Safety of vegetables near house after pest extermination?

Hi! This is my first post here at DG and I wish it could be of a more pleasant nature. Be that as it may, I'm hoping someone here can help me. We have a carpenter ant situation in our three season room which is off the back of our home and despite my best organic efforts to deal with them we've decided we now have to bring in the big guns and have an exterminator come in. I'm not thrilled about it, but we can actually hear the little guys in the wall and so they have to go. A question I have is that I have a long tomato patch/row which extends for forty eight feet, and the beginning of the patch is only going to be about 15-20 feet from the foundation of the three-season room where I know the exterminators are going to spray.

Do you think it's going to be safe to eat the tomatoes that are going to be that close to the treated area? The rest of the patch is out further from the foundation of the rest of the house though still parallel to it--probably 30 feet or so. I'm going to be so heartsick if I have to forgo these tomatoes--we just bought this house last year and this was the first year I was able to put a tomato patch in and they are all doing so well--Brandywines, some green variety (name is escaping me) and a few others--but they are just beatiful beautiful plants and some of them already have fruit set.

Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

NIER,
Check with your exterminator. Most pesticides have a time frame between application and the time you can harvest. Ask your exterminator to see the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on the product they are using. Be sure to get it IN WRITING re: plant damage, people damage etc.

Best;
bluelytes

Thank you so much bluelytes! I will absolutely ask for the MSDS--I didn't even know this was something I could ask for :0 .

The exterminator I'm going to have come in uses environmentally friendly treatments to get rid of the bugs. You might want to check into that. That never occurred to me, but I have some herbs right next to the house.

White_Hyrdrangea (how pretty!)--do you happen to know what it is he uses? I'd love to know!

A quick update--the odd thing is, yesterday I had the ants crawling all over the three-season room and up into the ceiling where they then disappeared behind the wall whereupon I'd hear them "knocking" around--today I couldn't bring myself to go into that room until earlier this evening, and wouldn't you know it tons of dead ants everywhere and no more knocking in the wall. I'm thinking that last spring right before we bought the house the previous owner had the house treated and that maybe it took them getting into the walls before they got exposed to whatever it is that's apparently done them off. I'm still going to have the exterminator come and discuss what our options are--if we still have pesticide strong enough in the walls of this house I don't want to have another treatment (and quite frankly, I find the whole thing rather disquieting that it's still working after having last been treated in April of 2005.)

Thanks for your feedback everyone! It's greatly appreciated. :D

When he comes, I'll ask him. Unfortunately I'm going to have to change the appointment. Our local museum is having an exhibit that I just have to see, and the only tickets I could get are almost at the same time.

I was willing to go the pesticide route to get rid of the spiders. I'm allergic to just ordinary spider bites, as well as being terrified of them. I'm glad that I don't have to.

NIER,
Another thing to check is treatment schedule given a particular pesticide. If you use some wimpy, tree hugger kinda bug spray, chances are good, IMHO, that you will have to have the area treated OFTEN, and you wont get a complete kill, which will cost you MUCH MORE in the long run, than if you used a normal pesticide, or a high strength one. Pesticide "A' may require monthly treatments. Pesticide "B" may be twice yearly. Pesticide "C" may be only have to be applied yearly. I know which I could choose, but YOU are the one that has to decide what is best for you, your family, and your situation.

Best;
bluelytes

Niere - I would also check on the health of the wood in your 3 season room. In general, carpenter ants only chew wood which has high moisture and/or is rotting. That usually indicates a leak or bad drainage in an area where there is wood, so that the wood is constantly wet. If the ants are not chewing on the wood, then they are likely only using the void (area between the walls) to finish growing their pupae - not comforting perhaps, but also not damaging to the house, and they'll leave when they are done.

In the second instance, the fact that they are getting into the room is often because there is a tree branch touching the roof or side of the house - a bad thing and often a factor in a lot of ant problems. If at all possible, tree branches and vegetation should always be trimmed back from the house. A branch touching the roof or side of a home might also be a factor in the first case (the wet and/or rotten wood scenario), but if there is wet wood this might be attractive enough without the tree being involved.

Also - and sorry I'm being so verbose - a tree nearby is sometimes where the ants are coming from. Since carpenter ants are active at night, see if you can see them coming from a tree nearby the house by looking for them after dark. If you find the tree they are coming from, the tree can be treated to help avoid future problems.

White_Hydrangea--is the natural pesticide the exterminator uses just for spiders, or a general catch-all pesticide? I don't mind spiders in particular--but then I'm not out in CO (I have friends who live in CO Springs though) and I don't have to worry about the Brown Recluse. The worst thing we have here, if you can even call it that, are the Bold Jumping spiders, and if I find one in the house I usually just try to shoo it outside.

Btw--I'd stay away from the film "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"--not a good movie for people with spider issues. ;) :D

bluelytes--I hear what you are saying. I just worry about "overkill" because I have a three year-old and a one year-old. I think pesticides are always a tricky business--I don't always trust their safety and it always seems that one or the other is being pulled after having been used supposedly safely for years and years. I"ve had great success dealing with little regular ants by just putting powdered cinnamon anywhere where I think they may be coming into the house. It seriously works--doesn't kill them, but keeps them away. I'm just trying to keep our exposure to pesticides down to as little as possible. But by the same token, I really don't want our house falling apart due to carpenter ant galleries, and they really just are gross to see anywhere in your home. :p

Night_Bloom--you are absolutely correct, and after much inspection we've discovered where they are coming in from. Without getting into too much detail there's a structural problem where one of the walls meets the foundation and the wood is not covered by siding, and thus we can see that moisture has found its way up underneath into the wood. I know it's something we are going to have to address asap.

I'm also pretty sure I know where at least two nests are, so I probably will have those areas treated just to be sure. :)

Thanks everyone! The exterminator is supposed to be here between 11:00--1:00, so that means around 3:00 p.m., right? ;)

NIER,
Well, lets us know what happens!!!

Best;
blue

I would check with the person doing the application. If they are going to do a foundation spray, I would cover the plants to be extra safe.