Hi Jessaka,

I have gardened with fire ants (not, of course, by choice) for as long as I can remember....dating back to at least 1984, which is when we bought our first home. I am pretty sure we had fire ants at my parents home in the very late 1970s or early 1980s. There is a fire ant song in Texas, and you can even buy stuffed, plush fire ants. One place in Texas has tried to turn lemons into lemonade by hosting a Fire Ant Festival.

Fire ants are awful when they sting you. It is hard to comprehend a tiny ant can cause such intense pain. Most people have a fairly mild reaction--an instense burning pain immediately after the bite that only lasts a brief while. Most people get a little raised up lump/bump/pustule at the site of the bite, but a childhood friend of our son was allergic and he got a big plum-sized and plum-colored swelling at the bite site and had to go to the doctor for, I think, cortisone shots.

If bitten, the quick application of a paste made of baking soda/water reduces the pain and swelling. Because the pain and swelling are short-lived, fire ants sound worse than they are. By the time you realize what's happened, the worst is over. Don't get me wrong--it does hurt. However, the pain passes fairly quickly and you get over it. It isn't like mosquito bites that can bother you for days or like poison ivy that has intense itching.

Having said that, the biggest aggravation is if they climb up the insides of your pants leg and you don't know they are there until they get fairly high up and start stinging you around the waistband area, for example, and you realize that you really do have 'ants in your pants' and you have to run inside and strip off all your clothes AND kill the fire ants so they aren't running wild in the house. I also hate it when I feel one bite me and I look down and my shoes and socks are covered in fire ants. I usually take off my shoes and socks on the spot, try to shake off all the ants, etc.

It isn't like fire ants attack daily. I can go days or weeks without a fire ant bite. They are just a nuisance.

You can treat your landscape with a product that greatly reduces their population. For the longest time we had to use chemical ones, but there have been various organic ones introduced over the last 10-15 years and some of them have worked and others have not.

The product that has worked best for us is Once And Done, which I think is by Spectracide. It really works, but we've only used it twice....and there was a three-year break in between. I think any product that has kept fire ants at bay for up to three years in an area like ours where fire ants are common is a good product. We haven't used it in about 3 years now, so it is about time to put out something to keep down the population.

My current favorite fire ant products are the ones like Over and Out, Safer Fire Ant Killer and Ecosense Fire Ant Granules that contain Spinosad because they are organic and they work. However, they are a bit slower than Once and Done. On the other hand, I can use them around the fruit trees and veggies, and I don't use the chemical products near areas where I grow edible crops.

With all the rain we've had, you'd think the fire ants would be awful this year. They were for a brief period after the April storm dumped a foot of rain in one day. Since then, though, they haven't been that bad.

It seems to me that we have less trouble with them, even in untreated areas, every year than we did the year before. So, I think as our soil improves, they move on. Fire ants prefer poor soil that is low in organic matter and biological activity, so they won't stick around much in well-improved soil. I have three spots near/in the veggie garden where fire ants are a persistent problem and I guess I need to work on adding more organic matter, including molasses, to those areas this fall to see if we can correct that.

Honestly, Jessaka, compared to the real problems we have with frequent appearances by venomous snakes, bobcats, foxes, coyotoes and the rare cougar....fire ants are just a nuisance and not much of a real threat. They are more of an inconvenience than anything, and they aren't going to drive me out of gardening nor are they going to drive us off of our piece of property.

Over the last 20 years, the products used to treat them (both chemical and organic) have become a lot more effective, so I am hopeful that they will be less of a problem in the future than they have been in the past.

Dawn

I read where some one said their sweet-

potatoes bloomed. I planted slips in late April,

the vines are growing great.
. I also have some irish spuds and they bloomed

good. I am getting excited wondering if I

will have any fruit. The slips came from a grocery

store potato. I plan to dig them later this month.

I am just now harvesting my second crop of radishes.

Still have 2 spaces of onions.Been eating tomatoes

and starting slips from the best producer.

Will I have fruit if they did not bloom. Every vine

looks green and healthy.

Thanks to all .

Caroline

Dawn, pleas forgive me, I did not intend to
post on your post link, I made a new title but I
guess I messed some thing up. I am sorry.
caroline

Caroline, Oh goodness gracious, there is nothing to forgive and you don't have to apologize! I wish I had a nickle for every time I posted something where I never really intended to put it...or posted without linking something I said I'd link or whatever.

You'll get potatoes with or without blooms.

You dig Irish potatoes after the vines die back. If you dig before that, you won't get as many potatoes.

You can dig sweet potatoes any time after they have reached a usable size, and it takes them a long time to reach that size. I usually dig them in October.

Dawn

Thank you Dawn, I feel much better now that I

will be getting some spuds. I will prob wait untill

Oct. to dig mine. I just buy one at a time , I really

like baked sweet potatoes.!! We need rain bad, it's

so dry.

Caroline

Hi, it has been awhile since I have posted in this forum. The subject line of 'Fire Ants' caught my eye. I had my first run-in with fire ants 2 days ago, and I can honestly say I NEVER want a repeat performance.

I was kneeling down by my new garden pond, and my feet must have disturbed the ants and they swarmed me. I had them all over my legs and when trying to rub them off, next thing I know they were all over my arms, stinging over and over. I hobbled over to the faucet, and started hosing them off, and I don't know if I was gasping for air because of panic, or the venom, but it scared me. After getting ants off me, I went inside and ran ice cold water into tub and knelt down til it covered my legs. I was in tears. Worse yet, I got sick. My poor legs burned and throbbed for hours, and my feet swelled up so bad, I couldn't get my shoes on until today. I still have the little blisters and they look awful.

I honestly never in my life thought something so small could cause so much pain.

Thank you, Dawn, for all the suggestions on what to use to try and get rid of these terrors. This was a very timely post.

Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart,
Vickie

Vickie,

I know I haven't seen you posting in a long time. It is good to see you here today.

You're welcome. It sounds like you might be a bit allergic to the fire ants....especially the part about 'gasping for air'.

Look at the linked info about fire ant allergies and see what you think. I think you're allergic. Oh, wait, I said that before....but it is important. Your reaction was a very strong one and a reaction like that can turn into anaphylactic shock, which can be deadly, in no time (a minute or two).

If you read the linked info and agree that you had a stronger-than-usual reaction that indicates you are allergic to fire ants, you need to see your doctor. If he or she agrees (and allergy testing could confirm it if the doctor thinks that is necessary), then you can obtain medication to carry with you and take if something like this happens again. The medication can be as simple as a fast-acting antihistamine, but you may need to carry an Epi-pen. These allergies can be deadly and very quickly, even before medical help arrives.

A couple of years ago a guy who lives at the western end of our county was stung by normal everyday bees (not the more deadly Africanized type), had an allergic reaction and died before the paramedics could reach him. I don't want for that to happen to you.

So, Vickie, you know how I am....I am going to worry about you until you figure out the extent of your fire ant allergy. Compare my reaction--even after 20 or 25 years of bites....I get a few seconds of burning pain and then that little bump that goes away in a couple of days. You had difficulty breathing, swelling, etc. That's a bad, bad sign. So, read the link, see your doctor, and keep us posted so we'll know you're OK.

And, if you are allergic, it is IMPERATIVE that you treat your property for the fire ants because you cannot tolerate too many bites and reactions like the one you had.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Fire Ant Allergies

We lived in the country in Florida for a while. There were ant hills every 5 feet or so. I could not walk outside and stop for even one second. I kept waking up with bites on me, and when I lifted the carpet there was a long trail of fireants storming through the house. The story of the women at a rest home that died during the night due to them sends chills up my spine. Unless that was a fake story, but I believe I read it in the paper. I hate cold weather, but if I had a choice I would prefer Alaska to fire ants in my yard. I remember gardening once and my hand started burning. I don't see well enough in my old age, and when I really looked my hands were covered. I was never so glad to move from Florida. of course we had brown recluse for a while, and i hope to never see them again. I lived where there were cougars, but I didn't venture out at night. I also lived in the Florida swamps or close to it and didn't enjoy walking with my dog due seeing the poisonous snakes and fireants. But it was fun throwing rocks at the ant hills and running. Boiling water in the early morning was pretty cool too.

I hope products do become more effective.

Yes, I really do need to go see my doctor. Having never dealt with fire ants, this was definitely an eye opener. It's been a long time since something has scared me that badly.

For some reason, I always thought fire ants were the big red ones we always see in Oklahoma. Well, I was rudely introduced, and found they are small and very ugly, and I have decided I don't like them at all.

I have been sending the husband out to look for them. I find myself leery of the yard right now. Monday, I plan on getting the supplies you mentioned, to try and take care of them, and that will be a very routine thing from now on. I know this. I cannot do that again.

By the way, Dawn, thanks for worrying. But I solemnly promise I will be very, very careful from now on.

Vickie

Vickie,

The big red ants likely are harvester ants and they are great garden helpers because they carry away garden debris...like the dead bodies of bugs. I have a huge bed of harvester ants at the southeastern edge of my veggie garden. It sure does hurt when they sting (or bite, or whatever it is they do).

I keep liquid Benadryl on hand for bad allergic reactions because it seems faster acting than the pills.....and, since it is made for kids, it has great flavor too. LOL

Dawn