How to Manage Fire Ants Organically on Your Market Farm
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Show Transcript
0:00If you grow in the south, there's a good chance that you are struggling with fire ants. I'm here at Bountiful Blessings Farm with my dad, John, and we're going
0:07to talk about how they handle fire ants nests like this. This is inside of one of their green houses, and these guys have really built quite a nest here.
0:16They are underneath the the landscape fabric, and it makes working in and around this area challenging. So, how do
0:24you guys handle fire ants? For full total disclosure, we do not have a
0:32aggressive strategy for dealing with fire ants. I feel like for us, they're more of a nuisance. They haven't been an
0:40economic liability at this point. So, we don't have a real strategy. But what I
0:47can tell you from my research and from our experience that there are two things that I think really can help from
0:55organic an organic perspective and one is predatory
1:02nematodes and we have limited experience with this. We've used them 2 years, but when we have used them,
1:11sprayed them on in the spring, we have noticed a difference. And I feel like we're seeing it now. You know, we have a
1:20fire ant nest here, but all the nests from from talking to the others working on the farm, they seem to be very weak.
1:30Mhm. And I'm hoping that that's from the predatory nematodes. There's a company called
1:37Arbico or I don't know how they pronounce it but Arbico or that sells them. We we spray it on in the spring
1:46and ideally we would do it again in the fall and that I think is helping. Now
1:53are you spraying it everywhere or is that just targeted for like fire ants nest? No, everywhere because it's it's
2:01dealing with things any any insect that has a life stage in the soil.
2:08Uh you know, cucumber beetles, uh flea beetles, all these things, the the predatory nematodes can help with that.
2:18Well, I I know at my house, we have a lot of fire ants nests out in the the yard and also in our garden beds, we've
2:26had challenges with it and they are very they get very large and there's, you know, what seems like millions of fire ants. Even this one seems like a pretty
2:34weak colony, but then the other ones we were looking at over in those other field plots, you know, you can see that at one point it had been a a large nest,
2:42but there was no fire ants visible. and digging down into it by hand, I saw just a a few, but not not many. Um, so yeah.
2:51So, you know, it's a little early to say, but I do think that the predatory nematodes work. The other thing that
2:59you'll see mainly online, you know, as a an organic solution is anything with the active ingredient spinosid or some people say spinosad.
3:13um s p i n o s a d is supposed to work and you know you kind of drench the
3:21colony in it. You just read the directions for whatever product. I think you all sell what the Monterey insect
3:29spray or something that has the spinosid in it. Yes.
3:33um that is supposed to work and again we haven't aggressively tried it but I
3:42think between those two if you really work at it I think you should be able to
3:50to if not eliminate at least you know really knock down the fire ants for sure. So
3:59these little guys can be a very pesky nuisance in your garden or on your farm.
4:04So if you have experience, give us your feedback on how you handle fire ants or give the uh nematodes a try or or a
4:13product with spinosid to try to knock them out and give us your feedback on the results that you see. So we appreciate you watching these videos.
4:22Until next time, happy growing.
There's no easy organic solution for fire ants, but two approaches show real promise: predatory nematodes applied broadly in spring (and ideally again in fall) to attack soil-dwelling insect larvae, and spinosad-based products like Monterey Garden Insect Spray drenched directly onto colonies. Bountiful Blessings Farm has seen noticeably weaker fire ant colonies since starting predatory nematode applications — and the nematodes also help control cucumber beetles, flea beetles, and other pests with soil-dwelling life stages.
If you farm in the South, you deal with fire ants. They build nests in your beds, under your landscape fabric, inside your tunnels — and working around them ranges from annoying to genuinely painful. At Bountiful Blessings Farm, a recent nest inside one of the greenhouses had built up right under the landscape fabric, making the entire area difficult to work in.
My dad, John Dysinger, is honest about where they stand: Bountiful Blessings Farm doesn't have an aggressive fire ant strategy. So far, fire ants have been more of a nuisance than an economic liability on their operation. But based on his research and limited but promising experience, there are two organic approaches worth trying.
Predatory Nematodes: The Broad-Spectrum Approach
Predatory nematodes are microscopic organisms that attack insect larvae in the soil. You mix them with water and spray them across your growing areas — not just on fire ant nests, but everywhere, because they target any insect that has a life stage in the soil.
That means in addition to fire ants, predatory nematodes can help suppress cucumber beetles, flea beetles, and other soil-dwelling pests. It's a broad-spectrum biological control that works quietly underground.
Bountiful Blessings Farm has applied predatory nematodes for two springs now, and the results are encouraging. Fire ant nests on the farm appear noticeably weaker this year — colonies that would normally be large and aggressive seem diminished. Some former nest sites showed almost no fire ant activity when dug into by hand. It's early to draw definitive conclusions, but the trend is promising.
Application timing: Spring is the primary window, with a second application in fall if possible. A company called Arbico Organics sells predatory nematodes and is the source Bountiful Blessings Farm has used.
Application method: Spray across your entire growing area, not just targeted at visible nests. The nematodes need to be in the soil where the insect larvae are, and you won't always know where fire ant colonies are building underground.
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Spinosad: The Colony Drench
The other organic option is spinosad (sometimes pronounced "spinosid") — the same active ingredient used in Monterey Garden Insect Spray for caterpillar and beetle control on foliage.
For fire ants, the application is different: you drench the colony directly with a spinosad solution rather than spraying foliage. The product gets into the colony and the ants carry it through the nest. Follow the label directions for your specific product's fire ant application rates.
My dad hasn't used spinosad aggressively against fire ants yet, but it's widely recommended as an organic fire ant control in online resources and by other southern growers. Combined with predatory nematodes, the two approaches attack the problem from different angles — nematodes working broadly in the soil and spinosad targeting specific colonies.
An Honest Assessment
My dad is upfront that neither approach has been tested rigorously on their farm. They're sharing what they've researched, what they've tried on a limited basis, and what appears to be working. Fire ants are a tough pest, and anyone claiming an easy organic solution is overselling it.
But between predatory nematodes (applied broadly, twice a year) and spinosad drenches (targeted at visible colonies), there's a realistic path to significantly reducing fire ant pressure — even if complete elimination isn't achievable with organic methods.
If you've been dealing with fire ants on your farm and have found other organic approaches that work, the farming community would benefit from hearing about it.
The Takeaway
Fire ants in the South are a fact of life, but they don't have to be unmanageable. Predatory nematodes applied in spring and fall provide broad soil-pest control with fire ants as a bonus target. Spinosad drenches handle specific colonies. Neither is a silver bullet, but together they offer a realistic organic management strategy that's showing early promise at Bountiful Blessings Farm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Two approaches show the most promise: predatory nematodes applied broadly across your growing areas in spring and fall, and spinosad-based products (like Monterey Garden Insect Spray) drenched directly onto visible colonies. Neither is a guaranteed elimination, but together they can significantly reduce fire ant pressure.
Predatory nematodes are microscopic soil organisms that attack insect larvae. When applied across growing areas, they target any pest with a soil-dwelling life stage — including fire ants, cucumber beetles, and flea beetles. Bountiful Blessings Farm has seen noticeably weaker fire ant colonies after two years of spring applications. Arbico Organics is a reliable source.
Yes — spinosad is labeled for fire ant control. Instead of spraying foliage (as you would for caterpillars), you drench the colony directly with a spinosad solution so it penetrates the nest. Follow the product label for specific fire ant application rates and methods.
Yes. Predatory nematodes target any insect with a soil-dwelling life stage, including cucumber beetles, flea beetles, and various grubs. Applying them broadly across your farm provides multi-pest suppression from a single biological application.
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