Amdro cannot be used near food crops, or I would recommend that. Do you know where the nests are cropping up? If the nests are elsewhere and they are foraging into your gardens, then that is okay.

Amdro is a very successful bait that when applied properly will eliminate the entire nest in fairly short order. It is also reasonably safe to use, when directions are followed.

(just in case somone tries to talk you into feeding them grits, I'll tell you right now that that is just one more myth, lol)

And Neem oil in a fertilizer sprayer only made them move over a few feet.

May try DE next.

marie99

We used to live in Katy, TX and Lafayette, LA and were continually fighting fire ants. The only non-poison approach that worked for us was applying molasses in either dried or liquid form. I would spread the dried form on the lawn using a fertilizer spreader and on the beds by hand broadcasting. Before I was able to find the 50 lb bags of dried molasses, I used a hose end sprayer filled with un-sulfured liquid molasses and sprayed it on at the highest setting until the sprayer was empty. Then refilled and repeated until the lawn area or beds were well soaked. I swear to you that this worked 100% of the time.

From what I have read, the molasses application significantly increases the amount of micro-organisms in the soil and the ants move to a more steril environment. It required re-application about every 30 days (more frequently if it rained a lot), but that was the same with many of the pesticides that were out there at the time. I understand that there are now pesticides that are supposed to last an entire summer, but as I mentioned, the molasses always has worked and I felt a lot better walking through the yard and garden barefoot after a molasses application (although it did make my feet kind of sticky if I didn't wait a few days). A side benefit of using molasses is that the same micro-orgs that are a nuisance to the ants are beneficial to the soil and therefore the plants.

The best place to find the dried molasses is in a livestck feed store in your area. You can also find it at some garden stores, but they charge a lot more for it. You could also try an internet search for "Kandy Kid Dried Molasses" and you may find a place close to where you live. The best value is if you can find it in 50 lb bags. I was only able to find the un-sulfured liquid molasses in 12 oz jars sold at Wally World. That got a little expensive. Good luck.

Matt

If I can make them move out of my food crops, I'll happily put anything on them. If the DE doesn't work, maybe it will make them move out of the food.

2 years ago we were excavating our garage pad and ground level deck and we disturbed several ant hills. We had lost ants everywhere!!! There we so many wandering around that we had a hard time getting anything done. We sprayed them with RAID to no avail! ( I think they are immune to the stuff!!) Anyway, a friend of ours came over for a visit and to see the progression of our project and suggested that we try her secret formula of Borax and icing sugar. (yeah right.... this is not going to work, right?) Hummmmm.....

Well, off to the store we went to purchase Borax. Came home and mixed up the formula (which is 1/2 borax and 1/2 icing sugar!)and sprinkled it across the main paths of the little beasties. (still thinking ...yeah right!!) The next thing we saw was every ant that crossed the "line of DEATH" stopped to have a nibble and took abit home with them. We couldn't believe our eyes! They love the stuff! (must be the sugar?)

So, to make a long story shorter, we got up the next day and went outside to have a boo........ NOT AN ANT IN SITE!!!! Literally!! NONE!!! They eat some and take a piece home to the queen and they all end up with terrible tummy aches.

It's cheap enough to try, even if it doen't work on 'fire ants'.... but who knows?! I wouldn't think if you sprinkled it around the outside of your garden that it would hurt your veggies and fruit.
Diane

Use a little common sense when it comes to your kids and pets as Borax could possibly make them sick. Just keep them away from the stuff for a day then rinse it away with some water ;)

You can now buy a granular fire ant bait that is completely organic and approved to be used in organic farming - it's approved by OMRI (organic Materials Review Institute).

The active ingredient is derived from a bacteria and is called Spinosyn. Think of it as BT for ants.

The Fire Ant Control I've seen most commonly is made with Conserve - the patented name for Spinosyn. The GreenLight brand is what my local nursery carries and Lowes carries this brand, too.

I've just started using this recently to control a few persistent mounds and in 2 days they are GONE!

I have to say that molasses works well as a preventive and also I've found rich manure compost works well, too.