I HATE fire ants! I hate them hate them hate them!!!!!!

[KristyHall]

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I have hear of it but I didn't realize it worked on fire ants too

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

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does it really work? i would be afraid i would set everything else on fire in the process

Does it kill you grass along with the ants? We do the gasoline think down yellow jacket holes, but not in the yard! Quite effective!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

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does it really work? i would be afraid i would set everything else on fire in the process

I don't set it on fire or anything, jusy pour a little in the top of the mound and walk away. It kills them dead as a hammer. You can stir the nest the next day and they are all dead. I've found if you do it in the middle of the day, some will escape and just start a new mound somewhere close. I only use a little, not over about a cup full.

The down side is you'll have a saucer sized spot of dead grass for a while, and I'm sure it isn't invoronmentally sound practice.

But I HATE fire ants.

 

[AquaEyes]

I have two suggestions for you. One is possibly not available yet, but check out this article (and look for others related to it....maybe you can purchase these somewhere).


The other suggestion is digging a moat around your pens (would have to be only a few inches) and filling with DE. You'd have to maintain the "moat" by removing any leaves or twigs or anything else that could work as a "bridge" for the ants to cross the DE. Also mix DE on top of whatever you use as a substrate in the pens.

Thoughts?

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Will the DE get rid of them?

 

[FarmCoe]

That's awful!

It happened to me once, but I was lucky enough to save the chick

 

[AquaEyes]

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From what I remember about using DE in the garden is that the broken silicon cell walls of the diatoms of which it is composed acts as shards of glass, which rip into the bodies of arthropods (insects, spiders, millipedes, etc) that walk through them. The arthropods soon die from dehydration. It works as a mechanical killer, not a chemical killer, so there is no need to worry about poisoning anything or immunity developing.

 

[redhen]

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No! DE SUCKS for killing ants... i used a WHOLE bag across my yard..it didnt faze the ants at all.
Dont waste your money...
If you want to really kill them, you'll need a real pesticide...

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

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From what I remember about using DE in the garden is that the broken silicon cell walls of the diatoms of which it is composed acts as shards of glass, which rip into the bodies of arthropods (insects, spiders, millipedes, etc) that walk through them. The arthropods soon die from dehydration. It works as a mechanical killer, not a chemical killer, so there is no need to worry about poisoning anything or immunity developing.

I will have to look into that. Makes sense, with less potential harmful effects on the environment and livestock.

 

[redhen]

When DE gets wet is becomes useless..(from my understanding..)
All i know is i put a whole bag all over my yard and it didnt faze them at all...
(they wernt red ants though..)