I do all raised beds or container gardening as I live on a rock. (no dirt deeper than 2") Ants have invaded my containers. I don't want to use poison as I garden for birds and butterflys also. Right now I can't plant, weed, or get anywhere near the beds or containers. Any ideas on how to get rid of the little critters without poisoning ever other thing as well? I have both fire ants and those little bitty ferocious biters.

I am a new member so probably can't help much but I used to have terrible ant problems when we had a mulberry tree which I assume was due to the syrup it produced. When it was cut down they disappeared - is there anything like that in your garden which might attract the little blighters ?

Love from Newcastle, UK xx

hi leander! sorry to hear about your ant problem. i once lived in Texas, and i just hated those nasty buggers . well looking online i found a product called "orange guard" its said that it will rid you of your fire ants without harming you or the animals. now i have never used it but i was checking something out for someone else and thought about you and your dilema. i found it on wormsway.com or just a search will give you a ton of results
good luck,
Renee'

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True INSANITY will never admit itself.(forgive my misspellings)

i used to live in DAllas and worked at a horse stable in Plano, so lots of fire ant hills. We would take a shovel, dig into one nest, put it on another nest and visa versa. The ants are very territorial and will kill the invaders. It worked for us.
Barb

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Barb
Southern coastal North Carolina
http://community.webshots.com/user/safari_barbie

This may sound smelly and gross, but then again most pesticides are smelly and gross, but this will work without harming any wildlife...not even the ants.

Most insects including ants HATE niccotine!
Make yourself some sun tea using ciggerette butts!
A pub would be a great place to collect them, if you don't know a smoker. Lets it steap util the water turns a nasty brown color, then water the area which you are trying to rid of ants.

If you have a deep colony you may need to concentrate the mix by boiling it down then soaking it is. I would do this outside on a Coleman stove as it STINKS!!! But it does work!

To get an idea how much ants hate the stuff just draw a circle around an ant on pavement with a lit ciggerette, the ant will not cross the circle!

Hope this helps

Mike

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Mike Maier
aka
The Plant Doc

These guys are fire ants. I use nematodes for general bug control in the yard. Doesn't faze the mounds, but I've never tried drenching them. I don't get ants in the house or even on the decks. I am going to try the nicotine drench. It won't hurt the plants will it? Nematodes spray is on my to-do list for next week so I will give that a go. Thanks for all the good ideas. I WILL WIN!

The nursery just calls them "beneficial nematodes". How can I tell if they are alive? I've always thought it was a leap of faith and hoped I wasn't being scammed.

Buglady, You are a wealth of information.! Thanks so much.

Thanks for the post! But neither TX & M or University of Florida recommend grits for fire ants control. They have done research and found them ineffective.

here is one link Laboratory Assay of Effect of Instant Grits and Malt-O-Meal for Imported Fire Ant Control

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The Buglady
Suzanne Wainwright-Evans, www.bugladyconsulting.com
Educating the world... one bug at a time