Chiggers

[GhettoGardener]

I'm being eaten alive. They're thriving in my compost pile but I'm sure as heck not going to get rid of my compost. So, if anyone out there has an idea of what i can spray on my compost pile to annihilate the @#!$er's that would be great. I bathe myself in OFF before i turn my compost and still manage to get bitten. UGH!:mad:

[Kalyptos]

I'm being eaten alive. They're thriving in my compost pile but I'm sure as heck not going to get rid of my compost. So, if anyone out there has an idea of what i can spray on my compost pile to annihilate the @#!$er's that would be great. I bathe myself in OFF before i turn my compost and still manage to get bitten. UGH!:mad:

For the ones that do get you. I have used lice shampoo on the welts that persist after my shower. Just dab a bit on the affected spots and allow to dry (3-5 min max) , fans help. Then just re-apply on the ones that continue to itch after a few hours. It dosen't always work, sometimes they get too deep too quick, but if it does work the next day it will not itch at all. Beats two weeks of misery.!. You can also squeeze them out but it will leave a bruise, and is not recommended. I have also had limited success with dryer sheets, rubbing them over areas they tend to get me.

I don't know about how to get them from your compost, maybe try planting those super hot peppers and mixing them into your pile.

[GhettoGardener]

Thanks for the tip Kalyptos. I'll try the dryer sheet idea. Heheh, maybe it'll help me to smell fresh after a round of rummaging about in my garden. I'm just about all healed up after the "two weeks of misery". It was EXACTLY that. I mean the itching kept me up at night. I was running around town looking like a pink polka-dotted monster from all the dabs of calamine lotion. I'm due to turn my compost pile again so hopefully the dryer sheets work. :o

[royalsmom2]

I have been trying to reply to all the post to let ya'll know how to get rid of these beasts. But to no avail. I have to register or do something that wont let me reply... Anyway, I was subjected to chiggers many years ago, it was all over my body as well in my hair and the remedy was to soak in a bath of scalding hot water. It worked! I recently started composting in one of those spin bins and a few weeks ago when I spinned the bin, about a thousand tiny red spiders came out.... I didn't think to protect myself, I got out the big guns and started spraying the bin... compost or not... Two weeks later.. I came home from work and spun the compost again and there they were. Thousands of them... I poured scalding hot water on top and inside and I am chigger free. :)

[Landmark Landscapes]

Good tips! I like the dryer sheet idea.

[Texas Star]

I have seen proof of the success of placing a flea collar for dogs, around each ankle. the little chiggers will not come near it. I saw a man do this not long ago. the next day everyone but him had chiggers.