So it's planting time. And time to start working the yard again. I have some antenna work and some other outdoor jobs I want to do before it gets too hot. We had a great crop of tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos, buttercrunch lettuce and a few other things last spring, which tapered off as the the summer unfolded. I personally think our growing season only extends until about June or early July. Late July and August are just too dang hot for anything. The last few years we've had issues with the Asian stinkbugs that seem to be all over the eastern US lately and last summer our tomatoes that were latest in the season had blossom end rot - a calcium deficiency. Some plants (jalapenos and ghost peppers) produced reliably well into the fall. To this day we have green onion plants big enough to eat paperboys and other small animals if they get too close.
Looking around for a way to get them off the ground, we stumbled across these at Home Depot:
A main goal is to be able to position them around the yard as sunlight dictates, and to get them above ground. I hate it when fire ants make a nest in food plants. I don't want to use insecticides because I don't know what transfers onto the food portions of the plant. But fire ants are nasty creatures. I'd like to figure out how to endanger that species! (Yeah, I know: Save the Ants will come protest. Get in line).
Does soapy water work on ants?
ReplyDeleteI don't like to nuke the yard, either, and when we had a white fly infestation, some soapy water in a garden prayer made them disappear in about two days!
SiG: There are granular baits that you sprinkle around the fire ant mounds (and dampen the granules with some water, IIRC) that they take down into the nest and feed to the queen. I've used it with some success in the Bonifay (FL) area on some rural land out there. You can get it at Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Can't remember the one I used, but I think there were several brands available. It doesn't get into your food, just the nests.
ReplyDeleteI think you mean something like Amdro. That's the classic bait they come running for. It is the stuff I've been reluctant to try.
DeleteI'm planting yams in containers this summer, mainly for the move-around-the-yard feature you mentioned. Plan to use bushel baskets, but may do a comparison planting in one of these. Will check my local HD for them. We have lots of ant here, but fortunately not fire ants -- yet. Thanks for the tip on the planters.
ReplyDeleteYams... gotta try that. I don't know if they grow around here, although I guess with potted plants, it's not like the local soil. Just the local heat.
DeleteHere in south Texas, fire ants are a huge problem. I've used an organic (bacterial?) control which worked well and was ant-specific, but it killed the good ants too. Forgot the name offhand, because I won't use it again.
ReplyDeleteWhat I use now is diatomaceous earth from Lowes (not the pool kind). Put a generous amount on the hill and stir it with a stick. Run like heck. The next day they are usually gone.
I'd suggest a supply of dust masks to go with it, because it's a very fine powder.
That's something we haven't tried! We have some diatomaceous earth in food grade - we'll have to try it this year.
DeleteI've also heard it's good for other insects. Basically wears away their joints.
We had 10" of snow yesterday in *Hoosieropolis*, which was enough to cancel school and make me late for work, but the grass was showing through by the time the work day ended. That may be less desirable than the weather you had, SGB, but I would add that there were NO ANTS of any kind in view. Let alone *fire ants*...heh.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have been doing for our run of the mill, Hoosier ants, when they show up in an inconvenient place in the garden, is pour boiling water onto the nest area. Perhaps that works for your warmer weather cousins as well.
Uncle Milton from Bippus, Indiana
Haven't tried it yet but have been told that a liberal application of cinnamon will keep the ants away.
ReplyDeleteNow that's interesting!
DeleteThanks.
We seem to be having some luck with food grade diatomaceous earth. They seem to find it unpleasant or something.