Hello Everyone,
My wife and i are CVM missionaries in southeast Uganda, in Buwama, between Kampala and Masaka. We have a mango tree that quickly developed something like a casing of dirt around the trunk. This happened in about a week. I cant find any insects. It easily disintegrates by hand. Just curious what it is.
On another note i have a nice Urban garden like i learned at echo. Will send pics of both!
Blessings to you all in Jesus’ name!
Davis and MaryKay McGuirt
Looks a awful lot like termites to me. Any damage to the bark of the tree trunk?
Thank you for answering. Ok, that makes sense. Amazing how quickly it developed. No damage tto trunk.
Termites can kill a mango tree if they are severely stressed for water. There are climates that are too droughty for mangoes without irrigation, particularly during the first year or two of establishment. Mulching might help. The termites will eat the mulch but it will conserve moisture.
I second @Dan_Janzen 's comments. Termites are pretty amazing creatures and can build at impressive speeds!
Dan. Thanks. Learning from you. Termites in mango trees-who knew? Apparently ECHO community!
Hi, I am Daniel from Echo. This is termites, I have seen that a lot in Chad. They only build that at night, and they go back to their holes in daytime. I miss seeing those.: grinning:
Thank you Daniel and everybody else! I cleaned the tunnels away and i havent seen any live termites since but I’ve been out there in the daytime only. I did see a few termites in my mulch pile because i had put a few wood scraps in there. I burned those scraps yesterday. There are termites all around this village, with mounds visible.
Hi Davis,
Another thought I had was of a technique another network member shared about using tithonia or neem for termite control in their context. You can see his short article here: http://edn.link/e9qafr
I have heard of network members in West Africa leaving mulch out for the termites because they will often prefer dead wood to live wood, thus they go for your mulch instead of your trees. Anyone else ever heard of that?
There are termites in most parts of Uganda. Mine have mounds that are bigger than bungalows…they destroy crops …but then some enjoy eating the white ants when in season.
I’ve been using free sawdust (super abundant here and not pressure-treated) as mulch and to mainly cover the soil in my raised beds. We’ve been here about 6 wks only so I don’t have alot of data but I saw some termites in my sawdust yesterday but they haven’t returned to the mango tree since I brushed them off.
Hi Davis, I remember my mom using wood ash to repel the termites around the house. but for the garden bed, it might raise the pH due to its high concentration of calcium carbonate, and if that’s something you would like to do for pH control as well as termites repelling, please, test your soil pH before application. Thanks.
