Doing My Own Fire Ant Treatment

[dieselscout80]

I'm thinking of doing my own fire ant treatment this year we have 14 acres.

I'm planning to use Extinguishｮ Plus and I want to treat the place twice once in the spring when the soil temps are at 60ｰ and again say in August.

I think the 25lb bags of Extinguishｮ Plus will work (1.5lb per acre x14 = 21 lbs). I know you are supposed to use it all up in one season as it goes rancid and then the ants don't eat it.

How should I spread it?

I don't think my tractor cone spreader (pto driven/3pt mounted) will work to spread 1.5lbs per acre?

I am not at all apposed to using a hand spreader as I have seeded clover that way.

 

[buickanddeere]

What happens to every other critter ? Fire ant queens can fly in days after the treatment and start a colony.

 

[dieselscout80]

I guess those are the next guy's problem.

From what I understand the workers take the bait back to the mound and then the queen eats the bait and then the rest die with no reproducing going on.

 

[Redbug]

I would think that you could mix your ant bait with sand and put that in your cone spreader. It would be easier to cover a lot of ground and have more control over dispersion that way. I have spread centipede grass seed that way.

 

[atsah]

From what I understand the workers take the bait back to the mound and then the queen eats the bait and then the rest die with no reproducing going on.

That's the way it works here for carpenter ant's, I put traps down and the workers bring it back to the nest, a couple of weeks later, no more ant's..

 

[EddieWalker]

Fire ants are most active in the morning and the evening. They are also very active right after it rains. For best results, spread when they are active.

Odd that anybody would be against killing fire-ants, and invasive species from South America that is devastating numerous species here in the US.

 

[dieselscout80]

I would think that you could mix your ant bait with sand and put that in your cone spreader. It would be easier to cover a lot of ground and have more control over dispersion that way. I have spread centipede grass seed that way.

How would I make sure I got it mixed evenly?

 

[atsah]

Odd that anybody would be against killing fire-ants, and invasive species from South America that is devastating numerous species here in the US.

Anyone against non native species being eradicated probably lives somewhere where there are none..

 

[oosik]

I use granular Diazinon. Sure put my ants down. But then, I don't have fire ants. I only use it on ant hills within the yard. Outside the yard - they are on their own.

 

[HillStreet]

Mix thoroughly and use a small bag of perlite to indicate mix. Do a test drive first with a known quantity of sand to set the speed of application. Google “pesticide applicator math” and you should find useful information. Do you have a small tractor to tow a broadcast spreader? That might be best, but again calibrate speed.