We have an extreme case of chiggers in our yard. I've heard it's because of the warm winter in our part of the country. We have tried killing them with the granular yard spread we typically use but it didn't seem to make a difference this year. Any other suggestions?
I am a tough old farm girl, but I have an allergic reaction to chigger bite. I get huge welts then fever and pus filled sores. I have farms and have not been bitten for over 20 years. A doctor treated me and told me that I would never have to worry about them again if I only did this one thing. Get a bottle of pine oil, the real stuff not just a pine cleaner with a small percentage of pine oil in it. I get one called Ocean Pine Oil from Ocean Coffee Company Shreveport , Louisiana. As soon as you get home run a bath and put in 1 Tablespoon of the pine oil in the water, (I usually put in lots more) and take your bath and you will never know you had one on you, it kills them instantly. I will never be without it again!
You can also wet a washcloth and put your tablespoon of pine oil on it and wipe yourself all over then rinse. I put this stuff on my dogs about 50/50 before their bath , do not get it in their eyes .and it kills the fleas and ticks then rinse them. Deodorizes them too! I do not have them in my lawn so I never thought of it until now but i guess you could spray your lawn with the diluted( like your bath water mixture) and kill them also!
The best things is that after trying the nail polish method..without finding out why first, I took the time to see what is really correct. Chiggers don't burrow in the skin like most people think. The nail polish doesn't kill the chiggers, they probably have already eaten their share and have fallen off. They do not move to another host, they die. The red bite is from the enzyme that they have left in your bite, which takes several days to wear off. There are multiple ointments that can be used to ease the itching, but the best way to prevent future chigger bites is being prepared before going into where they habitat. Also washing up in the shower thoroughly after going into the outdoors. Washing is the best way to keep them from attatching initially, and will reduce the numbers or the chance that they will bite you at all.
I have heard that sprinkling powdered Tide detergent all around the yard will help, and re-applying it after a few rains.
I have never tried this and don't know for sure if it will work. Seems to me the chiggers will move around from a neighbor's yard to yours, so you might have to get the whole block involved.
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