I (Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply) had a booth
at MUSC’s Earth Day celebration last week and the number one pest question I
was getting was about the control of fire ants. The first time ever the mole
got beat out of the top spot!
Believe it or not….fire ants are very easy to kill and
manage! You will not eradicate them;
however, you can manage them. There are
many products on the market that will kill fire ants. Some products are more economical if you have
large areas to treat, others do a great job at just killing fire ants, and
other products will kill other insects as well as fire ants.
If you have a large area (16 or more acres) the bait
products are very economical (less than 15 dollars an acre) and effective. You can treat one acre for less than 25.00. Depending on the amount of rain that we get
this summer and fall, you may have to retreat in September. Some bait products are designed to kill fire
ants as well as other ants that are in your yard (carpenter ants, argentine
ants).
It is best to spread the bait over the entire area once the
soil surface temperature reaches 70 degrees.
You also want to keep the bait dry for 24 hours, so watch the
forecast. The ants must be actively
foraging to pick up the bait. You can
determine this by throwing some greasy potato chips or some of the bait itself
on the ground and come back in 10 minutes to one half hour and see if the ants
are carrying away the bait or chips. The
bait products advantage is that it is low cost and effective.
Products containing bifenthrin (Bug Blaster) will give you
long term control of ants as well. With
Bug Blaster you don’t need to worry about rain, or whether the ants are
foraging. Dr. Tim Davis of Clemson University noted that he was getting at
least eight months of control with bifenthrin.
Bifenthrin products are best applied over the entire yard. Bug Blaster’s biggest advantage is that not
only will you kill fire ants, but you will kill army worms, sod web worms,
fleas, chinch bugs, ticks (Lime disease), mole crickets, and many others.
There are many choices on the market; the biggest thing is
determining which product fits your needs.
Notice I only recommend treating the entire yard instead of chasing them
around with mound treatments (stinky white powder). Remember to always read and follow the
product label!
While planting your summer annuals and perennials remember
the Mighty Plant. It will help your
plants have a more developed root system and more flowers!
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
