ant killer in a no spray garden
sammy zone 7 Tulsa
7 years ago
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sammy zone 7 Tulsa
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Citrex Fire Ant killer ?
Comments (5)Michelle I also had fire ants inside my raised beds, and ended up using Spectracide's "Once and Done" after taking some other steps first. I read many warnings about NOT using fire ant killers on fire ants that are in the garden because the vegetables can absorb the poisons if put there directly or if fire ants bring it back to the mounds in the garden from elsewhere. So I heavily watered the beds every day for about 3 days, which drove them away from the mounds. They'll leave if they're often flooded. Then I "painted" orange oil, a fire ant repellant (which also kills them by dissolving their exoskeletons if sprayed directly on their bodies) on all the surfaces of the raised bed framework. I didn't allow any of the orange oil to get on the soil since it also kills earthworms and vegetation. It took only about four days to drive them out of the beds so they didn't return, but they set up mounds not too far away. THAT's when I used the chemical, scattered it around the mounds. A lot of trouble, yes, but I was so concerned about poisoning my vegetables and us that it seemed the best way. Now my beds are fire ant free....See MoreAnt killer (bifenthrin) on vegetables
Comments (2)Thank you. That's a little technical for me, but it looks like it is not absorbed into the plants. That's good. The label says to wait 3 days to harvest. A rep. from the Green Light company told me that it is safe on vegetable plants and will not harm the harvest. I'm not happy that I did it, but sometimes accidents happen and I'll be much more careful in the future. Fertilizer and ant granules can look similar. In this case, I was lucky. Thanks again....See MoreCitrex Fire Ant Killer
Comments (12)shellva, Did you succeed in destroying the fire ants? I live in Newport, NC on the Coastal Plain and after moving here from Virginia, I found some of the same challenges you did. I kill the fire ants in my garden and yard with spinosad. I tried Conserve in the winter on the warmer days when the temps were above 65 degrees but it never worked. When the weather warmed up in the spring, I used the Garden Safe brand that I got at Walmart and it works in 24 hours. Dead colony and Queeny. I'm not sure if it is the brand or the warmer temps. Pure D-Limonene (Orange Oil) sprayed with a sprayer worked in the yard in the winter with a couple applications and looked like it was slowly working after repeated sessions in the raised bed of the veggie garden. The raised bed colony was the worst to eliminate. Before Garden Safe I tried every "solution" I could find in the forum or by googling. Boiling water worked with new colonies in the yard, but not in the raised bed. Flooding with hundreds of gallons of water for many days did nothing. They laughed at Cayenne and Paprika. Diatomaceous Earth seemed to irritate them if sprinkled directly on them. The next day they danced on it. They ignored Sugar water solution completely. The best one was daily applications of human urine. The wife really like that one. :) It drove them deeper for a few days and they held their noses....See Moredon't use bug spray on killer bees?
Comments (10)Yeah, I saw that too; first time I had ever read or seen that kind of comment... caught my attention also. The phrase is worded in such a way that the "legal-ist" among us might have a field day. Such as defining, "Officials" (who??) and "most" wasp & hornet sprays. In my judgment, I would tend to disagree with the news quote. While it could be argued there may be better solutions (pardon the pun... such as a dish-washing soapy water spray), I'm not at all sure that what most of us think of, in terms of common "wasp and hornet" sprays (Raid, Ortho, etc.), could be used without causing more alarm among the colony. Since these type sprays attack (almost, instantaneously) the nerve system of the insects, alarm pheromone release seems most unlikely to me. I'd be interested in talking to any entomologist (as opposed to nebulous, "officials") who's actually done any scientific research into this aspect. Labeling directions on these wasp and hornet sprays also state they're good for use on bees: "FOR OUTDOOR USE: To kill paper wasps, yellow jackets, mud daubers, bald-faced hornets, and bees". And for personal observation (as a beekeeper), I've actually seen wasp & hornet spray used to kill a swarm and I certainly didn't detect any alarm pheromone release (either through the tale-tale banana odor or through the reaction of the bees, themselves). They died rather quickly (couple of seconds at most) without taking flight. The comment appears 'suspect' to me....See MoreOkiedawn OK Zone 7
7 years agostockergal
7 years agochickencoupe
7 years agoNancy RW (zone 7)
7 years agoOklaMoni
7 years ago
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