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No problem, terracore. I used the recipe that they gave me with the Provaunt at CPS and the mixing method (BIISC) I described above.
For 1 gallon of gel matrix:
75 fl. oz water
50 fl. oz. vegetable oil (corn was recommended, but they say any fresh veg oil works)
3 table spoons xanthan gum
10.8 teaspoons protein based product (peanut butter is cheapest and easiest to find)
7.1 (0.8 oz.) teaspoons Provaunt
Mix as in my previous post.
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How thick is the mixture when you are done? The HAL says it should be like mayonnaise and I'm wondering if I have been doing something wrong with the xantham gum. It seems to be that consistency but my zep sprayers don't last even a single use. Maybe the two bucket system is what I need.
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It was close to mayo, perhaps a teeny bit thinner, and it stuck well when sprayed. Also, I was very patient with the drill mixer, making sure there weren't any lumps in either of the two mixtures before I combined them. The directions from CPS also said lumps could be reduced by using a sieve, but they didn't say what gauge or type to use.
I put out six chopsticks with peanut butter early this morning, and five minutes ago, four previously badly infested areas were showing no ants at all. One of the two still showing ants was a garden/orchard patch that I only treated outside its periphery, and the other was near a brush pile that I thought I had treated thoroughly. Mayby I just need to be more patient with that second one. Any recommendations about treating food producing areas? What is safe and works?
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So you put the xanthan gum in the oil with the peanut butter first, then mix in the water/Provaunt? I had been putting the xanthan gum in the water mixture (with the oil last), which I think was what the HAL site said, and had trouble getting it to dissolve.
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Yes, Midnight Rambler. I was told that this is relatively new, and not the way they taught it at their early workshop classes.
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I do pretty much the same thing, but I use boiling hot water to start. That helps the water, oil, and xanthan gum to mix easier. I mix it for at least 15 minutes before putting in the Avaunt (haven't tried Provaunt yet) making sure that it first has cooled down to a warm temp so as not to damage the main ingredient. Then I mix for probably another 15 minutes. Taking the strainer off the end of the zip sprayer doesn't change the fact that the sprayer mechanism has very small passageways. It only takes 1 small lump to clog, so spend extra time mixing to make sure that ALL the lumps are gone. Then mix some more.
My sprayers have lasted through about 6-8 treatments so far....
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Yeah, mine always clog in the complex mechanism around the pump and the tip. My first sprayer kept clogging so I got a new one after I struggled through the first application. Weirdly, I've gone through about three more sprayers that each broke completely and irreparably within about five minutes of starting, but that original one is still going, though it doesn't keep up a good spray for very long and I have to keep taking it apart to clean.
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quote:
Originally posted by Chunkster
Any recommendations about treating food producing areas? What is safe and works?
You probably want to just stick with Tango for that. It's basically nontoxic so you don't have to worry about where you get it. It worked surprisingly well at my place in knocking them back hard across the property, but the last holdouts don't seem to go for it anymore so I'll probably try the Provaunt next. I was also using the liver powder before, and I think I'll switch to peanut butter.
