I added about half a cup or mollasses and orange oil to a half a gallon of water and it killed my bermuda


http://community.webshots.com/photo/549 ... 1079EaGttk

Interesting. What were you trying to do?

fire ants were around my tree. Should I have dilluted it down more?

Jason

Check this link from the home page. You used way too much of both items. Orange oil will kill/damage if used too strong.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=204

When I worked at Kelly AFB the guy over the partition from me was the chemist working on possible uses for orange oil. 3M had given him sample sizes to try on lots of things. The one thing they could never really get around was disposal of fresh or contaminated orange oil. It seems that orange oil never stops being orange oil no matter how contaminated or diluted it gets. It wants to CLEAN something!! We were talking about disposing of several hundred gallons at a time, so the volumes were quite different from what gardeners normally talk about. Still, you can't just dump it anywhere near full strength into the soil without some consequences. To a half gallon of water, you should have used no more than three teaspoons of orange oil and molasses.

I have ants climbing and around some burr oaks and a pistachio tree I planted in January. They are very small and don't look like fire ants. I sprayed them with Garret Juice and orange oil but that didn't kill them. They are still abundant. Any suggestions for killing them? Any ideas on what kind of ants they might be? Could Diatomaceous earth be used to kill them?

If you are on an organic program everywhere, the ants should become feed for the other predators that will come with time. Nature will control the entire place if you feed the soil and do not poison anything. Even something like spraying wasps with wasp spray will affect the way things go in the garden.

There is no reason to kill ants unless they are in your way (biting you during your normal garden activities). Ants do not hurt trees; they are very beneficial overall.

Yes, yes, yes! The more "regular" ants you have, the fewer problems you will have with other pests. Ants have a purpose and help you, so don't kill them just because they show up. The good ones are SO good - the housekeepers of the yard - harvesting seeds so you haven't got new sprouts everywhere, aerating the soil and helping organic matter settle on top, and chase away other kinds of ants, including the dreaded fire ants!

Love them and let them alone to do their job.
Kathe

Even at Mr. Garrett's recomendation of 2oz of orange oil per gallon i have found it to be powerful stuff. Have had it curl the leaves of tomato plants and almost kill potted daisy. I now dilute it even more and still find it effective.
John T.