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By Barbara Elmore, HCMG |
Baptism by Fire Ant |
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"I'll be baah-ck."
Yes, it's a cheesy line
borrowed from the
Terminator movies.
Still, repeating it with
each attack on a fire
ant mound gives a
certain satisfaction.
And it is certainly
true.
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Here in Fire Ant Heaven,
you see the mounds
pretty much everywhere.
This amounted to baptism
by fire ant for us; we
moved from a yard that
had none to one that
boasts 20 mounds or
more. So we set off on a
quest for information.
Fellow gardener Judy Tye,
who worked for the Texas
Department of
Agriculture for 20
years, was a fire ant
specialist part of that
time. Now retired, she
fights fire ants in her
own yard. She learned
these things about
controlling red imported
fire ants:
●
Start treating in the
spring, when the ground
heats up to above 65
degrees. Don't try to
kill fire ants after
September because they
are not foraging much
for food then.
● Don't warn the fire
ants you are coming by
poking a stick in the
mound to see if it's
alive, or scraping dirt
off the top. They feel
the vibrations and will
move the queen. And
killing the queen is
imperative to
controlling the spread.
Sneak up on them and
don't be afraid to
gamble a little bit.
Nine times out of 10,
the mound is not empty.
●
Advion, a fast-acting
bait, is the most
effective treatment Tye
knows of on the market.
It takes only a week or
so to work. For
pastures, she suggested
Extinguish, an insect
growth regulator. It
sterilizes the queen to
prevent reproduction
●
Amdro is also available.
However, Amdro is toxic
to fish and thus not
safe around ponds. It
also has to be kept
fresh, because if the
oil on the bait gets
rancid, the ants won't
take it. It's the oil
that attracts the ants.
Store it inside. |
Some of my personal fire
ant weapons and their
results include:
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Beneficial nematodes:
The folks at a native
nursery said these work.
They seemed to, for a
while, and reports I
have read said repeated
use of them might be
more effective than once
or twice use. Results:
Mounds move a few
inches.
●
Spinosad: It looks like
corn meal, has a
chemical smell, and
seems to work in killing
the mounds. Results:
Mounds move nearby.
●
Boiling water: This also
kills grass and other
vegetation. Results:
Mounds move a few
inches.
●
Garden-Ville's Antifuego
Soil Conditioner: This
mixture of molasses,
orange oil, phosphoric
acid, urea and water
smells great. Directions
say to pour it both on
top and around the
mound. My advice is to
be sure to take this
final step, cutting a
pretty wide swath.
Results: Mounds move
close by.
●
Corn meal. A supervisor
at a water treatment
plant said he uses this
on the mounds around the
plant. Corn meal is
cheap. Results: Mounds
move a few inches. |
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See a pattern? You can
make the mound
uninhabitable, but the
ants just move. One
optimistic note is
imported fire ants
reportedly eat ticks. We
also don't see many
fleas. Our dogs enjoy
that benefit as well as
the delicious corn meal
and other special treats
we've provided. |
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