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I was going to put down the mostly black cinder on the property. I was told that things grow better in it and won't break down as fast as the red. I was then told a local yesterday that the black comes with a lot of "bugs" that sound like he was describing ants. At this point we can still go either way. What experiences have you had? What other input dose this great group have to say? PS. This is not the cinder soil.
Royall
What goes around comes around!
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I've found that baby fire ants like to build their nests in cinder of any color.
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i've always used black cinder, covered three different lots with it, never noticed any bug problems, however lately i noticed they must have changed quarries,as there is some red mixed in
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I'm curious about the difference in the two(black & red)quality, and price wise?
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We used red as we were told it blocks weeds better. So far minimal weeds. No bugs. The only thing I don't like is that it sticks to shoes
and tracks in easily.
Aloha
Wyatt
"Yearn to understand first and to be understood second."
-- Beca Lewis Allen
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quote:
I've found that baby fire ants like to build their nests in cinder of any color.
Fire Ants!?!?! I've never heard of these little pest being here before,nor have I seen their mounds around either. Are you sure they are "Fire Ants"?
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They're definitely fire ants, and it seems they've spread around Puna pretty quickly. Their bite is slightly different than mainland fire ants but it's painful all the same.
Aloha,
Jody
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Yes the baby fire ant bites can be quite annoying. They swell up and leave a red welt. I've used malathion to get rid of them before. It's very effective.
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We have the fire ants here.... They get into everything. I feel like I am one step behind them all the time.
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If you have lived in the American South like I have, the fire ants in Hawaii do seem different. Their nests, at least here in HPP, do not seem to form the mounds we were used to, which makes it a bit harder to know where they are and thus avoid them. One, positive difference, however, is the fact that the colonies here seem to have far fewer ants per nest than they do on the mainland. Those angry swarms, being smaller, are somewhat self-limiting on the damage. The individual ants look exacty like those I am accustomed to and the stings feel just the same . . . bad. At one point, the State Ag Dept. wanted people to report fire ant infestations, but I don't know if that still holds.
Getting back to the subject of cinders, folks around here DO complain more about the red ones tracking up the floors.
Cheers,
Jerry
