Termites and Fire Ants oh my

13 years ago

So if you read my post earlier I had my indeterminates planted about 8" from each other (no typo) and I decided I would do the florida weaving method for support and transplant two of the plants out of my little raised bed and I noticed a puslating pile of what looked like white worms with ant heads so I took the gob up to lowes and it was confirmed that I did indeed have termites I was told not to worry that they wouldnt eat my plants but after they had consumed all of the mulch in my garden they would move else where to find another food source (when the wind dies down I will be treating the perimeters of my home) so I just bought some organic insect killer by Garden Safe I sprayed the surface of the soil and gave the foliage of my little plants a good dousing and I hope this kills my ants. But I was told that there isn't anything strong enough to kill the termites while they are in my tomato patch unless I want them tainted

Comments (13)

yomama1
13 years ago
That is a scary story but it would be easier to read in the future if you took a breath or used the period key to separate your thoughts into sentences thank you

:)
brandywinebree
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh thank you for all the helpful advice yomama Im sorry if it is hard to read then just click off of the thread ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. are those enough periods for you?
Related Discussions
Fire ants right now in my raised bed soil. What to do?
Q
Comments (17)
DE isn't harmful to the lungs unless you make a point of fluffing it into a cloud and then inhaling it. DE from fresh-water sources (Food grade) is less irritating to the lungs than DE from salt-water sources. You can use one of those common dust masks if you want. I've used DE on our version of the fire ant, the thatch ant. I tried everything I could think of: boiling water, vinegar, bleach, poisoned sugar water, poisoned meat. I got a pound of DE and sprinkled it over the mounds. It slowed them down, but didn't stop them. Then I found a fifty-pound bag of DE for $15 and got it. Since DE is quite light, it's a BIG bag. I took a 3-lb coffee can and coated the mounds with DE half an inch thick. If it didn't penetrate their carapace, by golly, I was gonna make 'em CHOKE on it! Well, I guess I had put it on thick enough (!) so all the ants were forced to wade through it and take it into the nest area to the queen. It got them, and they haven't come back. And I see no mounds anywhere else, either (in the past, I had annoyed them so they moved). The stuff is cheap, and non-toxic to earthworms, bees, pets and kids. It's safe to eat, and it even contains trace amounts of desirable minerals. It works by sucking the moisture from the insects' bodies, including fleas and cockroaches. If you looked at DE under a microscope, you would swear you were looking at sharp shards of glass. Some information says it takes one to three days to kill the insects. DE only works when it is dry. And because it acts physically, not chemically, the insects can't become resistant to it. To make sure you're getting the non-toxic kind, make sure it says something like CODEX FOOD GRADE. Call around to your local farm supply stores -- some of them should carry it, as farmers like to mix it with grain and feed it to their livestock, as it's also supposed to help keep flies down. NEVER get the kind that is mixed with an insecticide, or the kind that is used for swimming pool filters. Stick to the food grade kind. Sue
...See More
Aphids, ants, and flea beetles, oh my
Q
Comments (11)
Actually some ants do bring the aphids to the plants, others are opportunistic farmers. It's misleading to talk about ants, or aphids, as if they are all the same. There are thousands of different, unique types of ants in the world and they don't even all eat the same things. There are populations of aphids that are winged and fly to new plants, others are carried by ants. The OP probably has both types occurring. There are some cases where I ignore aphids happening, like trees and sunflowers, since large plants often don't seem to care. Also some populations of aphid are not large enough for me to bother with. Anyway, for the OP's particular case, I would say if the ants ignored the bait, then it isn't the right type of food for them. Baits can be protien based or sugar based. Sugar based baits are probably appropriate for the ants in question, but even that may not be enough to get them to sample it. Since they are feeding on honeydew, it is likely that these ants will go for a bait that is in a liquid or at least gel, form. I think you can find baits and traps online that will work. I made a homemade bait of sugar water and borax that worked pretty well last year, but you have to be careful with the borax. It's pretty much harmless to us and most wildlife, but the plants really don't like excess boron. Don't know if any of that will prove useful to you in the long run, since a lot of what you are seeing sounds environmentally based. But sometimes a little intervention can give a plant enough energy to survive until the weather or soil get to be more copeacetic.
...See More
Weevils on Rhodies - Ortho Home Defense Max Termites CarpenterAnt
Q
Comments (13)
You are dead wrong in your supposition, wynsworld. The people you will talk to when calling the information hotline are in the business of helping people like you use their products properly, safely, effectively, and legally. They are one hundred percent willing to tell a caller that they MUST NOT use their product in a certain way because it may: damage the plant, not do the job the user intends, harm the user, harm non-target animals, harm the environment, or be illegal. Ortho has nothing to gain from people who get themselves into trouble by misusing their products and a great deal to lose. That number is the very first place you should go to for good information. Look on the label and call the number listed. If you have never done so, you might be surprised. I've called them many times over the years, mostly to see to what they had to say about certain off label uses. I've never had a sales job pulled on me, but have been given a great deal of good information....mostly in the form of "NO, you cannot use our Ortho product for that use." But plenty of times to explain how to safely use it for something that might not be listed on the label. Chemical companies spend multimillions of dollars in research in order to produce their products and the labels that are considered federally legal documents. They want their customer to be successful and will help you to that end. On the other hand, if someone wants to do something dangerous or even non-effective with their product, they'll tell you immediately that you cannot. I suspect that they will be happy to bless your use of this pesticide for your purpose, and why not take advantage of their insight? They have an awfully lot at stake that you will be satisfied with their pesticide and live to tell the story. ;-)
...See More
I have termites AND carpenter ants
Q
Comments (19)
Last weekend we found some bugs in the house and I thought they were termites, but it turned out to be winged ants. We called ABC Pest and Lawn to come out to treat the area since we used them for our previous treatment and have a contract with them. They use Termidor. While I was still thinking they were termites, I went outside to look for a tube on the house and found one that ran right up beind where the gutter comes down on the side of our house. It was up about 3 feet! This was a different spot than the area we had treated last year. I checked the nearby termite station and fireants were in there, so termites were present there too since fireants like to eat termites. We had the guy come out from ABC Pest and Lawn and he checked the tube but could not find a spot where they were actually getting into the house - THANK GOODNESS! He also found one of the ants and confirmed it was an ant and not termites. So, they will be back out to treat that area for termites when it dries up (it had rained yesterday morning so it was too wet) next week and I will put bait out for the ants. I had also found where some ants were getting into the weep holes between the bricks on the other side of our house and he suggested that along with the bait that I also use an aspirator (one of those bulb/snot suckers we used for our babies) to suck up some DE and shoot it into each of the weep holes and do a lot of it into the one where the ants are getting into the house. Then he suggested using steel or copper wool to stuff into those holes to discourage the ants from getting in again. It will still allow the house to "breathe", but keeps bugs out.
...See More
vwtx
13 years ago
You might be interested to know that fire ants eat termites and their eggs.
driftwoodtx
13 years ago
I've never had termites in the garden, but I did have a bad case inside my home (before being tented.)
As they crawled out of the walls, I sprayed them with a mixture of water and Dawn dishwashing liquid
(about 1 tsp to 1 qt water). It killed the termites instantly.

Good luck.
robeb
13 years ago
quote:
"Oh thank you for all the helpful advice yomama Im sorry if it is hard to read then just click off of the thread ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. are those enough periods for you?"

You might get more help here if you did post with sentences & paragraphs.

Trying to read through your posts is a chore.

While I'm at it... consider losing some of the attitude. The people here are very much willing to help others out, but you act as though the info is owed to you.
star_stuff
13 years ago
Yeah, no need for that sort of childishness on a garden forum. :-(
catman529
13 years ago
Yomama1...and where is your punctuation?
brandywinebree
Original Author
13 years ago
Im not trying to be childish at all it just seems that there are alot of people on this forum that are so critical about random stuff. I apologize for not using punctuation but it seems to me that a garden forum is kind of a dumb place to have a hen pecking contest,

Im sorry I am the VP for one of the largest fiber operations in TX leaving me with very minimal time to even post questions much less make sure that all my I's are dotted and T's are crossed, and she didn't even offer any helpful advice it was just blah blah blah I think your stupid and I'm smart because I am ever so eloquent and use punctuation marks big whoop my 4 year old learned that this year.

Listen guys I am an extremely hard working business woman who is a mother of four and a leader to many and if this was and email to one of my clients, or sales reps I would make sure all of the punctuation marks that were necessary were there and I had sectioned my thoughts into stanza's and paragraphs but Im doing the best I can with what little time I have life is too short and I can't believe I'm writing this, because this is five minutes of my life spent in trying to offer up some insight to the people on this forum that I feel hide behind their computer and have nothing better to do than to pick fights on local POP servers!

So that being said I bid you adue and just know I really dont want to make garden buddies and I will eventually get the help I need I just use this as a reference point, I hope I didn't offend anyone with this post but if I did get over we are all here to do what............ you got it grow some tomatos :) have a good one!
cyrus_gardner
13 years ago
Termites are everywhere in the ground. Your house, of cours, has to be treated and protected. But you cannot control termites in the field and you should not worry about it either.
As mentioned, termites and ants are not threats for garden plants, though they are inconveniece and annoying to me.
armymomma
13 years ago
I live in Texas and have had VERY good luck in killing fire ants with either:
a. dish soap and water
or
b. dish soap, water and a tbsp of orange oil to a gallon of saopy water for really persistent hills.

People say they just move away and restart elsewhere in your yard, but I'm ok with that as I have kids that are constantly in the yard and veggies in the garden, and I would rather not use pesticides on them. Besides, I figure if I do it long enough, they'll move to my neighbors yard.

and p.s. try and ignore the pickiness, it seems to crop up on here and other forums in cycles...like with the tides.
garf_gw
13 years ago
Proper punctuation and grammar is a matter of common courtesy. Some people simply lack that. As far as fire ants go, I haven't been able to defeat them yet despite using chemical warfare. If anyone has something more effective, PLEASE let me know. If you have ever stepped on a fire ant mound, you know what I'm up against.
billinsc
13 years ago
The fire ants are workin' on my crop too. It's mighty dry here, and they are drawn to the tomatoes as a water source. They drill holes in many of the tomatoes, thus ruining them. I WILL remedy that for next years crop.
Bill in SC
taz6122
13 years ago
It seems to me that a VP of anything would want to convey the message properly. Without using a period once in a while it's hard to get the point across. I agree that reading your posts is a chore. Your lack of punctuation costs us more time, but I can see there are many here with plenty of that. Reading a post over and over just to get the point is not a good way to spend my precious time. Anyway it seems prior posters have given you all the info you need, if you have the time to read it.

Termites and Fire Ants oh my

Comments (13)

yomama1

brandywinebree
Original Author

Related Discussions

vwtx

driftwoodtx

robeb

star_stuff

catman529

brandywinebree
Original Author

cyrus_gardner

armymomma

garf_gw

billinsc

taz6122

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Termites and Fire Ants oh my

Comments (13)

brandywinebreeOriginal Author

Related Discussions

brandywinebreeOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

brandywinebree
Original Author

brandywinebree
Original Author