Fire ant control with baits
Right now as in today or tomorrow is the time to put out bait products for controlling fire ants.  The reasoning is fire ants forage or search for food when the temperatures are between 70 and 85 degrees.  The next couple of days will be the only days in the seven day forecast to meet that requirement.

What bait products are available?

Amdro has several products available for use.  Read the label to make sure you get the one that will work for your situation.  Options include Ant Block Home Perimeter, Fire Ant Bait, FireStrike (broadcast), FireStrike Mound Treatment, Yard Treatment.  Each formulation has a different amount of active ingredient and may have added ingredients as well.
Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve is listed for use in vegetable gardens as well as the rest of the yard and it is also listed for use as an organic control.
Over’n Out Mound Treatment is another option.
Safer Brand Fire Ant Bait is another product that is listed for use in organic food production.
Spectracide Fire Ant Killer Bait Once and Done Is another bait product that can be used for fire ant control.

Baits are my first recommendation because if the mound is near a sidewalk, driveway or some other structure it is likely the ants will have the queen hiding under the structure and a drench will not get to the queen.  Baits will be carried directly to the queen and any other ant that is safely under the structure.

Kill the mound now and no new mounds will pop up until late spring or early summer.

Fall care of fruit trees

I bring this up because we are having our annual Fruit and Nut Tree Sale at the Cooperative Extension office here in Johnston County.  We sell fruit trees of several kinds including apple, fig, peach, and pear.  We also sell small fruit plants in the way of blackberries, blueberries, and muscadine grapes.  If you are interested in purchasing plants from our sale, order forms are available at our office or on our website at johnston.ces.ncsu.edu.  The orders need to be in to our office with a check for the order by November 13th.  The plants come in bare root so if you order, make plans to pick these plants up and get them planted as soon as possible after they arrive on December 11th.  If you have any other questions about this sale call our office at 989-5380 and one of us there will be happy to answer your questions.

How to take care of the trees you have now?

Fall clean up:  As the leaves begin to fall off the trees it is important to remember any insect or disease problems there may have been on the tree during the summer.  Some insects and diseases will survive the winter in the leaf litter under the trees.  It is important to clean up all the leaves that fall from the trees and move them as far away from the trees as possible.  A good option is to shred fallen leaves up and put them in a compost pile where they can decompose, breaking down any diseases and discouraging any insects that may have found shelter there.  Use this compost in flower and shrub beds away from the fruit trees, just in case some disease escaped the decomposition process.

Don’t forget to clean up fallen fruit or mummy fruit (fruit that has dried and is still hanging on the tree).  This is another way diseases especially fruit rots make it from year to year.  Be sure to discard these diseased fruits as far as possible from the fruit tree.  Burry them in the flower or vegetable garden if you have space to do so.

When to prune.  Unless you have acres of fruit trees that need to be pruned hold off on the pruning of fruit trees until late winter (Feb. or March).  Pruning fruit trees early in the winter or late fall can lead to cold injury, especially on younger trees.  I am trying to organize a fruit tree-pruning workshop for March of next year for those who have questions on how to properly prune fruit trees.

Another tip I read about recently is to make sure the fruit trees get plenty of water as they are going dormant.  Somehow this helps to keep them hydrated through the winter so they can deal with the cold temperatures better.

Are mice a problem?  If mice are a problem or even voles, you may want to put some tree guards around the base of the trees to keep the mice from eating the bark around the base of the tree.  If the bark is gone from around the base of the tree it is only a matter of time before the top of the tree dies.  Water can still get up to the leaves from the roots, but no food can get down to the roots and when they run out of reserves the tree just suddenly wilts and dies.