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1. I read a post that said there were many sources of organic gardening materials–pesticides, fertilizers, etc. in Costa Rica. Does anyone know of a source of organic materials in the Puriscal area? Also, does anyone know of a source of diatomaceous earth (DE) (not the swimming pool kind) in CR? Thanks for any info.
2. We are moving to CR in late summer, early fall. We would like to know if there are any sources there for dehydrated foods or large cans of foods to store for emergencies. Will it be necessary for us to bring this type of food with us, and does anyone know about duty on items like this? We are hoping to have a garden and have several fruit trees on our property, but want to be prepared for an emergency. Again, any info will be most appreciated.
3. We are planning to collect rain water in CR and want to know of a source for large enclosed water tanks. We have a 2800 gallon tank here in Texas and would need something at least that large in CR. We plan to use the water for irrigation in the dry season and for a backup (with filtration of course for drinking) for the public water system. Any info will be appreciated.
2. PriceSmart is a “big box” store similar to Sam’s Club or Costco. They have food in large containers.
3. Virtually every ferreteria sells water storage tanks. Prices vary with capacity.
Thanks, David, for your answer. I still don’t know if I can buy DE in CR or if I need to ship it. It is a very good, human- and animal-safe pest control, and I was hoping that it could be used to stop leaf-cutter ants.
Hello eehorebec, Some farmers in Costa Rica have been on the organic bandwagon for a while now, but if you have something proven and true for ants, I suggest you bring it because that is something that they battle with. Once you’re in CR you can chat with some of the farmers in the organic section of the farmer’s markets held in various towns on Saturdays. Please let us know if the safe pesticide works for the Costa Rican ants as they can be quite persistent 🙂
You can also contact EARTH University (see their website: http://www.earth.ac.cr/ing/index.php ) They even have an English version. This university specializes in tropical agronomy and has been promoting organic growing for a while.
Best of luck to you….
You organic guys may love this or you may hate it . . .
We have found that Dawn dishwashing detergent is very effective at killing ant colonies. A modest squirt down the hole and the colony is eliminated. If there are multiple holes (maybe indicative of multiple entrances or multiple colonies), squirt them all. It seems to work for other ground-dwelling insects that have made an appearance in our lawn, too.
We’ve not tried other brands.
Diatomaceous Earth will really only work in summer. It rains so hard in the rainy season that it would have to be reapplied daily. You’d go through a large and costly supply rather quickly. Give David’s “Dawn” suggestion a try.
Jim
I too have been searching for food grade Diatomaceous Earth since I’ve been battling ants that have invaded my house, particularly so since the start of the rainy season. I live outside of Quepos on a finca. Both my husband and myself are reluctant to use pesticides as we have a dog and cat and want to keep our fruit & nut trees pesticide-free. I’ve come across this solution on the internet which worked within a day or two for ants inside the house:
“Boric acid: Mix 1 cup of sugar, 4 teaspoons of boric acid and 24 ounces of water in a glass screw top jar. Shake thoroughly until you can see that all the crystals are dissolved. Now put 1 cup of this mixture into a smaller jar which you have filled halfway with loose cotton. Firmly screw the lid back on, seal around the band with weatherproof tape and using an awl punch a few small holes in the center of the lid. Put this near the entrance of the nest or wherever they have made a path to your house. The key is the ants will get into the jar to eat the sugar and return to the nest and pass it on to the rest of the colony. If you find many dead ants by the jar dilute the solution and try again. With a proper mixture the colony may be destroyed in a few weeks. It does take the destruction of the queen to completely eradicate a colony. Keep this away from kids and pets!”
The reason for the cotton wad is to prevent the ants from drowning thereby allowing them to return to the colony and kill off the queen. I just filled a few small baby food jars with (holes punched on the lids to keep the pets out) with the liquid/cotton solution and by the next day ALL the ants were gone.This worked on the large carpenter ants that were hiding in the woodwork and made nocturnal appearances, mid-size black ants that were always on the floor and the tiny ants that had invaded our cupboards. One more thing, peppermint extract on the cupboard keeps those little cupboard ants away.
You can easily buy boric acid in a pharmacy, and as I understand it, it is only mildly poisonous to humans. In fact, it is used as an eyewash. I don’t know if this solution will work on outdoor ants or how environmentally harmful this approach is. I figure, outside is their territory so I leave them alone. Anyway, good luck.Davidmcmurray-
Does this work for those blue crabs?Orignial poster-
Bring a good dehydrator, the fruit and vegis are plentiful, but almost always fresh. I do occasional buy dried fruit but most of it is imported and expensive. Biolandia (the organic health food co.) dries banannas and maybe another fruit too that is availiable at the supermarket.
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