Fire Ants

Prevention
Fire ants help control fleas, chinch bugs, sod webworms, ticks and termites! So consider leaving them alone in out-of-the-way places. But they also bite, so here are some basics:

• Fire ants prefer open, sunny areas and are attracted to short grasses and dry, poor soil. Use a lot of compost on lawns and in your flower and vegetable gardens. It contains beneficial fungi and microbes that prey on fire ants.
• Plant ground covers and other low maintenance, dense vegetation.
• Mow grass higher and water deeply but less often. Fire ants love scalped lawns!
• Attract predators such as hummingbirds, warblers, certain beetles and horned lizards by establishing biodiversity.

See Habitat for Biodiversity.

Treatments - Soap and Water
Do one or more of the following several times until ants give up:

• Drench with large amounts of water.
• Drench with soapy water (1 cup/gallon).
• Drench with hot, soapy water (1/4 cup/gallon) but remember this will kill the grass, too.
• Drench using pressure nozzle on hose.
• Drench with boiling water. Good for the cracks in sidewalks and driveways but not for lawns or other plants.

Note: When using fire ant treatments that do not involve baits, sneak up on the mound! The queen will be evacuated in 30 seconds after you are detected and go on to start another colony.

Treatments - Alternative
Cedar

• Activate mound with a stick. Put cedar chips or flakes in the mound and one foot around its perimeter. If it stays dry for 3 days, it will act as a fumigant for the mound. Nematode.
• Apply beneficial nematodes for fire ants. These microscopic organisms are a natural predator of the fire ant.

Treatment - A Potential Drench
Drench mound with a mixture of equal parts of Compost Tea, citrus oil and household molasses, mixed in 2-6 ounces per gallon of water. You can also mix 2 tablespoons household molasses and 2 tablespoons orange oil (100% d-Limonene) in a gallon of water. Easy alternative: Products with these ingredients can be found at nurseries and garden centers that carry organic supplies.

Caution: Limit use to fire ant mounds themselves. Citrus oil may harm worms.

See Materials for Compost Tea, Citrus Oil/d-Limonene, and Garrett Juice.

The Truth
No poisons, including baits, are truly effective on fire ant mounds anymore. Each mound now has multiple queens. There are always ‘escapees’ who go on to form other mounds.