# Killing an ant mount most proficiently



## ocoee (May 31, 2007)

Fumigate the nest with an aerosol pyrethrin

Find one that has a strw and insert the strw into the mound at several different spots
Give a quick 1/2 second blast into each spot

I usually quarter the nest arond the perimeter and give one blast into the center

You should see the fumes rising from the exit holes on the other side of where you are spraying

The hotter and dryer it is when you do this the better
I have heated the can up with hot water to improve atomization 

That is the absolute quickest way I have found

If I am trying to impress the homeowner I will count to sixty and shove my arm into the nest to show how well it works
I believe there is an OTC on the market now call Enforcer that works on the same principle

_I got the idea from an old product from Gold Coast that was basically chloroform.
You poked the mound with a stick and poured about two onces down the hole
Wait thirty seconds and stick your hand in the nest, every thing was dead
Unfortunately it also contained some cancer causing agents that forced it off the market

_


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

awesome! Thanks again ocoee!


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

well, home depot didn't have any fume ones that had straws! Ahhh I hate ants!!! I used to be the kind of kid who'd bring a bug outside instead of killing it, now I take great pleasure in crushing ants


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

I was in the garage painting and the leftover firecrackers from the fourth caught my eye - this is a lil unorthodox, but couldn't I just wedge some firecrackers into the mound (so only fuse is above ground) and just blow them up? Seems like it'd do the job, no?


----------



## ocoee (May 31, 2007)

I hate to say this, but try a Do It Yourself Pest control store

The product you are looking for is 
Whitmire 3-6-10 or 565 which ever is cheaper

The firecracker might not work but they would be sorta satisfying


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

ocoee said:


> I hate to say this, but try a Do It Yourself Pest control store
> 
> The product you are looking for is
> Whitmire 3-6-10 or 565 which ever is cheaper
> ...


If it gets worse, I'll def do that. It seems to be under control now (I've got 4 different baits with 4 different scents and different poisons, plus boric acid powder lining their entry walls). Plus I'm prolly gonna do the firecrackers today. I have some of the flash color ones, that put out a blast of light when they pop. I figure the combination of heat, sound, explosion, smoke, chemicals from the cracker, should be enough to do serious damage to a mound! These mounds (yup, I found a second in the front yard!) are only about 2" wide, 1" tall, so I'm thinking that (especially if I overdo it w/ like 4 in the hole) that it should do the job. You are right - even if I don't kill a single one, it'll be worth it :thumbup:


----------



## Gerry Kiernan (Apr 23, 2007)

I read, in an e-mail from a friend, that Aspartame works as a neurotoxin on ants. Yep, the same stuff many people are using to sweeten their coffee. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to. Some ants like it dry, others like it moist. They take it back to their nest, thinking it is food, and feed it to the family.

Others have suggested using Borax powder. I am not sure how this affects them, but apparently they track through it, and it does them in.

The firecracker idea sounds like more fun, but I think I would go for stumping powder, myself. More bang, bigger mess.

Gerry


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

What's stumping powder? And bigger mess is bad for me, because these hills are in the middle of my lawn (which has just been top dressed and sown, so I want minimal damage and extremely localized).


----------



## Gerry Kiernan (Apr 23, 2007)

Sorry joeyboy

I was being a little fascetious. When I was a teenager my parents had thirty acres in the Fraser Valley. It had been logged extensively, many years prior, but the old stumps were still there. To clear the field of stumps we would bore a hole under the stump and put in several sticks of stumping powder, light the fuse, and take off. Stumping powder is a low grade explosive that comes in stick form, like dynamite, but much less powerful. Even still, several sticks would split open a good sized stump pretty nicely, so we could yard it out with the bulldozer. Given the laws in Canada now, I'm not even sure if you can buy it anymore, let alone allowing some wild eyed teenager handle it.

I just figured if a firecracker would be satisfying, a stick of stumping powder would be even better. However, I guess if you just spent a lot of dough on your lawn, the satisfaction would be somewhat limited.

Gerry


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Gerry Kiernan said:


> I read, in an e-mail from a friend, that Aspartame works as a neurotoxin on ants. Yep, the same stuff many people are using to sweeten their coffee.


hmmm, almost alluding to aspartame being bad, not enough for me to start a debate on that though :no:


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Gerry Kiernan said:


> Sorry joeyboy
> 
> I was being a little fascetious. When I was a teenager my parents had thirty acres in the Fraser Valley. It had been logged extensively, many years prior, but the old stumps were still there. To clear the field of stumps we would bore a hole under the stump and put in several sticks of stumping powder, light the fuse, and take off. Stumping powder is a low grade explosive that comes in stick form, like dynamite, but much less powerful. Even still, several sticks would split open a good sized stump pretty nicely, so we could yard it out with the bulldozer. Given the laws in Canada now, I'm not even sure if you can buy it anymore, let alone allowing some wild eyed teenager handle it.
> 
> ...


Yeah I doubt I can access something like that (i'm not a teenager I'm early 20's! Lol I know there's not much difference to adults!) here in america. Where would they carry something like that? I'm almost positive there wouldn't be access for me though.

I didn't spend too much cash on the lawn, just time, it's all seed / no sod, it was just a lot of time doing the roundup, mixing my amendments, laying them, fertilizing, seeding, and the twice daily watering (at half hour each time! So annoying!).


----------



## Gerry Kiernan (Apr 23, 2007)

It is a lot of work getting a lawn into shape, Isn't it.

Gerry


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Gerry Kiernan said:


> It is a lot of work getting a lawn into shape, Isn't it.
> 
> Gerry


harder than I could've ever imagined. I thought I did everything right
- full roundup
- mixed peat moss / compost and top dressed my sandy FL lawn to help it hold moisture and add nutrients
- applied a starter fertilizer at the specified rate (actually slightly less than the recommended, as I know my compost has nutrients)
- spread my seed (bermudagrass) at an even higher rate than recommended
- watered twice daily since sowing the seeds, religiously, haven't missed a watering yet. Some days I even do a 3rd watering in the afternoon to supplement my am / pm waterings


And yet, I've got some good spots, a lot of bare spots, and a ton of weeds (again)! It's really kind of annoying, but I'm just gonna keep on watering I guess... I guess I imagined it'd all be coming in nice and evenly, not the patchwork of grass, dead spots, and weeds that I have.


----------



## Gerry Kiernan (Apr 23, 2007)

Welcome to grass growing Hell. We all go through it. Once the grass is well established go over it with a weed bar {weed killer in a waxxy bar form}to knock down some of the weeds. As to the bare patches, you just have to go over them again, and reseed.

Good Luck

Gerry


----------



## ocoee (May 31, 2007)

> spread my seed (bermudagrass)


Bermuda does not do well here, too high maintainence 

Be careful not to over water and develop fungus issues

I have what is called a contractors lawn or a central Florida special
Whatever blows in grows in

The best looking lawns are the hybrid crabgrass St Augustine and the easiest is Bahia


----------



## Gerry Kiernan (Apr 23, 2007)

Hi joeyboy

Just had another thought. As your healthy grass patches mature you could take plugs from them and transplant them to the less healthy areas. Grass, wants to spread anyway, so if you can take the healthy plugs and move them to the other areas they should keep on going. One thing you do have to keep in mind, though, "Grass will always grow where you don't want it to, and never where you want it"

Gerry


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Gerry Kiernan said:


> Welcome to grass growing Hell. We all go through it. Once the grass is well established go over it with a weed bar {weed killer in a waxxy bar form}to knock down some of the weeds. As to the bare patches, you just have to go over them again, and reseed.
> 
> Good Luck
> 
> Gerry


You say 'go over them again, and reseed', do you mean just reseed, or amendments + reseed? 

My plan was the latter, and I've been debating whether to do it sooner or later. Here was my plan.

Load up the wheelbarrow with a 50/50 peat moss/compost mix (soil here is 100% sand, I'm in central FL beside the beach)

Mix thoroughly, and include a light amount of liquid fertilizer

Put a thin layer on any patches that aren't what I want

sow the seeds onto that


(alternatively, I was thinking of just mixing the seeds right into the amendments in the wheelbarrow, then spreading, dunno. So confused here!)

I've also bumped up the watering to 3X daily, basically I have one of those ghetto, hose powered sprinklers that I keep on during the afternoon and just keep moving from spot to spot in the yard.


----------



## Gerry Kiernan (Apr 23, 2007)

Hi joeyboy

I was just reading what ocoee wrote. Perhaps you need a different type of grass seed which is more suited to sandy soil.

It would seem, that if you are having to water so much, that this may be an on-going problem. I remember reading something about the on-going drought in Australia, and how the grasses that they have introduced over the last century, are not surviving. They are discussing going back to the original Australian grasses, which are far more drought tolerant.

Otherwise, mixing it all up, and spreading it should be just as easy as any other method, and just as effective.

Regards

Gerry


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

ocoee said:


> Bermuda does not do well here, too high maintainence
> 
> Be careful not to over water and develop fungus issues
> 
> ...


We looked at bahia and it was just waaay expensive so we went with the bermuda. I've been told bermuda is great for here (not trying to discount your statement, it's just that it seems whoever you ask, has a different answer. That's been the biggest issue with the lawn is that no matter where I go for advice - locals, big box employees, garden centers, this forum, other non-repair/landscape related forums, I get different answers).

Careful not to overwater and develop fungus issues - how would I know? I do know that I've got some funny white mushrooms growing in this little patch! Overwater, fungus, underwater, slow/no growth/death of grass - will this be something I'll need to learn by touching the soil and just 'knowing' whether it's enough? 

You mentioned hybrid/multiple kinds - I was wondering about this the other day - would it hurt to have multiple kinds of grass? I thought that if your lawn is good, the grass basically pushes the weeds out, so by that logic, wouldn't one grass push the other out? Maybe when I reseed I should do bahia on the patches that didn't develop yet?
(and what do you think of my idea with the mixing amendments with the seed, and then spreading? Should I put down the amendments and seed over, or just mix it up with the amendments, since they're going on as a real thin topdressing anyways?)


----------



## ocoee (May 31, 2007)

Water no more than three times a week (a rain day counts as one time) for about 45 minutes per zone in the evening or early morning the system should shut down before the sun gets hot like around 8 or 10 in the morning at the latest 6 0r 7 would be better

If you reach down to the root zone and grab a fistful of soil and squeeze it should clump
If it drains water it is too wet if it doesn't hold together it is too dry

You can also buy moisture meters pretty cheap

The biggest problem we ever encountered was improper watering

Be careful with the peat, you don't want to establish a thatch layer at the root zone that will not allow the water to stay there

I'm a bug fan of St Augustine for making large spaces. It grows out on runners and fills out nicely
If you are not in a hurry you can plug the lawn and it will come in nicer and smoother than sodding

My experience does not go toward amending soils so i can not comment

Call your county agricultural extension agent they are more than happy to help you out and have no agenda as far as selling anything


----------



## justdon (Nov 16, 2005)

*find some straw*

Find some straw and mulch it pretty good after you seed it. It almost feels like you are smothering it,,but it wont,. Keeps the top moist and the sun off the bare ground. When the top soil gets dry between the two waterings a day,,thats when you lose most of the seed. Best thing is to have a permanent hose/soaker hose,,,or sprinkler set up to cover the whole area very well. Not let the water puddle cause seed floats. Put a automatic off timer on your faucet and water it 10 times a day if you can,,,not hard IF all you do is walk past, set time to do 5 minutes(and then it shuts off) and walk away,,,much too much work any other way!! The top exposed soil can NEVER, EVER get even close to dry. You can rig up a cheapie sprinkler box to do it many times,short shots too,,,with an auto valve,,,but the timer you flip to 5 or 10 minutes and it shuts itself off,,,works really well,,,if you have two,three or more areas to water Y the hose and put shutoffs inline so you can regulate where it goes and keep rotating,,,most of a full time job to get one going for first two wekks.. IF too large of area,,,do it in stages!!

If you have to go out and turn it on and back out to shut it off,,,you forget a few minutes and you have a mess,,,by hand sprinkling and it takes too long!!

First thing I would for sure do before installing new grass is put a watering system in FIRST!! Makes all the difference in the world as to what your lawn looks like!! You can put one in yourself if you are industrious,dont mind a bit of work and can 'hoe' a straight line with a garden hoe cut down to 1-1/2" wide and a reenforced handle. dig it down 6-8 inches all the way along and put in pop up heads. even if you have to work a section at a time to afford it. Nothing nicer to see a lawm sprinkled a bit twice a day,,,keeps them fresh!! Make sure to put proper back flow devices so you dont suck lawn stuff into potable water supply,,,most all systems have standards for those!!

But the covering of straw as mulch is key to gettin it started!! After you getter going good and there is hair like stuff all over,,probably 3 weeks or so,,,lightly,,,real lightly rake it off.


----------

