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PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 12:23 am 
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Location: Bedford,TX
Can anyone tell me how much it might cost to have professionals eradicate the fire ants from my 2-acre lot? I have spent a small fortune the past few years trying to get rid of them . I have used nematodes, Antie Fuego, and the homemade drench from Garrett Juice and orange oil. I thought that I killed most of them last year, but it looks like they have brought in reinforcements this season. I seem to be losing the battle.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 8:24 am 
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If you keep your lawn organic all year round, by using plenty of mature compost, and a high protein food like corn meal, or dry molasses powder powder on the lawn soil, you should see all your lawn pests eventually go away.

I use a strong compost tea loaded with garlic, onions, hot pepper, orange and lemon peelings, ground cloves, canola oil, and liquid soap, as a generic pesticide ocassionally. This stuff is so econonomical, yet potent, that I have to be careful to only spray in on affected areas, so that I don't kill off my beneficial insects.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 10:10 am 
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Location: Garland, Texas
gjsharon

I think CaptainCompostAL hit upon the recipe when he implied that this will be an ongoing process. I think the true answer is that your pests will eventually diminish in numbers. Not be totally eliminated, but reduced to manageable numbers. Total elimination would not be in keeping with the natural balance.

Stealing a couple of 60's/70's sayings...Keep the faith and keep on keeping on with your current organically based methods and you will see the results...eventually.

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Last edited by Mr. Clean on Wed Jun 18, 2003 12:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 9:30 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2003 10:30 am
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Location: Bedford,TX
Thanks for the advice. Yesterday I made Garrett Juice concentrate and diluted it, after adding citrus oil like Howard said, for the fire ant treatment. I had about 14 gallons of treatments that I drenched them with. There were about 30 mounds.

Of course they didn't all die, but I think I eliminated a lot of them. Today I went around to each mound and treated the ones that had begun to relocate with DE and cornmeal. I really need to get rid of them. I have an older dog who doesn't seem to notice when he decides to sit on one of their mounds.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 23, 2003 1:27 pm 
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Location: Azle,TX
The Logic brand growth inhibitor for fire ants works. Another brand is called Extinguish Professional Fire Ant Control (growth inhibitor also). Worked for me.

Yellow rose


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 Post subject: Fire Ants
PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 10:37 am 
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Location: Dallas,TX
Don't forget that regular applications of molasses will chase them away, and it is always helpful. Fire ants really do hate that stuff. I use a drench of 1 cup each of manure compost, molasses, cornmeal and 1 oz. d-limonene mixed in with a gallon of water to kill off the mounds and with maybe 1 additional treatment, they don't come back. If you can keep the molasses on your soil (every 2 weeks or so with a liquid, which I prefer) and treat with a soil activator like Medina and maybe even add some new microbes with Earthworm you will see benefits and pretty quickly. I treated my parents' acre this year in this manner and saw an 80% decrease in the fire ant population. I recently treated the few mounds that came up so when they die off too we'll have a great baseball field. If you can get a nematode population started after you apply the soil activator you will get a better reaction. Nematodes have a hard time moving through compacted soil, which most of us have around here in north Texas. Good luck. I remember well the frustration. I hope this helps you get rid of the problem, or at least bring it into manageable proportions. My dog doesn't know what fire ants are.


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 12:17 am 
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I am just curious about the ants and molasses. You said they hate it, but don't ants like sweet things like sugar?


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 4:33 am 
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Fire ants eat protein, not sugar. So sugar based baits are worthless while protein based baits attract them.

Using a sugar based drench on the mound seems to either kill them or drive them away. It could be the sugar promotes a bacterial infection on their protein based food that the ants either don't like or one that makes them sick and they die.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2003 8:09 am 
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Location: Salado
One thing about fire ants. They seem so bad after a rain, and then seem to settle down when it gets drier. I always panic after a rain and there seems to be a new bed every few feet. A week later I can't find any beds at all! They are never seem to inhabit our native plant beds. Just in the grass and in the vegetable garden. They also love high spaces, like a hill or a raised bed.


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