Fire ants?

Tracydr · August 6, 2016

I have so many ants in the garden this year. I left my tomatoes to sprawl due to being busy and I've lost so many tomatoes to army worms,ants and hornworms.
Now,I can't really even work in the garden due to ants,weeding is impossible.
I'd like to try beneficial nematodes. What time of year would be best to use to cut down on ants for next year? I would worry that it's too hot for them now.
In the meantime,going to try and save a couple of plants but most are pretty gone from recent high heat/humidity and now some disease.
I know how to manage the worms but the ants are another matter.
Would ant traps be a good option? DE? If I put DE down,how much is needed to really cut down?
I'm pretty resigned to losing most of the tomato plants but the peppers and eggplants look awesome right now so I really need to be able to work around them and the ants are keeping me from doing my chores.

kurt · August 6, 2016

From past archives.There are some older ones from before my time in the search pane somewhere.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ight=fire+ants

b54red · August 7, 2016

I would use Amdro if I wanted to really get rid of them and keep them under control. It would take a lot of DE and repeated applications after rain once it dried up again. You can pour boiling water on fire ant beds but it is dangerous and hard work but it will get rid of them quickly but it takes a lot of very hot water. I have often wondered if someone could alter a steam cleaner with a long probe that could inject steam deeply into the ground if that wouldn't be a wonderful way to destroy really large beds quickly. I think it would require wearing some really good safety equipment to do the job without some mishaps with my imagined steam killer.

Bill

August 6, 2016	#1
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Fire ants? I have so many ants in the garden this year. I left my tomatoes to sprawl due to being busy and I've lost so many tomatoes to army worms,ants and hornworms. Now,I can't really even work in the garden due to ants,weeding is impossible. I'd like to try beneficial nematodes. What time of year would be best to use to cut down on ants for next year? I would worry that it's too hot for them now. In the meantime,going to try and save a couple of plants but most are pretty gone from recent high heat/humidity and now some disease. I know how to manage the worms but the ants are another matter. Would ant traps be a good option? DE? If I put DE down,how much is needed to really cut down? I'm pretty resigned to losing most of the tomato plants but the peppers and eggplants look awesome right now so I really need to be able to work around them and the ants are keeping me from doing my chores.

August 6, 2016	#2
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,498	From past archives.There are some older ones from before my time in the search pane somewhere. http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ight=fire+ants __________________ KURT

August 7, 2016	#3
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I would use Amdro if I wanted to really get rid of them and keep them under control. It would take a lot of DE and repeated applications after rain once it dried up again. You can pour boiling water on fire ant beds but it is dangerous and hard work but it will get rid of them quickly but it takes a lot of very hot water. I have often wondered if someone could alter a steam cleaner with a long probe that could inject steam deeply into the ground if that wouldn't be a wonderful way to destroy really large beds quickly. I think it would require wearing some really good safety equipment to do the job without some mishaps with my imagined steam killer. Bill