Ants in the garden

[MandaElaine]

I have a horrible ant problem this year and am not sure how to get rid of them. I have raised beds that I use to grow veggies and berries. The ants seem to have made themselves giant homes out of my raised beds! There aren't really any ant hills. They just seem to be everywhere. They are also in every single flower pot and every flower bed in the yard. Does anyone have any advice on how to control them? I would prefer something natural if at all possible. I do have a large box of diatomaceous earth that I sprinkled in one bed, but it didn't seem to bother them one bit.

Any suggestions?

 

[Chick Charm]

You can purchase a big bag (40 lbs) of DE for around $20 at most garden centers or wherever. Use it liberally. Food grade works and the pool grade works better for killing ants. For reference purposes, I put about 2 cups on a small hill and this usually kills most if not all of them MOST of the time. You can always count on some escaping. The reason I mentioned the big bag is that you can use a lot more than expected.

Another option is Mix BORAX with honey or maple syrup and set it out out for them to eat. Borax will kill them

Of course the pesticides work better and much quicker. If you really have a big ant problem..... you may have to resort to this.

 

[MandaElaine]

I have 25 lbs. of food grade DE. I covered the ground in one of the beds, but maybe I didn't put enough. I think I will go out and just put it everywhere. Hopefully I can at least make a dent in the ant population!

 

[cstronks]

You can purchase a big bag (40 lbs) of DE for around $20 at most garden centers or wherever. Use it liberally. Food grade works and the pool grade works better for killing ants. For reference purposes, I put about 2 cups on a small hill and this usually kills most if not all of them MOST of the time. You can always count on some escaping. The reason I mentioned the big bag is that you can use a lot more than expected.

Another option is Mix BORAX with honey or maple syrup and set it out out for them to eat. Borax will kill them

Of course the pesticides work better and much quicker. If you really have a big ant problem..... you may have to resort to this.

Just a note on borax and maple syrup...that will attract quite a few critters (birds, bees, chipmunks, neighborhood cats?). In a large dose it can be highly toxic, so if you were to use this method, it would have to be in some type of makeshift ant trap.

 

[TrentSATX]

We get a lot of fire ants here in south texas and I have good luck with orange oil you can get agricultural grade and spray it on with a hose end sprayer. I use a product from Medina. I have also used a product called antifuego it worked well too.