 00:28:48 GMT

@Seashell girl wrote:
I work at a hardware store. We have moths in our store due to the bird seed we sell. They hatch in the seed and invade our store. Just a tip...do not store bird seed in the house. Just a thought

I order millet on the stalk in 5 pound bags for my inside birds. I learned after going through a moth invasion, to always freeze in my big freezer the 5 pound bag of millet for 24 hours to kill any eggs and or moths in the millet. I also freeze any bird seed I buy for 24 hours.

I have not had a moth problem since freezing te millet and seed.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

shoekitty — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 02:45:07 GMT

Peppermint oil on a cotton ball . Or stick whole sticks of spearmint gum around area. The peppermint oil works fast. I bought a bottle online. Make sure it is pure 100% I used it inside and out. I actually sprayed it in areas I wanted to detour racoons.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

Tinkrbl44 — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 07:12:12 GMT

Thanks for the tips ..... haven't been able to figure out where they are coming from!

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

Imaoldhippie — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:07:42 GMT

IMO you need to repot your plant with all new potting soil and get an aphid/bug killer for plants and spray that plant on both sides of the leaves. I think when you put the plant ouside for the summer moths lay their eggs in the soil and on the underside of the leaves. Or you might consider getting rid of the plant.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

CelticCrafter — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:50:15 GMT

@Imaoldhippie wrote:
IMO you need to repot your plant with all new potting soil and get an aphid/bug killer for plants and spray that plant on both sides of the leaves. I think when you put the plant ouside for the summer moths lay their eggs in the soil and on the underside of the leaves. Or you might consider getting rid of the plant.

This is what I thought. I would also try to rinse off as much soil as you can from the roots.

Maybe they or their eggs were dormant all winter.

Re: Help! Moth Invasion

Kalli — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 03:23:23 GMT

A relative had emergency surgery so I’m just getting back here now. Thank you for all your responses! At least I have strategies now to try and no longer feel totally helpless!

With regard to this plant, I don’t want to get rid of it unless there’s no other choice. We’ve had it for so many years, it started out pretty small and now has a trunk that’s 6” in circumference. It’s probably 15’ high and heavy so not that easy to dig out the soil. The only reason I put it outside last summer (took both of us to carry it) was because the moths seemed to center on the plant. It had never been outside before that and clearly didn’t react well to being out.