I agree that the pile didn't have enough carbon (leaves) and was too dry.
Here in North Texas we are fortunate to have an enormous organic gardening
community and "guru". Howard Garrett is the "Dirt Doctor" and he has a
fantastic website which has an area for "member forum" discussions on
virtually every problem there is. We have no shortage of ants here and lots
of fire ants. The research done by the "ground crew" members has shown that
fire ants can't stand an area that has lots of biological activity in the
soil...or HEALTHY soil. One very easy way to increase the level of
biological activity to the soil ( or compost pile) is to add dried molasses.
Fire ants hate it. Sprinkle it on their mounds and they split. That
molasses in the compost pile along with proper moisture content will heat up
a pile in a hurry. Also, it's a well known fact that "watering" your
compost pile with urine will also improve the biological activity. It also
give you the added psychological benefit of knowing that you can really piss
off your ants. (hehe)
I'm not in anyway affiliated with Howard's site other than being a Ground
Crew member for many years. www.dirtdoctor.com
In addition, you can listen to his radio program on the internet. It's well
worth it and you'll get great information, a laugh or three, and keep up
with what is happening with organics in the news, and call in on a toll free
number and get your questions answered by him personally. I recommend it
highly. Sunday mornings from 8:00 (am) - 12:00. cst
This program has thousands of listeners and we all contribute and benefit.
Thomas
> Its actually a good thing. It means youy have a lot of biological activity
> in your compost. I had the same problem a while back I did not throw the
> Amdro into the pile because it's not approved for vegetables and
> ultimately thats where the compost is going. What i did was place it
> AROUND the perimeter and let the ants go to it. Turning the pile more and
> watering helps too. I notice this is a problem in the winter and my theory
> is they are keeping themselves warm.
>> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:14:48 GMT, "Norma Briggs"
>>
>>>Typically I would not care that my compost pile moves across the yard
>>>because it is more ants than compost; however, I need to shovel most of
>>>it
>>>up to put in the new bed so I can have it ready for fall
>>>plantings...grrrr
>>
>> One of the ladies at my favorite organic gardening nursery said that
>> spinosad (sp?) was being tested as a treatment for fire ants. She
>> knew I was interested in the product as a weapon in my eternal
>> battle against <spit!> thrips. I don't know if they're talking about
>> making a bait, or you would just spray it around or drench the mound
>> with it, though.
>>
>>
>> Penelope
>
Wow! Thanks...and my 11year old son said to tell you thanks for giving him
an excuse to pee outside! It must be a little boy thing....
>I agree that the pile didn't have enough carbon (leaves) and was too dry.
>Here in North Texas we are fortunate to have an enormous organic gardening
>community and "guru". Howard Garrett is the "Dirt Doctor" and he has a
>fantastic website which has an area for "member forum" discussions on
>virtually every problem there is. We have no shortage of ants here and
>lots of fire ants. The research done by the "ground crew" members has
>shown that fire ants can't stand an area that has lots of biological
>activity in the soil...or HEALTHY soil. One very easy way to increase the
>level of biological activity to the soil ( or compost pile) is to add dried
>molasses. Fire ants hate it. Sprinkle it on their mounds and they split.
>That molasses in the compost pile along with proper moisture content will
>heat up a pile in a hurry. Also, it's a well known fact that "watering"
>your compost pile with urine will also improve the biological activity.
>It also give you the added psychological benefit of knowing that you can
>really piss off your ants. (hehe)
> I'm not in anyway affiliated with Howard's site other than being a Ground
> Crew member for many years. www.dirtdoctor.com
> In addition, you can listen to his radio program on the internet. It's
> well worth it and you'll get great information, a laugh or three, and keep
> up with what is happening with organics in the news, and call in on a toll
> free number and get your questions answered by him personally. I
> recommend it highly. Sunday mornings from 8:00 (am) - 12:00. cst
> This program has thousands of listeners and we all contribute and benefit.
> Thomas
>> Its actually a good thing. It means youy have a lot of biological
>> activity in your compost. I had the same problem a while back I did not
>> throw the Amdro into the pile because it's not approved for vegetables
>> and ultimately thats where the compost is going. What i did was place it
>> AROUND the perimeter and let the ants go to it. Turning the pile more and
>> watering helps too. I notice this is a problem in the winter and my
>> theory is they are keeping themselves warm.
>>> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:14:48 GMT, "Norma Briggs"
>>>
>>>>Typically I would not care that my compost pile moves across the yard
>>>>because it is more ants than compost; however, I need to shovel most of
>>>>it
>>>>up to put in the new bed so I can have it ready for fall
>>>>plantings...grrrr
>>>
>>> One of the ladies at my favorite organic gardening nursery said that
>>> spinosad (sp?) was being tested as a treatment for fire ants. She
>>> knew I was interested in the product as a weapon in my eternal
>>> battle against <spit!> thrips. I don't know if they're talking about
>>> making a bait, or you would just spray it around or drench the mound
>>> with it, though.
>>>
>>>
>>> Penelope
>>
>>
>
Not just little ones... I thought that was what the ant hills were for...
I'll take a stick and make a nice funnel shape in the hills before a
rain. They keep moving north after that.
John!
Norma Briggs wrote:
> Wow! Thanks...and my 11year old son said to tell you thanks for giving him
> an excuse to pee outside! It must be a little boy thing....
XML site map
> in your compost. I had the same problem a while back I did not throw the
> Amdro into the pile because it's not approved for vegetables and
> ultimately thats where the compost is going. What i did was place it
> AROUND the perimeter and let the ants go to it. Turning the pile more and
> watering helps too. I notice this is a problem in the winter and my theory
> is they are keeping themselves warm.
>> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:14:48 GMT, "Norma Briggs"
>>
>>>Typically I would not care that my compost pile moves across the yard
>>>because it is more ants than compost; however, I need to shovel most of
>>>it
>>>up to put in the new bed so I can have it ready for fall
>>>plantings...grrrr
>>
>> One of the ladies at my favorite organic gardening nursery said that
>> spinosad (sp?) was being tested as a treatment for fire ants. She
>> knew I was interested in the product as a weapon in my eternal
>> battle against <spit!> thrips. I don't know if they're talking about
>> making a bait, or you would just spray it around or drench the mound
>> with it, though.
>>
>>
>> Penelope
>