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Add fire ant killer before, during, or after mowing?

#1

T

Trailltrader

OK, I'm completely new at this- purchased my first home, roughly 1 acre of grass and 1/2 acre of tree's and shrubs.

My question is: Do I want to put down bug/ant killer then mow the lawn, mow the lawn with a spreader behind it to immediately put down the bug/fire ant killer, or do mow, then put down the bug/fire ant killer in a separate operation? I don't know what the procedure is so I'm asking- Please advise! Thank You


#2

S

Spindifferent

I would mow first, and then place the ant bait on the mound after mowing so that the bait is not dispersed by the mower. Try and place the bait so that you'll have a couple days without rain after spreading so that the ants can forage for the dry bait, eat it, and then perish. Repeat as necessary. :smile:


#3

P

Pumper54

Read the directions on the Fire ant poison first, Then I would mow and then spread the poison around/on the mounts as per the directions. Most fire ant poison is not a broad cast type.
Tom


#4

T

Trailltrader

Read the directions on the Fire ant poison first, Then I would mow and then spread the poison around/on the mounts as per the directions. Most fire ant poison is not a broad cast type.
Tom
This is true; however, "Hi Yield Bug Blaster II" does fire ants which is the #1 issue I'm having, followed by tic's. Near as I can figure it from reading all the instructions on my spreader (http://www.agri-fab.com/Portals/0/Manuals/45-04632.pdf ) and Hi Yield bug Blaster II (http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/msds/33326 Bug Blaster Approved 10-01-10.pdf ) seem's to be a #5 setting (Max flow, tractor not to exceed 6MPH). I just didn't know if I should apply the granules first, then mow, or if I can mow with the spreader right behind the machine so I'm doing both operations at the same time, or if I should mow first, and then cover it with the Bug Blaster?

I'm sorry for such nOOb questions- but I've never owned a lawn before, and I'm 56 years old. House ownership is new for both the wife and I. ***laughs*** Had I been 30 years younger I'm sure my ignorance and arrogance would have prevented these questions.


#5

T

Trailltrader

I would mow first, and then place the ant bait on the mound after mowing so that the bait is not dispersed by the mower. Try and place the bait so that you'll have a couple days without rain after spreading so that the ants can forage for the dry bait, eat it, and then perish. Repeat as necessary. :smile:

I was thinking that; but "how soon" afterward? I mean with the blades spinning in front, and 4 feet back is the spreader doing it at the same time?


#6

BlazNT

BlazNT

My personal prefrence is mow then broadcast. Just made since. I did not want to blow any of it around.


#7

P

Pumper54

I would mow then go back over the yard with the spreader. To get a good cut you may have to go over the same area more then once and if you are dragging the spreader around behind then you would be wasting the bug killer. Just my .02 cents
Tom


#8

B

bertsmobile1

This is true; however, "Hi Yield Bug Blaster II" does fire ants which is the #1 issue I'm having, followed by tic's. Near as I can figure it from reading all the instructions on my spreader (http://www.agri-fab.com/Portals/0/Manuals/45-04632.pdf ) and Hi Yield bug Blaster II (http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/msds/33326 Bug Blaster Approved 10-01-10.pdf ) seem's to be a #5 setting (Max flow, tractor not to exceed 6MPH). I just didn't know if I should apply the granules first, then mow, or if I can mow with the spreader right behind the machine so I'm doing both operations at the same time, or if I should mow first, and then cover it with the Bug Blaster?

I'm sorry for such nOOb questions- but I've never owned a lawn before, and I'm 56 years old. House ownership is new for both the wife and I. ***laughs*** Had I been 30 years younger I'm sure my ignorance and arrogance would have prevented these questions.

A health lawn must have bugs in there.
The more bugs the healthier the lawn.
If you have destructive bugs like fire ants then use a selective insectacide, in a selective area.
About 90% of the bugs in a lawn are beneficial kill them and you have to do their work yourself, more chemicals, more sprays more dusts mare grass you can not walk on, dig, mow .
It is hard for a lot of people who have been living in apartments to come to terms with, but it is people that are the invasive destructive species , not what is in your yard .
You are aiming at a yard which requires the minimum of human intervention or you are setting yourself up for a second full time job.
Bad bugs are food for good bugs, bad bugs are food for spiders , bad bugs are food for birds.
A garden rich with birds is a paradise.

If you want a carpet like lawn, then lay astro turf

Back when I was young, we had plagues of cockroaches and worse the deadly Syndney funnel web spider.
Down here we called it the North shore funnel web ( north shore was the rich area ).
The councils in the north shore areas banned keeping chooks ( cause rooster crow & farmed eggs were healthier- right )
Chooks eat the cockroaches that the small animals we wiped out with domestic cats & dogs so without them cockroach number grew.
Funnel webs also ate cockroaches and were themselves eaten by the now extinct small marsupials and ,,,,, chooks.
Around 80 , mainly children of the wealthy people died from funnel web spider bites.
A problem we did not have in the cheaper localities where we had chooks, spiders frogs snakes & large lizards.

I sit here writing this with a huntsman spider the size of a bread plate almost directly above my head which is why there are no cockroaches, slatters or silverfish in this building.
The corners of the windows all have some spider webs on them from the black house spider, which is why there are no flies or mosquitoes inside the house
There is a frog pond near every outside tap and a part of that is habitat for black snakes , goannas, blue tounge lizards & skinks.
They clean up water breeding insects, brown snakes, rats, mice, slugs & snails .
Then only pest control I have to do is occasionally eradicate bull ants ( 8 different varieties ) nests that get built within 100 yards of the building and that only needs to be done 1 day 3 times a year when the ants go to form a new colony.
And fruit fly control as fruit fly is introduced and has no natural preditors.


#9

T

Trailltrader

Right now, I'd be happy to walk the dog and us both not be eaten and stung by fire ants. If this means I have to go to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Committee and beg, borrow or steal a small thermonuclear device? I'll consider it


#10

B

bertsmobile1

So selective baiting covers the whole yard + some eh


#11

P

possum

That stuff is bifenthrin. That is not bait. That is a common contact insecticide. Mow. That will stir up the ants. Then put on the proper amount of product. Leave the area alone for awhile. Then check for progress over several days. More than likely you will have to do this as many times as the product tag allows in one year. You also may need a different product. To battle ants you really need to target the mounds if possible and start in the early spring. But now is as good a time as any if they bugs bite. Check with your local university extension office for more information. Do not worry about the GOOD bugs. Nature will supply you with plenty from all the land around you. If it were not for elimination of bugs the average roasting ear in the grocery store would cost 20 bucks.


#12

T

Trailltrader

That stuff is bifenthrin. That is not bait. That is a common contact insecticide. Mow. That will stir up the ants. Then put on the proper amount of product. Leave the area alone for awhile. Then check for progress over several days. More than likely you will have to do this as many times as the product tag allows in one year. You also may need a different product. To battle ants you really need to target the mounds if possible and start in the early spring. But now is as good a time as any if they bugs bite. Check with your local university extension office for more information. Do not worry about the GOOD bugs. Nature will supply you with plenty from all the land around you. If it were not for elimination of bugs the average roasting ear in the grocery store would cost 20 bucks.

This is true. According to what I've been able to research, it's not to exceed 200 pounds per acre per year. o_O? That's even a bit excessive in my book! But yeah- I'll slobber some on, and call it good until next spring- maybe Feb/March- and that should hold it over until Sept/Oct time frame


#13

T

Trailltrader

So selective baiting covers the whole yard + some eh

****Snickers**** I've considered contacting the USAF and see if they'll use my 1.5 acres as a B-52 bomb range,,,,,,,,


#14

B

bertsmobile1

If you are dealing with the imported fire ant, contact your local agriculture authority.
If you have a bad infection they may come and deal with it.
Down here where all fire ants are considered invasive pests they are releasing Kneallhazia virus to infect the colonies.
Wont wipe them out totally but will in a single season bring an uncontrollable disaster down to a level where spot poisioning will become effective.
Lots of hoo har about which section of the community is to blame.
Farmers blame housholders for using too much broad spectrum incectacide wiping out local ant population.
Householders blame the brodacre farmers for preditor habitat destruction.
Both blame the government for slack quarrentine allow the #~**~# to get established in the first place.
And the government blames clandestine plant importers for bringing them in in the first place .
Thus the circle went round & round till they started to threaten the bannana industry because the pickers could not cut hands when being eaten alive by the fire ants.
Thus the Kneallhazia virus which comes from the USA


#15

T

Trailltrader

***/Swell/*** The fire ant's I have are "imported" from Texas. This virus they're using to kill the ants with- just for the sake of conversation does it work on Ex/former wifes? "asking for a friend"


#16

E

Etemplet

I keep a vigilant eye on the ant population in my yard (4 acres) with all the rain this year in Sout Loosiana the ants have been pretty much left alone for most of the summer. I always tell myself I am going to count the mounds I treat but I always get side tracked. 30 to 70 is about the norm but I don't often have large mounds. I started using Bifenthrin last year but my favorite go to killer is Ortho... the white stuff when I am being lazy. Sometimes I treat large sections of yard if the ant population is increasing. Some of the 3 month ant killer I've used really does work but it doesn't kill the ants right away. I like dead ants by sundown. Ha ha.

So many people have ideas about how it should be done. I laugh when they tell me to treat the whole yard. Yea right 4 acres. So.... with Bifenthrin I take a stick with me, poke a hole deep into the mound and pour in a sufficient amount and then broadcast the mound and little around the perimeter.... Sometimes I have the spreader with me and I go 15 to 20 feet in all directions. Years ago, Once and Done used to really mean "Once and Done" that stuff was great but now... it is not the same so I don't use it. I am also careful not to use any ant killa that needs to be watered in. I am not carrying a bucket to water 50+ mounds.

So... Generally I cut the grass first. Wait a day for the ants to gather themselves and recover from the carnage of the mower.... then I strike. The mounds are easier to spot as the short grass more readily exposes enemy locations. At present the enemy is looming large in my thoughts and a significant offensive must be mounted soon but I am busy with other things. I like to strike in the evenings. I ride my Yamaha Zuma (see picture) around the yard with the weapons aboard. Search and Destroy. Muhaahahaa !!

Good Luck All,
Gene

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#17

J

John123john

Use if before. I cheked that the bakd soda and water can help to treat bites too.
Anyone try to use this mixture?


#18

jekjr

jekjr

We moved into a house in February. There were probably 100 mounds or more in the yard. We went to Wally World and bought Ortho Orthene and sprinkled it over the mounds as directed. It did an excellent job. To kill fire ants you need to treat the mound and let them die before you run over it with a mower. Running over it with a mower only detracts from what you want to do. There are products out there that you can broadcast but this product did the best job of anything that I have seen. Regardless of how you get rid of them they will be back. So you have to look for mounds often and treat them as they pop up. Doing it this way is the most effective that I have seen and I live in Lower Alabama. About 90 miles from where they were first brought into the US.

Fire ants came to America via the Port of Mobile via a banana boat something like 100 years ago.


#19

7394

7394

Congrats & welcome to the joys of home ownership-

We have been using plain ole "Grits" sprinkled around a ant hill. (Southern thing) Seems the fire-ants can't digest the grits, so once ingested the grit swells up thus exploding up the ant :laughing:

It works great & very low cost.

PS: I always mow first, then we hit any hills w the secret weapon "Grits".


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