HELP! I've been stupid!

Today we went and pulled all the dead stuff out of the SFG, to ready it for planting. Well, it's been mostly unused for a few months now for various reasons, and we finally got around to doing it.

I had seen a number of fire ant scouts in the garden during the summer, and I was afraid they were moving in. Well, they did. The garden was full of fire ants -- all 20' of it! I think they expanded into the garden from a nearby stump, which I just realized is full of fire ants.

In a fit of fire-ant panic, I grabbed the Amdro and spread it all over and around the garden and the stump, hoping to rid ourselves of this giant fire ant colony. I knew it wasn't labelled for veggie gardens, but I figured at worst it would mean I had to wait something like a month to six weeks to plant.

So I google "amdro fire ants bait vegetable garden" tonight, and this is what I find on DoYourOwnPestControl:

Amdro Pro Fire Ant Bait cannot be used in the same area where you plan
to plant an edible food garden. The manufacturer recommends that you
either wait one year from the date of placement or that you remove the
soil and replace it with non-treated soil.

I don't remember whether it was "Amdro Pro" that I had. I have to dig the empty container back out tomorrow.

But what do I do? Have I ruined my SFG for a year?

"Have I ruined my SFG for a year?"


Sad, but true. At least, I would never eat out of it. It has methropene, which is a growth hormone inhibitor, and hydramethylnon, which is highly toxic to fish.

http://amdro.com/Amdro/downloads/firestrike_msds.pdf

Sorry. Perhaps flowers?

j

Remove the soil, add a liner and replace it. Easier to do with SFG than most.

After removing the MM, I would thoroughly water it for several days in a row. Otherwise, you can pick up the boxes and remove them to another area and refill.

Sorry, it looks like you will have to replace your MM if you want a veggie garden this year. How many beds are you dealing with? Do you have space for more beds? If you have more space, I can see this as a chance to increase your long term gardening space by building a few new this year and planting into all next year. And flowers will be pretty while waiting.

Kay

Miss M,

Don't tell me this happened to your beautiful 4 X 20 box with the gorgeous trellis arrangement for plastic or bird cloth BEAUTIFUL SFG (see pictures)



Thank breaks my for you.

Miss M, I just looked at the pics Furbalsmom posted of you garden. I love how you've built it with the permanent posts for trellis or netting! Really great thinking! I'm so sorry about your fire ants. It does sound like you may need to replace the MM.

My Philippine friends are facing something of the same problem. In order to rid their soil of a particular worm/grub, they had to douse the beds with kerosene and set fire to them. Will have to wait till next year to plant.

Kay

Furbalsmom wrote:Miss M,

Don't tell me this happened to your beautiful 4 X 20 box with the gorgeous trellis arrangement for plastic or bird cloth BEAUTIFUL SFG (see pictures)



Thank breaks my for you.

*sigh*... yes, that's the box.

Thank you and LaborDay RN for the compliments! It really has worked well. Without the bird cloth, we probably wouldn't have eaten very many tomatoes this year! The little wrens still made it in, but they just ate bugs and didn't bother the tomatoes. And boy, did we get tomatoes. And lots of other things. We actually plan to build another, similar box within the next couple of
months -- not as deep, but still with 9" of sand in the bottom. If I
can't plant in this box, at least I'll be able to plant in the new one.

Kay, I'm so sorry your Philippine friends had to take such drastic action! I know it breaks their hearts to do it. I hope next year they will have a wonderful payoff!

I dug the container back out. It is Amdro, but not the Amdro Pro. Tomorrow I will see exactly what it is, and contact Amdro. I am hoping against hope that it is some lesser chemical. I'll keep y'all updated.


I'm not sure what else I could have done, though, faced with such a large infestation. Maybe there was something better I could have done. I just don't know.

Sorry I've been scarce for so long! I needed to learn how to sew, and I had a deadline! Several different deadlines, actually. I have another one coming up (making clothes for use at a museum my daughter has joined), but it isn't as major an issue. Maybe because I apparently learned pretty quickly.

snip "I'm not sure what else I could have done, though, faced with such a large infestation. Maybe there was something better I could have done. I just don't know.


Ah, this is why farming is such an iffy business if done properly (healthy). Mother Nature can always throw a fit. Hang in there. I am so glad another bed is in your near future. Maybe you can just speed it up a bit.

Sewing seems to compliment gardening. Something to do during the off season. But be careful. It can get addicting too. My sewing friends have mugs that say "She who dies with the most fabric wins" It gets like seeds. "Oh, I like that. Not ready to sew but I think I'll get it." First thing you know it is years later and you have a closet full. I have some beautiful cashmere and English wools bought when I lived in England. But now that I'm retired I have no need for that type of clothing.

Kay

You are so right, Kay!!! Sewing is addictive! It's bitten my 15yo daughter, too, who now has a collection of 1950s dress patterns she can't wait to make!

Okay... I called Amdro. I mentioned the thing about the Amdro Pro that some pest control company said that the manufacturer said that you have to wait a year after application to plant vegetables. I told her that what I had used was not the Amdro Pro, that it was the regular Amdro Fire Ant Bait, and I needed to know how long I needed to wait.

What she said led me to believe that she really didn't know. "Yeah, it looks like it's probably a year." "I'd probably go ahead and wait a year." Subjective things like that.

Finally, I asked if there was anybody there that could give a definitive answer on it. Somebody who could tell me how long it takes this stuff to break down. She said, "Well, it's probably going to be a year anyway, but if you'd like to hold, I'll go check."

Hey, what do I have to lose? At worst, she comes back and tells me that the expert says I have to wait a year.

A few minutes later, she returned. She said that she had spoken to somebody, and he told her that the active ingredient, hydramethylnon, actually breaks down relatively quickly. I have to wait two months before I can plant.

TWO MONTHS!!!?! Really????? No kidding??? I can plant in two months???

I can do that! I had initially figured 4 - 6 weeks, then I was heartbroken at having to wait a year... now I can plant in 8 weeks!

HURRAY!!!

Yeaaaaa! You will get a summer garden. If you hurry on that second bed, you can also get your spring garden.



Kay

We'll be getting on that bed as soon as possible!!

We do need to redo some things in the rabbitry first, but the new bed comes right after that!

From the EPA, on hydramethylnon: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=hydramethylnon%20dissipation&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epa.gov%2Fpesticides%2Fchem_search%2Fcleared_reviews%2Fcsr_PC-118401_6-Oct-92_023.pdf&ei=Ox8eT5HAMcTO2AXx4PWDDw&usg=AFQjCNEjpESnAVoBoCMIOeG7_s0Ap6QW1Q&cad=rja