Tomato Plant & Fire Ants?

[AlittleSalt]

It looks like it's growing well.

[Worth1]

The one I have is too.

Worth

[Spartanburg123]

Originally Posted by jillian

Did a Google search. Fire ants are omnivorous. Which explains why I had them living inside tomato plant stem. Perhaps the plant was ill and sent them an invite. When I dumped the pot it was inundated with them. I hate these critters. Glad to report the surrender is working. I am on a mission, determined to get rid of them.

That is correct- my statement wasn't meant to exclude the consumption of plant matter. They drag all sorts of crap down into that nest. No wonder the roots love it! The dead ants are also high in formic acid, so that may contribute to a little acidity down there too.

[jillian]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

That is correct- my statement wasn't meant to exclude the consumption of plant matter. They drag all sorts of crap down into that nest. No wonder the roots love it! The dead ants are also high in formic acid, so that may contribute to a little acidity down there too.

At any rate I do not want these in my containers. To each his own.

[AlittleSalt]

Jillian, I understand and didn't expect them in my container. I've let everyone who visits here know about the fire ants in the container. I hate fireants with a passion.

When I found them in the container, I didn't think of a safe way to move the container without dousing it with gasoline or something like that. But then the container would be ruined. I planted the spare tomato plant just out of curiosity. So far, it looks good.

[Spartanburg123]

Guys, get Amdro! It's just crumbled Fritos with ant killer soaked in. They take it down to the queen's chambers, and two days later, BOOM, no more colony! It's a great product!!!

[clkingtx]

It will be interesting to see if the plant does well long term with ants in the soil. Neat experiment to try!
I have used diatomaceous earth for fire-ants before. I have an empty(since my grape vine mysteriously died last year)pot that has them in it. I just bought some DE to put in there, any times I had ants in a planted container, the plants either didn't do well, or they prevented me from picking the fruit, or both. When we moved here, we had probably more than ten mounds in the backyard and several here. Last summer was our first here, and I treated with a heavy duty poison for fire-ants(the one only available for southern states where fire ants are most common) meaning to follow up with the milder poison late-we didn't get around to it, but the only ants left are the ones in the pot, and I am putting DE in there tomorrow.

My hubby has a reaction to their bites, and my daughter gets freaked out and too scared to play in the yard sometimes if she just sees an ant.

The thing that freaks me out about them is their ferocity and their survival ability, especially in heavy rains. It is pretty scary- they float and cling together in huge clumps, and swarm up anything that they come in contact with, biting and stinging as they go! Kind of gives me the chills thinking about it.

[Worth1]

There are far worse ants that could be introduced into our country far worse.
Some so bad you don't even want to think of it.
One kind is so bad they will come in your house and kill your babies and livestock.
Big mean things.
One of my growing areas by the house is now infested with fire ants big time.

I need to get the Amdro this weekend.
Last years wet spring caused an explosion of them.

Worth

[clkingtx]

I never thought I could possibly be thankful for fire-ants; but you are right,
those sound much worse. One good thing we noticed about having fire ants(and we will be able to confirm this year-is they kill most every other bug around.
Our new yard doesn't have ticks, fleas, or nearly any other bugs(except tomato hornworm, pinworms and flea beetles.
We only saw about 3 grasshoppers all last summer-really unusual for this area-usually they are numerous and very large.

Originally Posted by Worth1

There are far worse ants that could be introduced into our country far worse.
Some so bad you don't even want to think of it.
One kind is so bad they will come in your house and kill your babies and livestock.
Big mean things.
One of my growing areas by the house is now infested with fire ants big time.

I need to get the Amdro this weekend.
Last years wet spring caused an explosion of them.

Worth

[Spartanburg123]

There is an ant in Australia called the "Jack Jumper" that actually walks around LOOKING for something to sting! They are about an inch long, jump long distances, and have the most painful stings. Children and pets die every year due to the Jack Jumper. Imagine those in your tomato patch!!!

[clkingtx]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

There is an ant in Australia called the "Jack Jumper" that actually walks around LOOKING for something to sting! They are about an inch long, jump long distances, and have the most painful stings. Children and pets die every year due to the Jack Jumper. Imagine those in your tomato patch!!!

Wow, that is the stuff of nightmares!!

[Gardeneer]

In Atlanta , the fire ants were mostly red. But here they are all black. But the same life style.
They won't bother you if you don't mess with them.
They are miserable hard working creatures trying to survive under rain and flooding.
Sometimes I feel badly when I kill them. I mean no hostility. It is just the battle of survival. Like the old man ( in Old Man And The Sea) said : O. fish ! you are my brother but I have to kill you.