What is the safest thing to use to get rid of them? TIA

if you can see the individual mounds then do the fire ant shovel shuffle.

get two shovels. take the tops off of two mounds and transplant the ants to the other mound

Hot Water... takes some effort, and usually at least 2 tries, but it works. They don't like being disturbed either. A day after your first hot water dose, you will see the big pile of dead ants but there will be plenty live ones left.

Some people use fire ant bait outside of the garden. My opinion is that if you do kill them this way, the ants have brought in a toxic bait into the garden for you.

use this or make your own. any where that sells organic garden supplies should have it or another orange oil based formula.

AntiFuero

Original orange oil based formula designed to drench and condition soils contaminated by mound building insects. Anti Fuego-A mixture of Molasses, Orange Oil, Phosphoric Acid, Urea & Water. This pleasant smelling mixture of non- toxic food and feed grade products kills insects with a smothering, dissolving, biological activity. It is also a foliar feed, soil conditioner and fertilizer.

Try dried molasses of liquid horticultural molasses. Spread it over the whole garden 20 lbs per 1000 squ feet. There's something about the organic activity it fires up that they don't like....

Pour a generous serving of raw/uncooked grits on the mound. I've found this to be very effective and don't think you can get any safer. Make sure it stays dry though.

My mom used chemical pesticides to kill bugs in our vegetable garden when we were kids, and apparently the chemicals aren't that bad for you...all my siblings and I graduated from A&M. Don't be so paranoid. Do some internet research, find an effective treatment, follow the directions, etc.

There are probably some organic solutions out there, but your best bet will be granules, which will be effective and minimally toxic to humans.

I love pouring boiling water on fire ant mounds.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

if you have never used orange oil on exoskeleton insects you are in for a treat. you can see it eating away they body as soon as they come in contact.

PS. Fire ants aren't bad for the garden. they can actually be beneficial to the plants. so unless they are in a bad spot for your wife you really don't have to do anything.

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PS. Fire ants aren't bad for the garden. they can actually be beneficial to the plants. so unless they are in a bad spot for your wife you really don't have to do anything.

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Agree... I suspect lots of gardeners have just learned to live with them. They eat any other insect they can catch.

Me... I disturb the heck out of them. Sometimes they move on, but at the least their mound stays small.

I just use Amdro in mine /shrug

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PS. Fire ants aren't bad for the garden. they can actually be beneficial to the plants. so unless they are in a bad spot for your wife you really don't have to do anything.

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Then why do they gather en mass at the top of the pea pod (blackeye, purplehull, crowder, etc.)? I think its because that is the easiest way to extract the sweet secretions (and sting the h*ll out of you) that will seep from the pod right at the stem. Or, do the little effin monsters just like my pea patch? I hate the little bastages!

[This message has been edited by glm97229 (edited 4/27/2009 12:53p).]

i guess i should have stated that differently.


Fireants are not bad for the garden, just the gardener.

[This message has been edited by RBoutdoors (edited 4/27/2009 2:52p).]

These fire ants are bad for my wife. We can't even find the mound on them. I'm going to try the orange oil.

+1 for just using whatever chemical works. I have used most of the over the counter fire ant treatments with no ill-effects on me or my mutant children.

So you're saying you're not really short?

Sorry, couldn't help it.

and why do they call you shorty?
a little chemical OD maybe

Use an organic type product if you will be consuming the product.
It just makes sence!


and I'm just spoofin with you shorty!

You can lead a horse to water,but you can't lead a Horticulture

Orthene....It says not to disturb the mound but I like to kick and sprinkle. They are dead in thirty minutes.

If you sprinkle a trail around the edge of the garden it will get them coming and going as it attacks their nervous system.

[This message has been edited by sunchaser (edited 4/27/2009 5:40p).]

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get two shovels. take the tops off of two mounds and transplant the ants to the other mound

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I will be doing this soon, just so I can say I did, and to watch the chaos.

Malathion or any pyrethrine pesticide will work within minutes.

Just follow directions and it will be safe.

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We can't even find the mound on them. I'm going to try the orange oil.

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An orange oil approach requires that you get contact on the queen - if you can't find the mound, this is likely to be difficult. Use a spinosad-based (organic) bait such as Green Light, Safer, or Ferti-Lome Come and Get It.

If they're gathering on your plants, check also for aphids - fire ants have been known to "farm" the aphids for their honeydew.

I'll 2nd the Orthene use. The most dead ants for the $$, and it is agriculture/crop rated (though the cans marked "Fire Ant" poison will not have all uses listed).
Little bit goes a long way.

Beneficial nematodes?

You should have stocked up on Diazinon.

As a bonus, orthene rubbed into a fabric car seat is the worst possible prank ever.