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Garden Gate:  Fire Ants!!!!!  |
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 2:27:50 PM
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HELP!!!!! Here in South Carolina, we have a HUGE issue with fire ants... apparently they are not native to here but rather are from Brazil. Anyways, trying to find ways to get rid of them, without using pesticides and killing my grass, produce, and making my chickens and dogs sick.
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
6941 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
6941 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 2:45:45 PM
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Shannon I don't have fire ants now but in my previous home I did. MY 3/4 acre was surrounded by 18 acres of open fields so there was no way I could kill them off. Because of MS I don't use any pesticides or weed killers.
The best I could do was to move the ants off my property away from me and my dogs, & cats. Fire ants don't like anything sweet so I dosed them with molasses. They don't like hot peppers so I covered the mounds with cayenne powder. At other times I used boiling water or vinegar. I never killed them off but I did keep they at bay. Every year I had less mounds.
Fire ants are nasty little critters. I saw them climb a tree to kill baby birds. They destroyed the native big red ant that was food for our beloved Texas horned toad all but killing it off.
There stings are brutal and give me chills. I used everything from bleach, aloe, and vinegar - whatever I could get to the quickest to kill the pain.
Sara
Walk in Peace - Live with Joy
FarmGirl Sister #6034 Aug 25, 2014 |
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cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 3:12:40 PM
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I have lived with fire ants my whole life. I didn't realize that they weren't everywhere until a couple years ago when I posted something here and the farmgirls said they didn't have fire ants. My dream.... a life without fire ants, mosquitoes and roaches!
I do a couple of things to manage them....
(1) I sprinkle instant grits on top the mound and about 1 foot around the mound. They bring it down to the queen and they all eat it. Either they can't digest it and it kills them or (what I believe) the grits expands in the stomach and they explode! Pop!
(2) I sprinkle DE (diatomaceous earth) on the mounds in the same way as the grits. The DE acts like shards of glass and pokes holes in the exoskeleton and they dehydrate and die. I use DE in my house, around the outside, directly on my dogs and cats for fleas, etc... I also use DE for internal parasite control in all my animals...dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, goats, pigs, etc.... I even ingest DE myself.
I hope you have good results in getting rid of the fire ants.
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
6941 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
6941 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 3:26:20 PM
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I read something a couple of years ago about how the fire ant is adapting to colder weather. As they move into northern states they are adding more fat to their diet so insulating their bodies.
Sara
Walk in Peace - Live with Joy
FarmGirl Sister #6034 Aug 25, 2014 |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2014 : 6:44:04 PM
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I have lived here on my farm for 40 plus years, and we've always had fire ants, the large ones, and the tiny ones (which are more aggressive than the large), I was was told many years back to pour corn meal around their holes, they will bring it down to the nest, but like Catherine said with grits, they will blow-up
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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sherone_13
True Blue Farmgirl
2460 Posts
Sherone
Evanston
WY
USA
2460 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2014 : 11:31:57 AM
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Move to Wyoming...it's too cold for Fire Ants and Roaches. We do have Mosquitos that will pack you off and eat you for lunch, though.
Sherone
Farmgirl Sister #1682
My Blog
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Women are angels. When someone breaks our wings, we just jump on our broomsticks and fly! We are flexible that way! |
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
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Country Yankee Gal
Farmgirl in Training
22 Posts
Rosemarie
Charleston area
South Carolina
USA
22 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2014 : 2:17:45 PM
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Hi, everyone! I'm a transplanted Yankee, living in South Carolina, and I also have issues with fire ants. We didn't have those in Rhode Island! I have a recipe I recently tried, and it worked very well. I still had some new ant hills a few feet from the old one, but that's because I obviously didn't get the queen. This is a soil drench that is harmless to all but the fire ants as it uses orange oil to dissolve their exoskeletons! This weekend, I'll be drenching several more mounds.
FIRE ANT KILLER RECIPE: In a gallon jug, add 6 ounces of pure orange oil, 1 Tablespoon of unsulphured molasses, and a large squirt of dish liquid. Fill the jug with water and shake well. Pour over the fire ant mound during the time of day when most of the ants are "home." It's best to do this when the mound is small. For a large mound, you may need a couple jugs of this mixture.
As for fire ant bites, those things HURT - and itch! They also leave marks for WEEKS! However, I learned about putting apple cider vinegar on them right away. When I tried that, I applied it several times over the course of a couple of days (starting with immediately after being bitten), and the pain/itch went away in less than 2 days AND I had absolutely no red marks for longer than a few days. Amazing!
Hope this helps!
Rosemarie, Farmgirl #6055
~ Planting Yankee roots in Southern soil
www.sanctuarygardener.com
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2014 : 3:27:36 PM
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We will be trying your recipe here soon! The worst problem with the ants is that I am seriously allergic - and my reactions are getting worse every time! This last time, I had two bites on my toes and my entire foot swelled. Even worse, my tongue started sweeling and my throat started closing. NOT GOOD! Next time they will probably send me to the ER!
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2014 : 6:01:52 PM
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Shannon my friend, PLEASE get a "Epi-pen", they are life savers for people with severe life threatening allerges like you...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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Garden Gate: Fire Ants!!!!! |
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Fire Ants!!!!!
