Taurus SC Termiticide can only be applied to the foundation of your home or to directly spot treat active termites in wood. The best product for your needs is Bora-Care which will protect for the life of the wood.
You will want to treat the soil with Taurus SC in the trench as directed. It will only bind to the soil and no other material for termite barriers around the foundation.
A standard 6 in by 6 in trench with Taurus SC Termiticide will be appropriate, if want to go deeper you can, as long as you don't go past the footer for the stem wall.
Per EPA Regulations, Taurus SC can only be sprayed one foot up and one foot out around the foundation of the structure and is not for use inside structures at all unless directly spot treating active infestations in wood. For additional information on treating carpenter ants, please check out our treatment and prevention article/videos here.
After the Taurus SC Termiticide application is completely dry, you can resume with watering your lawn.
Taurus SC is labeled for carpenter bees but is limited in where it can be applied and would not be sprayed across the top surface at all. For prevention and/or control please take a look at the Label on how to apply on decks.
Taurus SC Termiticide can be applied twice a year (1 ft up and 1 ft out) up against the structure for a general pest control barrier. Please see the label for full application instructions.
Taurus SC Termiticide is mixed at 0.8 oz per gallon of water. It is only labeled for application right up against a structure. We have a video here detailing how to make the application.
Taurus SC Termiticide is not labeled to be applied to roof shingles. You can apply it around the foundation as directed on the product label and areas where they trail.
Taurus SC Termiticide is should not be used on plants nor to treat soil in potted plants. It is only for use outside around the foundation of the home in the soil to protect your home from termites.
Termites do not normally attack live, healthy trees so you most likely will not find any products that will work as a treatment for potted plants. You can try using boiling water to kill any in the soil of the pots.Taurus SC Termiticide is not labeled for lace bugs nor can it be applied for to bushes, plants, shrubs, etc.
For Lace Bug control, heavy rain or using a high pressure water spray from a garden hose to knock nymphs off of small plants will help as the nymphs lack wings and cannot return to plants. Target water sprays at the undersides of the leaves where lace bugs are feeding.
Depending on where are treating for lacebugs, there are different options of products that can be used as a foliar spray application or as systemic drench around the root zone. Foliar applications will need to be done repeatedly through the prime season and systemic applications are done once a year to help with overall control.
Insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils are good for treating vegetables, berries, fruits, citrus and nut trees as well as ornamentals, flowers and residential greenhouses.
Synthetic pyrethroids such as Talstar P, Cyonara 9.7 or Suspend SC can be used as a foliar spray on bushes, trees, shrubs, and lawns (non edibles) for lacebugs and most common insects.
For systemic treatments once a year, Dominion 2L would be great to apply as a soil drench around the base of the shrubs, trees, bushes, etc.
When trenching with Taurus SC, you will need to dig a 6" x 6" trench around the outside foundation wall of the home. Next, mix 0.8 fl. oz. of Taurus SC per gallon of water and apply at a rate of 4 mixed gallons per every 10 lineal feet of trench. Allow the solution to soak into the soil and then replace the back-fill, making sure that the back-fill is soaked with Taurus SC as well. Treating across slabs of concrete touching the house (such as a back patio or front porch) can be accomplished by using a hammer drill with a 1/2-inch drill bit. Holes are drilled through the concrete approximately 3-4 inches out from the house and every 12 inches across the concrete slab. Additionally, all piers and supports in the crawl space need to be trenched around, including any points where support for the home contacts the soil. If the piers are hollow blocks you also have to drill a hole in each pier to treat the inside space where termites could potentially travel up without hitting the treated soil around the pier. The interior crawl space wall will need to be trenched as well when treating an active infestation. Bora-Care can also be applied to unfinished wood for both termite prevention and to protect wood from active infestations with the active infestations use rate being 1:1.
No, Taurus SC is not a wood treatment product and would nto be used on the wood floor or piers. If you need to treat for or protect against subterranean termites you must use the product as it is designed and labeled to be used, which is in 6 inch wide by 6 inch deep trench dug around every pier and foundation point that touches the ground. You can see how to do the full Subterranean Termite Treatment in our Guide. If you have an existing subterranean termite problem, you would need to treat the soil and give up to 90 days for the colony to be eliminated. If you wish to treat the subfloor and raw exposed wood for prevention and protection, you would use a product like Boracare either after the 90 days of soil treatment, or if you are doing prevention only with both products, you can use the Boracare on the wood right away.
If you need to control termites that are already inside the home, then you will need to spot treat those areas of activity with Taurus SC Termiticide or another product to insure they are controlled. A soil treatment for subterranean termites may not control termites that have already entered the home. If you have drywood termites, then you must control the colony directly at the site.
Most folks will use a ready-to-use product for spot treating colonies inside the structure, such as Termidor Foam.
Annual retreatments or touch ups of Taurus SC for trenching is not permitted per the product label. Follow up or "touch applications" should not be applied unless the circumstances listed below occur. If spot applications or retreatments are needed, any weed control fabric material, rocks, mulch or barriers would need to be removed for the retreatment.
Per the product label: Retreatment for subterranean termites can only be performed under the following circumstances:
1. There is clear evidence of re-infestation.
2. There is disruption of the treated zone due to construction, excavation, or landscaping and / or there is evidence of the breakdown of termiticide treated zone in the soil.
If only a few drops of diluted solution of Taurus SC Termiticide actually went into the pool, it should be fine since it is so very diluted by the pool water. For further questions, you can call Control Solutions at 281.892.2500.
Taurus SC if only used as a surface spray around the perimeter of the home should only last about 2 months, however if used as a termite soil treatment the product will last for up to 10 years to protect the home. The manufacturer recommends not growing anything within 1 foot of where the product was used, and if the product was used as a spray only, you would need to wait 1 year from the last application before growing edibles within the soil where it was applied.
