Fire Ant Solutions During Droughts

With the droughts we have been experiencing the last few years it has become
important to conserve water. People are beginning to realize that maintaining a
strong root system of the grasses in their lawns means less water is used to
maintain it. That is done by using organic soil amendments and not using the old
chemical method of fertilization. It has become clear that when chemical
fertilizers are used year after year the roots of grass become shallow and the
minerals of the soil are leached out. This leaves your lawn susceptible to burn
easily in drought conditions and causes you to use more water while trying to
save it.

I saw a commercial on TV yesterday about a chemical fire ant treatment that
you put down at the same time you put the chemical fertilizer on your lawn
because they are combined. My first thought was if chemical fertilizers are
damaging to your lawn over time, what would be the results of the added fire ant
chemicals? If chemicals from the fertilizers build up in the soil what does the
chemical ant killer do? Another question is what effect do these chemicals have
on your pets, children or you when you walk on the grass barefoot? You and
your pets absorb through the skin. Pets often eat grass and soil. Letting fire ants
take over your lawn also makes it dangerous for you, your family and pets.

Thankfully, there are alternative natural ways to rid your lawn of fire ants
without making it toxic or damaging the soil and roots of your lawn. It is difficult
to rid a lawn of fire ants permanently because they move. You may have to treat
a lawn several times to get the hatching eggs and the queens. There are many
tunnels in a fire ant nest and many exit holes. The question is,” do you want to
treat your lawn several times with a toxic chemical or a natural safe product?”

The Fire Ant Insecticide D-20 by Perma-Guard is one of the safe alternatives
to the harsh chemical insecticides. It can be used as a mound drench and
broadcasted. The formulated part of this product is added to a base of a very
pure fresh water diatomaceous earth. This fresh water diatomaceous earth has
about 89% amorphous silica in it. This pure form of diatomaceous earth is
commonly used as an anti-caking agent in soil amendments, animal feeds, and
foods. Perma-Guard did not use the diatomaceous earth that is used in
swimming pool filtration and other such commercial filtration. That type of DE
has been heated and the silica has become crystallized. Crystallized silica can
be deadly.

Since Perma-Guard as a company had a goal of making a safe alternative to
harmful insecticides it chose to use a food grade fresh water source of DE for the
base of the formula. There are two reasons to use this type of DE.

The amorphous silica in this type is not harmful to us but is effective in killing
insects. The microscopic fossilized diatom that this deposit is comprised of is
tubular with tiny holes along the walls. When an insect’s underbody comes in
contact with the tiny holes of the fossil it lacerates the insect causing them to
loose bodily fluids and die. Insects can not become immune to this. It is not
harmful to us because our cell walls are much thicker than the exoskeleton of an
insect. A very small amount of two other plant derivatives is added. One to make
insects that may not be active move around and come in contact with the DE and
the other to keep the first active for up to three months. All three ingredients will
not harm you, your family or pets. The DE that remains after the other
ingredients are no longer active will continue to deter fire ants from returning, and
improve your soil and lawn as the silica returns to the soil.

It would be best to broadcast this product over the entire surface of your lawn
by dusting with a tube duster (Spritzer) or Dustinmizer first. This kills the ants on
the surface and prevents you from being bitten while drenching the mounds. Put
a thin circle of the product around the surface of the mound and dust the surface.
Mix four table spoons of Perma-Guard’s Fire Ant in a gallon of water and one
tablespoon of a mild detergent. Pour this solution down the hole until it
overflows. The small pressure sprayers with long medal probes are useful in
forcing the product into the hole reaching the Queen. Since the ingredients stay
active up to three months the hatching ants will also die. Ants do communicate
and will eventually move on to an area that does not pose a danger to the nest. I
choose to treat my lawn with Perma-Guard products.

Silica is a very important mineral to add to soil. When this mineral is available
to a plant it assists the root system in taking up nutrients from the soil. Silica has
been shown to improve a plants resistance to drought and insects. Insects do
not like to eat plants with silica in them.