Question for gardeners

[robbyr]

What is your preferred method of fire ant control in the vegetable garden? This year I built a few raised beds and debating on putting fire ant bait in the beds or mixing pyrethrin in a sprayer and spraying them. Need to do something soon.

 

[Sysop]

HGIC 1263 Controlling Fire Ants in the Vegetable Garden : Extension : Clemson University : South Carolina

Dealing With Ants In The Vegetable Garden | Veggie Gardener

 

[sseelhoff]

Napalm.

 

[ustmd]

Orange oil drench. You can get the orange oil at Lowes (in the gardening fertilizer section). You mix it 1/2 or 1 cup to a gallon of water and drench. For containers and raised beds, it works great.

Two great advantages:

1. It smells good

2. No concerns about chemicals affecting your food.

 

[robbyr]

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Don't have them up here as of yet so I have no experience dealing with them. What would happen if you piled a brush pile over their mound and burned it making them into literal fire ants?

 

[jimmyj]

I don't get fire ants but for "regular" ants we use diatomaceous earth with great success. Kills all bugs, isn't poisonous and it's cheap from the farm supply.

 

[robbyr]

Well I wish we could just ship you Northeners a passle of Fire ants.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Well I wish we could just ship you Northeners a passle of Fire ants.

Well it is the one hundred and fifty year anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox so I hear where your coming from but you just keep you danged blamed fire ants to yourselves.

 

[txdon]

I covered a few with ashes from my wood burning stove - it worked, but I need more experiments to verify.

 

[Damifino]

What is your preferred method of fire ant control in the vegetable garden? This year I built a few raised beds and debating on putting fire ant bait in the beds or mixing pyrethrin in a sprayer and spraying them. Need to do something soon.

I use old coffe grounds in my compost pile with good results, should work with your raised beds as well.

 

[jix]

Fire ants : mix 30% Borax powder with 70% sugar. Dissolve in clean water Place in jar lids near ant colony. All ants and nest, eggs, queen ant eradicated in two days, Safe for pets and non toxic to humans. Works every time, if you place it near all colonies. AND it is cheap! Repeat after every rain. Ants will carry it into colony and feed it to larvae and each other, Then DIE!