For the last few months, my potted pomegranate bush has been infested with fire ants. Every time I try to move the pot, I get attacked. I’ve tried several treatments of spectracide and AMDRO granules (which work everywhere else in the garden) but it’s not working here. I need to get rid of them before the cold hits hard since I bring in the potted plants for the winter.
My next step is to pull it out, hose off all the soil (and hopefully the nest) and repot. But I can’t even get there without being attacked.
Any advice?
by Jobobzig
41 Comments
Submerge the entire pot in a large barrel of water for several hours.
Chickens have been our only defense against fire ants
Submerge and repot.
Submerge it in water and let sit
Put a thick layer of diatomaceus earth over all the soil in the pot. It’s non toxic and will take care of the ants naturally. Without potential insecticide contamination of the fruit. Also boric acid mixed with corn syrup is also handy for dealing with most ants.
Yup, you’re right. It would be best if you laid it out on a draining surface and took the hose to it vigorously – you have to get every ant off, plus the nest in the soil.
I’d do this on my driveway because it’s on a steep incline. I could just spray it all into the street. Maybe follow up with a dawn solution to zap them so that nobody’s dog gets attacked later in the day.
Submerging will help, but I anticipate the critters will just climb up into the greenery, making it hard to handle.
I get fire ants in my potted figs every year. Terro bait traps always seem to do the job.
We used Fertilome on our garden against fire ants with pretty good success.
Hope you figure something out, fire-ants are no joke!
i see a lot of people telling you to submerge it in water and i can say when that happened to me and i submerged the entire pot in water it doesn’t phase them. in fact they will walk on water due to the surface tension. i submerged for a few days in fact. i did sprinkle the white powder from bioadvance fire nnt killer on there and it worked.
I use ortho for fire ants. They get gone almost immediately
as guyan posted, submerge the whole pot, all of them will leave, they have a nest in the soil, the amdro granules will probably kill the plant
once you take it out, put it 50 yards away
as they leave the pot, spray them
I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to go in the ground…don’t quote me on that though.
There are nematodes that infect fire ants. I’ve used arbico organics with decent success
Soak with neem oil? (I’m new take it with a grain of salt)
Do grits work for fire ants?
Used coffee grounds. Virtually every critter except humans.. HAAAAAAATE coffee lol. Spread it on top about a inch thick. Water it. Let it be. In a week they will vacate premises
At this point, I would use pyrethrin. It won’t poison your fruit, and I’ve never had it not work. Get some concentrate and mix it at 1 part pyrethrin to 9 parts water. Drence the pot (make sure it is well watered first) and the ants will die.
Good luck. I HATE fire ants.
Yeah as someone else said the diatomaceous earth might work.
Terro bait is just borax and sugar water. Make your own with a 1 to 1 ratio of sugar and borax and then just enough water to make it a goop. They carry it back and poison the whole nest.
Get a big tub, put the plant in it, fill with soapy water. Let it soak half an hour.
Diatomaceous Earth should do the trick
I had this issue over the summer with my potted blackberry bush. A bottle cap full of Combat gel ant bait cleared them out in two days
Everyone’s suggestions for drenching are great, you can prevent fire ants with moisture: they nest in dry soil.
We have pawed pets so we worry about some of the harsher pesticides and I recently discovered the wonders of tea tree and peppermint oils.
I just got bulk jugs of each (don’t have to be food or aromatherapy grade) and mixed 3% Tea Tree (4 ounces) and 3% Peppermint (another 4 ounces) oils in a gallon jug with water (128 ounces). Add a splash of dishsoap. Pour into spray bottles and spray ants directly.
Works surprisingly well for not being an industrial insecticide. For anyone else, this also works as a deterrent around patios or walkways, but doesn’t last as lomg as industrials or diatomaceous.
My favorite is Amdro Granules Fire Ant Bait. It takes 2-3 days but takes out the entire colony because they take it inside the nest and feed the queen.
It must stay dry. If you’ve been watering the plant or getting it wet those first few days, they won’t want it.
I also don’t know exactly where you’d put it. The instructions say around the mound and not right on it. Assuming they leave the pot to forage, around the pot might work but if they don’t leave the pot that won’t work.
We put our pots up on bricks and tiles to break contact with the soil in the yard, it prevents the ants from getting in and out through the soil and makes the pot easier to treat. Then we used diatomaceous earth on the surface and frequent waterings for several weeks and that got rid of them.
Ortho Orthene will 100% work.
*”What is this, a pomegranate bush for ants?”*
Feed them borax and sugar
I’d sprinkle a little Advion on the top; just a few grains will kill the ants. I’d use about a 1/2 teaspoon or less of the bait.
First, disturb the soil (carefully) to get the ants active, and sprinkle the bait. They’ll start collecting it.
It isn’t for use on edible plants, though.
This page mentions using it in potted plants. [https://www.domyown.com/advion-fire-ant-bait-questions-pq-364.html](https://www.domyown.com/advion-fire-ant-bait-questions-pq-364.html)
https://preview.redd.it/yvozslow543g1.jpeg?width=1001&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6db0845aed8b5393967ad79669c761d5189559d
Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire
I don’t have fire ants where I live. However this works with ant ants that come in my house and become annoying. Equal parts borax and sugar. Add enough water to form a paste. Put in small jar lids.
The ants take it back to their nest because of the sugar. The borax kills the queen (and other ants too), I think it suffocates them. It’s cheap and very effective.
Because it’s outside I would put it under some protection near your plant. Good luck.
Dust it in Diamatomceous Earth. They will mechanically asphyxiate. Wear a mask while you use it because you breathe in fine particle material yourself and it can do the same to you.
Soap water. Dawn dish soap. Will suffocate the ants, kill the eggs and as long as you rinse , won’t hurt the plant. Its the only thing I use for pest control. Just took out a group of stink bugs yesterday.
The only thing that has ever worked for us is Spectracide fire ant mound destroyer
Option 1. Diatomaceous earth, and a good thick layer of it. Work it into the top layer of soil if you’re able. When insects come into contact with it, the DE makes tiny cuts in their exoskeletons and dessicates them. It’s so effective, it kills bedbugs.
Option 2. Mix grape jelly with borax. Cut a few holes into an empty plastic container with lid, place this bait inside and cover (keeps other animals away from it). Place it on the soil. The ants should take this back into the colony, and *everyone dies* including the queen.
Get you some diatomaceous earth. Its a white powder, won’t hurt the plant but dissolves exoskeletons.
Its super convenient because dissolving exoskeletons is *all* is does, so as long as you don’t have an exoskeleton it cannot harm you. Safe for the plant and any pets
There’s a product named Amdro. It’s available most places that sell over-the-counter pesticides. It’s made specifically for fire ants. It’s granular and simple to apply. Just follow the directions on the label. It’s very effective. I think the last container I bought was around $18.
Fight fire with fire 🔥😏💅🏽
Flood it, bucket/tub of water
I used to live in Texas, and the orange oil method always worked almost instantly for me. I got it from an author of a Texas organic gardening book. Rough measurements – about an ounce of orange oil, some compost tea (or other liquid fertilizer) – around 1/2 to 1 cup. Put into a watering can and fill with water. Pour directly on the mound. You’ll see them start to die almost immediately.
I’m from Texas; amdro is the GOAT. Specifically that brand. Other insects; 7 dust.