[kit hayes]

I have a juniper that has termites.
It is still in the nursery container.
I have moved the plant but when I pick it up there are still termites.
How do I kill them?

Kit

[Enchantra]

Termites are there because you have another problem - rotting wood. Termites love rotting wood and they very well could be living inside your tree, not just your soil. You have a few options:

Option one: Remove the tree from it's pot and hose off the pot and hose down the entire rootball till all soil is gone. While you have the tree bare rooted check for any signs of rot where the termites could have entered the tree, if they have gotten up inside the tree, treat it with Sevin. Repot into the same pot or a different pot using a bonsai soil mixture of your choice. Do not put it back in the same spot you had it before as termites have "trails" just like ants do and they will find the pot again.

Option Two. Wash off the outside of the pot and treat the tree and soil with a Malathion or Sevin preparation and cross your fingers.

Option Three: Find someplace that sells Diazinon granules. Apply these to the soil surface and around the base of the pot in the area you keep it in.

If it were my tree, I would be doing option number one. That option would in my opinion have the best success rate and getting rid of them permanently. I had to do this with a Juniper I bought from a local nursery that I discovered was infested with a full grown ant hill when I got it home. It worked beautifully and I have no ants left - I didn't even need the Sevin. The ants never returned either and the tree is fine well over a year and a half later.