How to Kill Fire Ants Graveyard Dead
Umkay, this might seem kinda weird for me to be posting something about killing fire ants on My Blessed Life. But my mission is to inspire peaceful hearts and beautiful homes.
One week ago our home wasn’t so beautiful as it was being invaded by fire ants and my heart was anything but peaceful as I tried repeatedly to conquer the pesky and relentless creatures. Part of my anxiety might have been because I have a very curious 17 month old running around. Thankfully he didn’t get bitten.
If you followed the drama on Twitter, you might have seen a suggestion to use grits which probably would have worked, if I had grits on hand. Yes, I’m a horrible Southern girl who ran out of grits and didn’t buy more a few months ago. {Putting grits on the grocery list now}
One sweet friend suggested that I check out Planet Natural’s Home Remedies for Natural Pest Control. I love, love, love the concept of creating barriers out of lemon juice, garlic and other various spices.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any fresh garlic, so I tried garlic powder. Besides making the ants struggle in the powder, it did no good. Then I tried bottled lemon juice and it worked, but not enough to keep more ants from coming in. I’m hoping that the barrier method will work in the future, when there aren’t fire ants in four rooms of my house!
(Note to self: Don’t combine garlic powder with lemon juice and allow it to dry. It’s like trying to clean up sandpaper. That is all.)
Finally, my husband and I picked up Ortho Home Defense Max which my sister and brother-in-law recommended to us.
I am impressed.
The Ortho Home Defense Max bottle says this:
- Kills bugs inside
- Keeps bugs out
- Non-staining
- Odor free – I hate powerful smelling bug sprays that smell like they might kill me.
Ernie sprayed all around the edges in the rooms where the ants were and within a few hours they were dead and gone. My sanity began to return.
One thing I’ve noticed is that dead bugs have been showing up including roaches and spiders. Yes! Death to the invaders! Ha!
I’m thrilled to have an inhabitable home now thanks to Ortho Home Defense Max.
What do you use for bug control in your house?
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Girl, I missed the drama because we were out of town … but we are now using grits all around our backyard to keep the ants out of flower beds and vegetable gardens! I had never heard of that until 2 weeks ago. So funny that you mentioned it. Glad you are back at home! And I’m looking forward to meeting you VERY SOON!!
.-= Teri Lynne Underwood´s last blog ..Field Trip Today =-.
@Teri Lynne Underwood, I can’t wait to SEE you! 🙂 Skype me sometime or DM me so we can work out details! 🙂
@Myra, I want in on those plans too!! 🙂
.-= Mandy´s last blog ..Build A Bear Coupon =-.
I LOVE Ortho Max. That is the only stuff that works here and we usually get covered in ants. We also put the granules in our yard and that kills the hills too and our grass looks better because it killed the bug under the ground and we didn’t get crane flies this year and they are usually horrible. LOVE it.
@Shana Putnam, Yay! I’m glad that Ortho Max is working for you too! We’ll have to try the granules.
Hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Oh, that just sounds terrible!! That’s one thing I DON’T miss about the south. Fire ant bite are just nasty!! Just big black ants here!! So glad you got it under control!
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday…. =-.
@Rachel, Thanks Rachel! My heart is so much more peaceful since I’m not worrying about those ants. 🙂
I totally cackled when I saw the title of your post! 🙂 That stuff is amazing!!!!
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..To Answer Your Questions =-.
@Kelly, I cackled when I was writing it. 🙂
Hi! I am new to your blog and love it! Thanks for the advise on the Ortho-Max Home Defense because I bought some yesterday and it is good to hear it works!
.-= Angie C.´s last blog ..Making A Difference, The Story of Esther =-.
@Angie C., Welcome! Thanks for your sweet comment! I just popped over to your blog. I love it! Before I switched to WordPress, I used the same blog background you have. I LOVE it! 🙂
so funny that you just posted this! just this weekend my mom had a very unfortunate incident with a fire ant IN a graveyard (also in her pants) so the title of your post made me laugh out loud!
.-= jacqui´s last blog ..lost in the sweatshop =-.
@jacqui, Wow. Ouch. In my pants would be NOT so fun! I’m glad I made you laugh. Your comment made me laugh! 🙂
Have a fabulous day! 🙂
Love it! 🙂 We have used Ortho before too. Cinnamon oil is also a great thing to use around the edges of your kitchen too. I prefer to use it in the kitchen – using the Ortho just makes me paranoid! Lol
.-= Mandy´s last blog ..Build A Bear Coupon =-.
🙂 Ahhh the memories. I must say, I do miss the little ant groups (I affectionately refer to them as “my little buggers”) bringing me my sweet tea while I read in my recliner. I suppose some compromise is necessary for marital bliss.
Well, we don’t have fire ants up here yet, but I’m sure in a couple of years they’ll arrive (they’ve been marching north from Mexico, ya know.) I know them all too well from living in SC.
A product I recently found out about that is perfectly safe for humans and animals (actually incredibly beneficial and I’m taking it daily—yes-sirreee–that’s right! I’m INGESTING FIRE ANT KILLER hehehe–seriously!) is diatomaceous earth, also called fossil shell flour. It is in large deposits, probably from Noah’s flood, and is ground up for use as a pesticide/insect killer/de-wormer and vitamin supplement for animals and humans. It kills insects not by its chemicals, but by its miniscule sharp surfaces. It scratches them to death—and very quickly.
You do need FOOD GRADE, not the kind used for swimming pools. It’s very safe to sprinkle around kitchen, in your garden (can use up until harvest day), and yes, even ingest 🙂 I swig mine in some ice tea with stevia every day, and it’s helped a lot of my IBS-type symptoms.
A lot of animal feed stores carry it now, or you can order it online:
http://www.earthworkshealth.com/
From everything I’ve read, Permaguard is the best brand out there.
Corn meal will work too.
Although these methods may seem cheap, they don’t always work in the long haul. So if you can contact the pro’s. for a longer and better solution! overall great ideas!
Thank you for your comment. This method has worked superbly for us. We haven’t had ants since we used it.
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