Treating for Fire Ants: Mound Treatment vs. Broadcast Applications
Fire ants pose an enormous threat to your operation, from citrus farms and almond groves to golf courses or nurseries. Treating with Extinguish® products as part of a comprehensive fire ant control program is the best solution to handle the threats fire ants pose to people, animals, and property.
Mound treatments and broadcasting are two possible methods for applying product as part of a holistic treatment program. Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait and Extinguish® Plus can both be used for individual mound treatment or applied via broadcast. Learn more about the situations that call for each method, the advantages of each, and tips to maximize your results.
Individual Mound Treatments
Fire ants build tall, hardened mounds in the soil, in open areas that get a lot of sun. These mounds are usually shaped like cones, measuring 1–2 feet around and 4–18 inches tall. Some mounds, however, can be much bigger.
Situations & Advantages
- Individual mound treatments are a fast way to eliminate large, visible mounds that may be in the way of equipment, patrons, or employees.
- Mound treatments can also be used to treat problematic, visible mounds that arise between periodic broadcast treatments.
Application Tips
- Apply Extinguish® Plus with confidence around saplings and non-fruit bearing trees, on residential turf and landscapes, and commercial nurseries, where cattle and horses graze, with no worries about withdrawal periods.
- Apply Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait with confidence on residential turf and landscapes, commercial nurseries, citrus orchards and almond groves, pastures, fruit and nut tree groves, and any type of land where crops are grown.
- Apply as needed, when ants are active and foraging (when soil temperature is above 60 degrees Fahrenheit).
- To determine when ants are foraging, place a crumbled potato chip near the mound and apply product when feeding occurs.
- Take care to apply product when area is dry from dew or irrigation. Apply product when area is completely dry, outside 6 hours of a rain event. The bait will become unattractive to ants if it becomes wet.
- Use 2-5 tablespoons (See Directions for Use) of Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait or Extinguish® Plus at a rate of 1.5 lb. per acre.
- Distribute bait uniformly around mound without disturbing the mound.
Broadcast Treatments
Some mounds may be too small to see, and these small colonies will grow larger without treatment. Colonies can grow to 500,000 workers and several hundred queens.
Situations & Advantages
- Applying product to an entire area, or broadcasting, will help control most of the colonies in that area, even the ones that are not immediately visible.
- Broadcast applications, utilizing granular spreaders or aerial equipment, can prevent large mounds and colonies from developing when performed regularly as part of a planned treatment program.
Application Tips
- Apply as needed, when ants are active and foraging (when soil temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Take care to apply product when area is dry from dew or irrigation. Apply product when area is completely dry, outside 6 hours of a rain event. The bait will become unattractive to ants if it becomes wet.
- Optimum control can be achieved with early spring or late summer applications.
- Use 1.5 pounds of Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait or Extinguish® Plus per acre.
- Spread it with a hand-held seed spreader, backpack, motorized equipment or aircraft.
Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait and Extinguish® Plus are both designed to offer long-term fire ant control across many markets, and both products meet USDA fire ant quarantine requirements. Whether you’re planning to apply individual mound treatments or apply via broadcast, Extinguish® products provide the right solution.
To learn more, visit the Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait Product Page and the Extinguish® Plus Product Page or contact us.