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Re: Ant Question

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Try the recipe given by Howard Garrett www.dirtdoctor.com

Compost tea, made of mature compost containing a fair number of arthropods,
or a compost made with crab wastes, containing chitin, will develop a
certain amount of chitinase, which is the enzyme that breaks down chitin,
which insect and other arthropod skeletons are made of, and which therefore
can be insecticidal....

There are no simple easy ways to get rid of fire ants, but it seems that
many organic remedies have been successfully used....

Some worm raisers use bins on legs, and put the legs in cans of water, which
completely prevents the access of ants....

Frank---has no fire ants in Montreal, though we do have the evil earwigs...

-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Maier <jmaier@mindspring.com>
To: Square Foot Gardening List <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 3:24 AM
Subject: Re: Ant Question


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>Debbie wrote:
>> When I lifted the edge of one of the pieces of cardboard (hoping to see
>> worms.... silly me) there were huge masses of fireants.  This is my
>> question - how the heck do I get rid of these suckers??
>
>Oh my God, this is my worst gardening nightmare come true. The usual
>course of action is to buy some nice fireant poison and powder the
>mound. However, since this is a garden plot, that would subsequently
>poison the garden. No good. This leaves a few options:
>
>1) Abandon that plot (very safe--there is no shame in a tactical
>retreat)
>
>2) Take a shovel and churn the snot out of their nest. If it's torn up
>enough, they might relocate (I have seen this happen--however this is a
>bit dangerous--while shoveling they can attack you, quickly, in droves)
>
>3) Dump a not-so-poisonous concoction on the nest. For example, I have
>heard that strong dish-soap dissolves their little bodies. I imagine a
>vat of muriatic or hydrochloric acid would achieve similar results. Then
>come along with a LOT of water or neutralizing agent to restore the
>chemical balance in the area.
>
>4) Wait till cold weather. They will tend to go underground and stay
>there during the cold months. Then you may be able to dig up there nest
>and nail a bunch of them without fear of immediate reprisal.
>
>5) Call an exterminator who knows what he's doing and ask him for a
>non-poisonous solution.
>
>6)---anybody? any other ideas???
>
>-Jonathan Maier
> (somewhere in South Carolina)
> jmaier@mindspring.com
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>"The aesthetics of natural science and mathematics is at one with the
> aesthetics of music and painting--both inhere in the discovery of a
> partially concealed pattern."
>
>                      -Herbert A. Simon _The Sciences of the Artificial_
>
>
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