Fire Ants in vegetable garden

I am trying to find an organic method or fire ant killer to get rid of a large mound of fire ants that have moved into my vegetable garden, into the middle of my sweet potatoes. I tried to use dry molasses, to chase the ants, but no luck. Can anyone please give me some advise that will work? Thank you.

Grits... (Just kidding)

I'm sorry, Karen, I just use Orthene on them. I don't know of any organic way to kill them. Once in the yard/garden, they will probably always be there. I just kill one mound to have them show up somewhere else days or weeks later.

Not so easy to do...but several gallons of scalding water -3 applications does it. That is what I read on an
organic garden site.

This message was edited Aug 6, 2014 11:22 PM

That should boil the ants and the sweet potatoes too! Pass the butter..

Yep, few plants tolerate gallons of boiling water! Next (organic) idea please............

Ken

😏. ..... Well, I figure better to kill the buggers outright to avoid having them merely relocate into more hospitable areas. Yes, some veggies would be sacrificed. I would not eat fruit or plant parts treated with orthene -- so that also is a solution that sacrifices the harvest.

Karen, you could shovel them into a bucket and then drown 'em with water. I have read that cornstarch or powder needs to be on showel and bucket because the ants can't get thru it well. Be sure to protect yourself if you are going to dig up stinging insects. My husband would need EMS and a priest with just one sting.

This message was edited Aug 6, 2014 11:24 PM

Fire ants' nests can go several feet down (10 feet deep according to the link I provided - probably deeper in FL). Not sure you want to do that much digging plus you would agitate them so much that they'd be all over you in a few seconds.

http://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-7052.pdf

How to Get Rid of Fire Ants

7/5/2013 9:08:00 AM

By Vicki Mattern

Tags: fire ants, pest control, Vicki Mattern


How the #@!*% do I get rid of fire ants in my vegetable garden without using heavy-duty chemical pesticides? Are there any home remedies that work?

Shelve the grits, baking soda, club soda, vinegar, molasses, plaster of Paris, aspartame, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and coffee grounds! In scientific testing, none of these home remedies worked worth a lick against the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) — a nasty, non-native species that’s invaded the South, from Florida to Texas, and is expected to spread westward into California.

Although most ant species are neutral or even beneficial, this one can ruin a garden in no time by devouring germinating seeds, tunneling into potatoes and tomatoes, and girdling young fruit trees — and they’ll bite and sting you, too. Drought makes these ants even more voracious, as it prompts them to turn to garden crops for moisture.

If you have just one or two fire ant mounds in your garden or landscape and not a widespread problem, you can do a couple of things. The simplest is to pour 3 gallons of very hot water directly onto the ant mound. This method achieves only about 60 percent control, so you’ll likely have to repeat applications often. Be careful not to splash the surrounding plants or yourself.

For an even more effective way to get rid of fire ants, drench the mounds with a citrus oil and soap solution, a combination that’s repeatedly proved effective. In controlled studies conducted by Texas A&M University entomologists, fire ant mounds still showed no activity nearly a month after the researchers had drenched the mounds with a mixture of 1 1⁄2 ounces of Medina Orange Oil, 3 ounces of Dawn liquid soap and 1 gallon of water. A compound in citrus oil, d-limonene, breaks down the ants’ exoskeletons and causes them to suffocate. The commercial product Orange Guard Fire Ant Killer — approved for use in organic agriculture by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) — also contains orange oil. (For other approved products, check the OMRI website.)

If your fire ant problem is more extensive than a mound or two, step up your response with the “Texas Two-Step” method recommended by Texas A&M University extension specialists for fire ant control in home vegetable gardens and landscapes.

Controlling Fire Ants

Step 1: Once or twice a year, broadcast a fire ant bait product that contains spinosad — a natural metabolite produced by a soil microorganism — as its active ingredient. Foraging ants will carry the spinosad granules back to their nest, and the granules will kill the colony within a few days to a few weeks. For best results, apply fresh granules when ants are active (when the soil temperature is between 70 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit) and rain is not in the forecast. Conserve Fire Ant Bait is a spinosad product approved for organic use by OMRI.

Step 2: If you spot new fire ant activity in your garden or a surrounding area between applications of Step 1, treat individual mounds with either more of the spinosad granules, the Medina Orange Oil/soap solution, Orange Guard, or very hot water.

Top Right: When ferocious fire ants invade your yard, skip the toxic insecticides and eliminate them with citrus oil and soap.

Bottom Left: This fire ant mound shows the intricate system of galleries within the nest. If your fire ant problem is more extensive than a fire ant mound or two, the “Texas Two-Step” method will help you get rid of fire ant activity on your property.

Photo By Alex Wild/Visuals Unlimited, Inc

Vicki Mattern is a contributing editor for MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine, book editor and freelance magazine writer. She has edited or co-authored seven books on gardening, and lives and works from her home in northwestern Montana. You can find Vicki on Google+.



Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/get-rid-of-fire-ants-zb0z1307zsor.aspx#ixzz39hwLAWpS

Thanks, Vicki.

Ken

Sounds a lot more doable than hot water (just trying to visualize carrying buckets of hot water from the house to the nest site without slopping it all over the place or yourself or am I thinking wrong on how to transport it).

I think you have it right. Carrying scalding water is not something to be taken lightly.

Ken

Thanks Ken. I just can't imagine heating a large pot of boiling water (I'd rather cook noodles than ants) let alone carrying it outside to wherever the mound is. Maybe you just run hot water in the tub into a five gallon bucket?

I agree with you on the chemicals too - one cup of whatever brand is on sale and done! No waste of time.

I never use Orthene in the raised garden. I have found that the fire ants will always mound adjacent to the paver walls before climbing the walls to get to the garden soil. I just kill the mounds before the ants move up the walls. So far this has been effective. I haven't had a single mound in the raised garden in the three years I have had it - knock on wood.

Ken

Watch out for termites...

My elderly next door neighbor used to use sevin dust for ants. its probably not 'as effective' but he didn't like the ant killer stuff with his dogs so he thought sevin was better for some reason. (safer)

I hate those things. Its is very satisfying to pour boiling water in the next but I don't think it kills them all.