I found termites in one of my garden pots, the one that had my longan seedlings. I do not know how they got in, except I have moved this pot around quite often, and at one or two points in time this past summer, I did have them in direct contact with the ground. I am glad that I discovered these termites because I was planning to overwinter my longans and would have placed them in my garage. I would have been so horrified if I had unknowingly introduced termites into my house. My house is my refuge, my respite, the place I can withdraw form the world and be myself. But, the garden is also part of my home too.
Because of the termites, I started Googling and found a really good resource by a YouTuber named Guy who talks about all things pest control, and he has excellent content on termites. With his help and other resources, I identified, hopefully correctly, that they were subterranean rather than formosan termites based on their head shape and behavior (they scurried back into the soil when I tried to uncover them). I ended up using a combination of diatomaceous earth, vinegar, and Dawn-ish (the knock-off Walmart brand) soapy water to douse the soil. I also placed it in a large black trash bag that I had to absorb the heat and, hopefully, to dry out the soil. Sadly, the termites were really targeting my longan roots (which had grown within a mangosteen rind). I wonder if they were attracted to the mangosteen rind, and lo and behold, a quick search shows that mangosteen rind is 60-70% cellulose (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0268005X13000465, I tried to find the exact quote from the original article cited in the paper, Abraham et al. 2011, but I don’t have access to it, unfortunately). Remind me to be careful with mangosteen rinds in my garden.
For now, I think I am safe, but I do not want to totally demonize termites. Termites help to break down woody material, and I imagine they are already lurking everywhere especially compost heaps and in garden beds using hugelkultur or cardboard (no-dig). However, I also learned that they can also feast on the root and stem structures of your livings plants in the garden (https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/crop-production/management-tactics-for-termites-infesting-organic-vegetables/). I guess there is a delicate balance between symbiosis and parasitism. However, what I tried to find, but couldn’t, was what is the right balance?
B.