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Found a weird tip for keeping fire ants out of my raised beds
Old timer at the local nursery in Austin told me to sprinkle coffee grounds around the edges. I tried it last weekend after a big rain and haven't seen a single mound near my tomatoes yet. Anyone else had luck with this or is it just placebo?
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mason.drew1d ago
Three years in Austin and I've tried every home remedy for fire ants including grits, molasses, and orange oil. Coffee grounds just made the soil smell like a diner floor and the ants built mounds right through them after a week. The old timer at Shoal Creek Nursery told me the same thing and I watched those ants literally climb over the grounds to get to my squash. If it worked for you after that rain, that's great, but I think your soil might just be drying out in a way that's chasing them off naturally. What kind of coffee grounds are you using and how thick are you laying them down?
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the_daniel19h ago
Not quite right on the grits thing, @mason.drew. Grits actually need the ants to eat them and drink water for the expanding thing to work, which fire ants don't really do in practice (they just carry the bits away).
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sanchez.ivan19h ago
Wait have you tried pouring boiling water down the mound at dusk when they're all home?
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