Southern cooking for ant control
 

I was reading this last summer a book on cheap ideas for gardening they suggested to get rid of ants feed them dry grits. I don’t remember if your suppose to use instant or regular. I’m guessing the theory is after the ant eats the grit and then drinks some fluid the grit will swell up inside it and kill it. Just wondering if anybody else has heard of this. Do you think it would work or would the ants just have a nice breakfast?...:biggrin:

I've done it and it works for a little while. Here in Florida, the ants and bugs just don't stop!

Uncooked instant grits, they eat it and go BOOM!!!

Thanks Susanne,

I’ll give it a try then. I kinda felt a little foolish walking around with a bag of grits feeding the ant piles. You’re so very right the ants and bugs are very bad here. I’m still fighting off aphids….and it’s December…!!!..:(

Ant control
 

From what I understand the grits isn't very effective. Fire ants are "new" in NC. I was the first person in the county I live in that almost die from the stings (bad allergic reaction and I only had 7 stings!). So they can be very dangerous for some people (pets too). Since my episode there have been 3 people here that have died.

I do a broadcast treatment on my yard called Top Choice, it can only be applied by a landscaper or pest control person whom is licensed. My landscaper does it for me. It is the same chemical that is used in Front Line Flea control on pets (so fairly safe is applied correctly). It will last about 6 months. Than I use Andro (not sure if that is spelled right) on the individual mounds that may pop up (which aren't many). This is a bait treatment that you can buy at Lowe's or Home Depot. This takes care of them pretty good. I also get my pest control guy to spray the outside of the house around doors and windows and apply bait to the crawl space.

This type of treatment is pretty heavy artillery, I know. But when the things can kill you this is the way to go.

Here's the deal with fire ants. They CAN get in your house and build nest in the walls and if this happens they are pretty hard to get rid of (hate to think of anybody being stung by the things and ending up in the hospital AFTER they find out they are nesting in their walls) - they can also get in your electrical equipment and chew the wires. Once they are well established in your yard they are real hard to get rid of also. They will make underground tunnels and nest that you can't even see - so you have a lot more than what you are seeing.

Another important thing - do not disturb the mounds they will just move to another location in your yard and they are aggressive and they can attack you very quickly.

Hi Linda :)

Yes, they are nasty little buggers!

We have our lawn treated...AND my husband does treatments in between visits from the lawn service...AND we use the grits! :D

In my eyes, if I can blow up a few of them along the way, all is right with the world :dance13:

I might get my son to try some grits! :) Me- I stay as FAAARRRR away from them as I can. :biggrin:

The nasty little things did get in my house the year after I got stung by them and I had to make an emergency call to my pest guy! :rofl: Amost like a 911 call to kill ants! He got here pretty fast!

He found the darn hill in my next door neighbors yard and didn't want to treat the neighbors yard - well I told him to do it and I would take the blame! He did and said it was one of the biggest hills he had ever seen! Millions of those little buggers tried to get him! He stuck a insectcide applicator down in the hole and it went 3 feet down!

You need to be more careful than most of us...stay far far away!!!

yeah, that would be pretty neat - than display the thing - it would probably scare the daylights out of some folks! :biggrin:

Can you imagine the size of that thing in my neighbors yard and he has kids! Glad one of them didn't fall in the darn thing. I'm the one that paid to get rid of it just because it scared me so bad!

The pest guy said, "Go in the house, and don't come out NO MATTER WHAT!". Geez oh Pete! I watched him real close to make sure they didn't get him (watching through a window).

here is a favorite eHow web site that I go to for natural alternatives for zapping those little ants, here is the link...

How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally | eHow.com

It has a nice step-by-step procedure for killing ants, etc...

Oooooo!!!
I love the thought of boiling the little buggers! :nod:

Woah, those ants you guys have sound horrible!

I lived in NC and the ants there are huge like their mosquitoes but here in S. Florida they are tiny nuisance.

Yes I had the little tiny ants all over the place but then there were all kinds of Ant Lions depressions not far from the ant piles. Then as summer progressed right under my growing table’s wasps had all sorts of holes in the ground. I would go to check my plants and these wasps would be flying in and out of there holes right next to my feet…!!!...it was not a comfortable feeling…luckily I was never bit…I read that they are good predators to have in the garden for pest control..

YIKES Jo Ann!

Although I'm a southern girl who loves the land around her home...my condo here in florida is sounding better and better. I'm 1st floor but I think I'm safe.

The ants are probably so small here because they are dehydrated from the trip up.

I guess because I'm a little further north in Florida, the ants here are HUGE! We also have the tiny ones but some of the bug ones are like aliens!!!

...and WASPS??? :yikes:

:faint:

LOL, :rofl: the visual picture I'm coming up with is too funny.

Our fire ants are tiny - not much bigger than a flea. Put they pack a powerful punch when they sting. They all climb on you at one time and they are so small you don't know they are there - then WHAMMY they all sting you at one time (they release some kind of attack phermon (sp) that tells them to all sting at one time) So a person can get hundreds of stings in a couple of seconds. That's why if you are allergic to bee stings (or ant stings) you have to be so careful! I walk around outside and watch my feet all the time. Sad but true. :(
Better than being dead I guess.

I use to never wear shoes just romp around barefoot all the time - summer and winter (well except when it got real cold). But not anymore.