The fire ants outnumber humans in my part of the country. It’s just a fact of life. I’m told it is a consequence of the burgeoning shipyards nearby. These ants are not from around here. I confess that sometimes I wonder if they are truly from our planet, possibly sneaking here by way of Johnson Space Center.
Recently, the constant battle with these creatures has carried over to compost production activities in Apocalypse Gardens. After leaving some sifted compost for a few days and noticing ants in my seedlings, I discovered tiny mounds being built in the contents of the wheelbarrow.
As mentioned in Episode 26, I needed to conduct some research this week. It seems the solution may be one I have used in the past for other pests: Diatomaceous Earth. I have a bag of this I can experiment with as a compost additive. The plan is to only use this for seedling soil to avoid spreading it all over the place. Although it isn’t a toxic substance, I have concerns about a dependency on outside inputs and also harming beneficials like the ladybugs. I actually saw a nymph of a ladybug today.
Anyway, updates will be arriving shortly. I’m going to begin some experiments with DE and see if I can prevent another incident like last year’s ant venom problem.
