Herbs that FIRE Ants Don't Like?

[Beginner Gardener]

Hello, I am located in San Antonio TX and will be gardening an organic garden. Here in Texas, we have a HUGE problem with FIRE ants (a LOT different from just ants) and I really don't want them eating my garden!

So... are there any herbs that I can plant in my garden to keep fire ants away??
Any help will be great appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[marlingardener]

The bad news is that they will attack your hands, feet, legs, and any other available parts of your body. The good news is that there are organic, non-toxic ways of dealing with the little devils.
Boiling water poured on their nests is a deterrent, especially when mixed with detergent. This is from Texas A&M:In controlled studies conducted by Texas A&M University entomologists, fire ant mounds still showed no activity nearly a month after the researchers had drenched the mounds with a mixture of 1 1⁄2 ounces of Medina Orange Oil, 3 ounces of Dawn liquid soap and 1 gallon of water.
I know of no herbs that deter fire ants. If you are planting a garden, make sure you have any fire ant mounds treated and controlled before you plant. Fire ants will eat seedlings and seeds. We fight fire ants, and so far, the battle is a draw!

 

[Chuck]

If you have active mounds you can drench the mounds with a spinosad based insecticide. This will eliminate the entire mound. It should take about 3 days. The ants will NOT move. If other mounds appear anywhere just do it again. I have used the orange oil. It works, BUT, the ants will move, not many survive but some do and if the queen survives you have accomplished nothing. I have a bad fire ant problem. Every time it rains the ants wash downhill and I have to start over and spinosad has been the only thing that is guaranteed to work, every time. I have to use it in my compost pile too. I live about 70 miles northwest of you so we get the same plague. I mix a gallon of water with 2 oz of spinosad. A big mound will take 2 quarts at most. With small mounds a pint works great. Spinosad is a bacteria and the ants take it with them where ever they go and leave traces of it. Orange oil "melts" their exoskeleton and doesn't lend for much movement. If it is on them it will kill them but spinosad infects the actual soil that the ants must come into contact with travel. One thing that isn't much mentioned about orange oil is that it is without doubt one of the best household cleaners and degreasers there is, plus it smells good.

If you have fire ants or anything else,chewing on your seedlings spinosad is the best thing you can use. It will kill loopers, caterpillars and a host of other harmful insects. If you are going to be an organic gardener you should have 3 things in your arsenal. Spinosad, Neem Oil and Bt (Bacillus thuringensis). These 3 products will be all you will ever need for any insects and caterpillars you will encounter and their shelf life is a long time, plus they are all organic.

I know of no herb that fire ants do not like. In fact I know of no plant that they dont like