A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening I need help with fire ants in Texas

I need some help getting rid of fire ants in potatos plants and around my tomatoes. I thought I got rid of the pesty little things but got stung again yesterday. If anyone knows what to do about them let me know. Thanks

Hi and welcome..

Can you please remove your e-mail address, for your safety and the forum rules also Thank you.

Well I don't have fire-ants here but I'll try help, we have regular ones. If you can find the nest, you should buy 'ant grits' to sprinkle over them but do not apply that in the garden area..

I use orange oil to spray around my plants when the ants get bad. I've also bought little ant traps that seem to work as well.

Someone else will be along shortly hopefully to help you more.

Sorry email is removed Thanks

As Tamara said, what you want is a bait type product so they will ingest it and take it back to the nest.

Green Light makes many insect killing products, but as far as I know only one is safe for a vegetable garden and that is Fire Ant Killer Granules2. It is a water activated product which you broadcast about.

Scientists have also developed a type of fly which lives on Fire Ants. You can't buy them, but I've heard they've been released in parts of the US.

Thanks. I will check next time I am at lowes or the feed store.

I've just gotten a publication from the Mississippi State Extension Office titled "Control fireants in pastures, hayfields, and barnyards." It list three active ingredients for fireant control:

methoprene
pyriproxyfen
hyramethylnon

Appartently repeated applications (more than once/year) of these give greater control.

It also lists three brand-name products for quickly eliminating mounds:

High-Yeild Garden, Pet, and Livestock Insect control (active ingredient-- permethrin)
Martin's Permethrin 10% Multi-Purpose Insecticide
Sevin 80 (active ingredient-- carbaryl)

I haven't gotten around to trying any of these yet, but I'm going to have to soon!

Big Mama I live in the Dallas Area So I know exactly what you are saying,, about the fire ants,,
I use amdro fire ant killer,, Now there is a spray you connect to your hose end and spray directly on the mound,, it kills them instantly,
Go to Home depot , lowes, walmart , there are plenty of products there, Ortho has a good one as well,, Be sure to ask for ones safe for vegetables,
I have even used cornmeal as they eat it but can't digest it ~it's takes a little longer to work But it does work!

Do regular ants harm your veggie garden??

No. There are many, many species of ants, very few harm vegetation. When they're present, it's often because you're in their livingroom, so to speak, or because they are collecting the honeydew aphids secrete. In some cases they are helping, removing dead or diseased material or preying on harmful insects, or removing fungus.

Oh, and btw, bigmama, you might want to look into boric acid, or an ant killer with boric acid called RoachProof, or Diatomaceous Earth, to control fire ants. These work well indoors, I'm not sure how well they work outdoors.