Fire ants in my vegetable garden

[Mike]

I've got a fairly severe problem with fire ants getting in my vegetable garden. I've never dealt with them before because the old house didn't have fire ants. The new one does and they're everywhere!

I'm wondering what y'all do to get rid of them, or at least slow them down some. It's almost to the point where we can't even harvest the okra anymore. Every okra we cut off has a half dozen to a dozen fire ants on it. Also, my legs are all kinds of torn up from weeding this weekend with those little critters everywhere. I'm sure they only get worse from here!

On the rest of the property we use Amdro to get rid of them but I'm wondering if there's something I can do that's a little more vegetable garden friendly, or is Amdro safe to use on gardens? I read something (maybe on the packaging?) that said it's not.

Any suggestions?

 

[Meadowlark]

It is definitely a problem. I use Amdro outside the garden space. Inside the garden space I use hot boiling water on them and always disturb their nests. They tire of that quickly and move elsewhere where I get them with Amdro.

For this to work, one has to be vigilant in disturbing them and making them understand the garden is not habitable space for them.

By the way, my six foot tall okra plants were all flattened by the storm...but they seem to be turning towards the sun and blooming today. Very resilient. Fried okra yesterday and today and until we can get to the store for some groceries!

 

[Mike]

@Meadowlark, that's kinda what I was thinking about doing. Basically surrounding the garden with Amdro and hoping they venture out to find it. Good idea about continually disturbing their nests in the garden, though. That hadn't occurred to me.

We'll be eating fried okra for the first time tonight. The last several days have been the only time that we've been able to get enough to make a meal out of and we've probably got enough to eat tonight and freeze some for later.

What variety of okra do you have planted? My plants are only like four foot tall. Might need to try another variety next year. Someone told us there's a purple looking variety that's very tasty so might want to try some of those next year too. I wish I would've done a variety of different things this year, being our first year in a long long while, just to see what we like best, but we were just interested in getting anything we could into the ground this go-around. Next year there will be a lot more thought behind it (I hope).

Anyways, thanks for the tips on the fire ants. Definitely gonna have to do something. They're tearing the okra, and more importantly my legs, to pieces!

 

[Meadowlark]

What variety of okra do you have planted?

Two kinds: 1) Jambalaya and 2) Beck's Big Buck Okra

The jambalaya is a hybrid that is arguably the greatest producing okra available today. Also, i like how the pods stay relatively tender even as the pod grows.

Beck's Big Buck Okra was introduced to me by @Chuck who grew this same variety from seeds he saved over several years dating back to the originals introduced here, as I understand it. It has very different large shaped pods which are easy to harvest with a pop...and very good eating.

 

[Tetters]

Oh cripes! I left the worst ants I ever met in Australia when I returned to the UK. Right now we seem to have a big increase in ants generally, and I begin to think that they are in competition with certain other creatures who are trying to overrun the western world. About now, so it says in the local rag, is the right time for them to begin their mate searching flight. Pity we don't have as many bees and butterflies...

 

[Mike]

I don't mind having some ants as they do provide some benefits to the garden. I've read they can help with pollination and they certainly do their part to minimize other types of insects. However, these fire ants are relentless! There are millions of them and they're, literally, eating my crops away. Before our okra started producing as many as it is now, every one we'd pick would have holes in it and ants would come swarming out as soon as we picked it. Not good!

So, the plan isn't necessarily to eradicate all ants. I just wanna at least be able to slow them down a little because I didn't plant enough okra for me and them! I'll know better next year!

 

[Mike]

So evidently the tip about disturbing the mounds in the garden was a great tip! Thanks @Meadowlark! I'm not sure where the ants have moved to, but the nests are gone from the garden and there aren't nearly as many ants on my okra now. There are still some, but not nearly as many as what we had before. They're at least manageable now. Best part is I haven't even put out any Amdro yet so that could help out even more.

I did have a question about that, though. How close are you willing to get to your garden when you put the Amdro out? I was thinking leaving a good five to six foot gap between the Amdro and the garden. Is that enough? I just don't want to get any kind of poison into the garden.

 

[Meadowlark]

Yes that gap is what I do...but I would do more in an area that drained directly into the garden if any existed.

 

[Anniekay]

When I moved in here I had 3 mound that were 2' high and 3' wide. Nobody before me ever treated them

What did I do?

I called an exterminator. My guy Brian comes and sprays the property every spring. It's a barrier that keeps the fireants from surfacing. When they try to come up, they are killed. The stuff doesn't harm people, pets, or other insects. It doesn't even kill other ants.

I highly recommend it. Costs me $250 for my half acre yard, but... buying fireant killer is just a total waste of money because they just come up somewhere else.

 

[Mike]

Do you know what the chemical is they're putting down?

 

[Anniekay]

Do you know what the chemical is they're putting down?

No, but I trust Brian, he knows I'm not wanting things that would poison my garden. It only has an effect on fire ants, nothing else.

It's mixed with water and sprayed over the entire yard. Disrupts something in the ant's system when they contact it, is all I remember about it. Only exterminators can buy it, Not available for retail sale, because it works. Retail all you get is junk that doesn't get rid of them all.

I have reular ants, worms, pill bugs, earwigs, all the other creatures you normally have in your garden, all alive and well, so I'm really happy with it.

 

[Mike]

Only exterminators can buy it, Not available for retail sale, because it works. Retail all you get is junk that doesn't get rid of them all.

This is why I was curious if you knew what it was. My cousin's husband has a license to buy/spray/apply pretty much whatever we need. I'm just not sure if he'll know what I'm talking about. Guess we'll try to find out! Thank you for the reply.