The fire ants and I have reached an accommodation over which party has control over the okra. I ceded two okra plants to the ants to do whatever they wish with those and in return they have refrained from molesting any of the other okra plants. Heck of a deal is my viewpoint.

Something I do, that helps keep ants off okra is brush the lower 4 inches or so of the stalk with tanglefoot. As long as there is nothing else from the plant touching the ground, they have to crawl up the trunk.

I had to look up tanglefoot. So that’s what that sticky stuff is called. Good tip. Good to know. Ought to work.

I’m about to let most of the okra go to seed and the bed with the ants is going to be ripped up mid October to make room for cool season crops. The other okra bed free from the ants will be ripped up in November (for to plant garlic and bulbing onions) and hopefully the okra pods will be dry enough by then to save some seeds. I’d have ripped up the okra bed with the ants this week but the feedstore was out of the compost I like and then I’m going to have a week or so of no gardening or even being around to nurture seedlings so I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer to plant the cool season stuff.

We are about sick of okra anyway. I mean it is good, but enough is enough.

As for the tanglefoot, what I do is put a stake into the ground, a couple of inches from the plants, and brush the tanglefoot on that, as well - otherwise, the ants would use that to get to the okra. I keep those thick, long stakes for the okra, and wash off the lower end, and the next season, brush another layer of tanglefoot on it, in that same section (the old TF is still sticky, but not enough for the whole season). Get the TF on your hands, or anything, you need some solvent like acetone or Goof Off - even isopropyl alcohol doesn't remove this stuff, and it stays on pretty much the entire season.

I should have a couple more pickings but the stalks that are still alive definitely started their end of season push, pod pod pod pod real close with hardly any leaf growth.