Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

[fuzzi]

I've had monstrous number of huge ant hills this year. Never, ever, like this before.

Last year (2023) the fire ants were so bad that they invaded my house, were even in my bedroom. I found out about the invasion when I was getting dressed and discovered my clothes were full of ants.

I bought the "Texas Two-step" ingredients, treated the area outside my bedroom with the birth control granules, and then 56 ant hills in my backyard...on about 1/6th of an acre (house lot is about .3 acre). This year about 3-4 hills popped up, got treated. I'm pretty much a live-and-let-live type, but fire ants aren't.

 

[fuzzi]

At the height of crazy, when you think you can’t take another moment of insanity, just take a deep breath. These are wonderful years, segments of your life that provide family stories to tell at the dinner table. The worse it is now, the funnier it is later.

This

And it's fun telling stories to grandchildren, about their parent...

 

[Ridgetop]

After 2 weeks of using a loaner, we gave up and bought another one. So the first is due to show up any day now.

Yes, as soon as you replace the item that is either "lost" or "stored in a safe lace where I know we can fd it" LOL it will turn up. This means that he wil have to take the tuba again next year!

 

[Baymule]

Last year (2023) the fire ants were so bad that they invaded my house, were even in my bedroom. I found out about the invasion when I was getting dressed and discovered my clothes were full of ants.

I bought the "Texas Two-step" ingredients, treated the area outside my bedroom with the birth control granules, and then 56 ant hills in my backyard...on about 1/6th of an acre (house lot is about .3 acre). This year about 3-4 hills popped up, got treated. I'm pretty much a live-and-let-live type, but fire ants aren't.

What in the Texas Two-step and where do I get it? I get any hills so big that they choke my little 23 HP tractor when mowing. Plus the ones that pop up in the yard, sheep areas. Not here, but at the house in town, in 2011, when we had a SEVERE drought, fire ants moved into the closets. They lined the clothes hangers.

 

[murphysranch]

Ugh..I'll never forget my baby brother who was a toddler, falling into a fire ant hill in San Antonio. Mother and I washed and washed and used calamine lotion on him.

 

[Ridgetop]

Wht is Texas 2-Step? Were do you get it? Need to be prepared!

 

[R2elk]

Wht is Texas 2-Step? Were do you get it? Need to be prepared!

Texas Two Step Method for Fire Ants

 

[Ridgetop]

Thanks!

 

[fuzzi]

What in the Texas Two-step and where do I get it? I get any hills so big that they choke my little 23 HP tractor when mowing. Plus the ones that pop up in the yard, sheep areas. Not here, but at the house in town, in 2011, when we had a SEVERE drought, fire ants moved into the closets. They lined the clothes hangers.

This is what I use:

Texas 2 Step Fire Ant Kit
This fire ant kit contains two products for use in two steps.

Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait (1.5 lb )The first is to broadcast Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait over the desired area. Broadcast Extinguish Plus twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.
The 1.5 lb. container in this kit will cover one acre.

Extinguish Plus combines two active ingredients to control the fire ant colony completely. It contains hydramethylnon to kill the fire ants and Methoprene as an insect growth regulator (IGR) to prevent new generations.

Foraging fire ant workers bring the bait back to the nest for the rest of the colony to eat, thereby killing the queen(s).

It is best to bait when fire ants are active and the temperature exceeds 60° F. Choose a dry, sunny day; do not place bait on moist ground. During summer, fire ants mostly forage at night to avoid high temperatures. If the soil temperatures are higher than 90 °F, most ant bait baits will not be as effective.

Extinguish Plus is a slow-acting bait.
Surrender Fire Ant Killer-The second step is to use quick-acting dust, Surrender Fire Ant Killer, on the mounds between the spring and fall broadcasts of the Extinguish Fire Ant Bait. Surrender Fire Ant Killer works faster and will give you immediate control of the fire ants.
One 1 lb can kill up to 96 fire ant mounds

Two methods for mound treatment:
1.-Dry Method-Evenly distribute 1 to 2 teaspoons over the mound
2-Drench Method-Mix 1 oz. in 5 gals. of water. Apply a 1-gallon finished mix to each mound area by sprinkling the mound until it is wet and treat a four (4) foot-diameter circle around the mound.

 

[fuzzi]

Wht is Texas 2-Step? Were do you get it? Need to be prepared!

See what I just posted.

I am an organic gal, no chemical fertilizer, no poison...but being stung by fire ants while getting dressed was the final straw.

I still have about half of each ingredient, going into year three.