Ohhhh the ants~ I want them dead and gone!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tiffanyg2]

I can not stand ants~ give me snakes, give me spiders, anything but ants! OK here's my dilema~ I have been organic gardening, and now raising chickens~ I do not use any chemicals or pesticides around the house. I research all the homes remedies for all the nuisance pests but the only one that has me stumped are these darn ants!! I tried the grits method... sprinkle it down around their little tunnels and I watch them move it inside the hole and I think

they took the bait!! Well this method basically they eat the grit and the moment they drink water they expand and pop

So anywho... the next day I go back out and I set the sprinklers to on, to encourage their thirst.

Then I go back out later and what do I find..... them moving the grits back out of their holes

Seriously!!! I've dumped jalepeno juice on them, boiling water on them, coffee grinds (cause supposedly they find the smell repulsive

) Nothing.... I repeat nothing really works

Does anyone have any other non-chemical methods that I could possibly try because I haven't quite exhausted myself yet

What about DE Food grade will it kill them? And there are so many variety of ants I see to this year... the weee little red and/or black ants, then these red fire ants, and the really obnoctious wanna move in all your pots black ants!! I'm not infested but if I don't start figuring out a way to kill these ants I'm afraid of what it will be like in 2 more months.

 

[Stacykins]

Cinnamon works as a great ant deterrent. I would often sprinkle it by windowsills and doorways when ants were getting bad in a rental house I was in once. You can buy it in large bulk jars for fairly cheap.

 

[cuntryuppiechick]

Cinnamon just entertained them for a minute. I can't tell if they avoid the DE or it kills them because I get so many but they will not cross it so if you clean them all out and block their paths they should move on. They really don't like the boric acid or just borax laundry soap but that is chemical.

 

[anderson8505]

I've been using DE food grade, but I don't think I'm using enough. I have a huge ant problem too!!! I am going to try really dowsing the chicken coop area with it. My hens eat a few ants, but we have "invaders from South America" ants. Man, they're everywhere. So, my advice is try DE but don't just sprinkle it on the ants like a poison, it won't work that way.

 

[tiffanyg2]

Quote:
Well thats my next step... They are spread out all over the place but I have a feeling once the coop is up they will be all over that thing. Wherever their food gets on the ground soon after here comes the little ant holes. Where are you at? So do you know if the DE kills them by them walking on it or do they have to actually ingest it?? I wish it was legal to get an ant eater... I would so get one!!

 

[redhen]

I have the SAME problem! Cant use chemicals cause of my animals...
I did try the DE... what a JOKE! Didnt faze them at all... and i used thr WHOLE bag in the yard....
i sprinkled it on their mounds..on THEM... nothing!
They just keep trucking along....
Its getting very bad here,..i dont know what to do??!

 

[Buugette]

found this article...

Ant deterrent tips

Here's some things you may want to try before reaching for that can of insecticide, depending on the application:

- Pouring lemon juice around areas ants frequent.

- Sprinkle cinnamon or place in cheesecloth bags in affected areas. Cinnamon was a very popular choice with quite a few readers reporting it being highly effective.

- Baking soda can deter ants - pour a solid line in areas of activity and they won't cross it.

- A ring of coffee grounds around sensitive plants can discourage ants.

- A puree blend of orange peel and water can be applied to an area to discourage ants from crossing.

- Ants hate vinegar; so spray it around doorways and other areas they frequent to repel them. A small container of vinegar mixed with honey placed in affected areas appears to do the trick too.

- A reader reported baby powder stopped them dead in their tracks.

- Pouring boiling water over their tracks (destroys the scent trail)

- Sprinkling a circle of ground cloves around pet food bowls

- Removing rocks and wood from around the garden

- Planting mint around vegetable patches, flower beds and around the house

- Quite a few readers found cinnamon sprinkled across ant scent trails to be very effective

- Citrus oil is a good deterrent; it can soaked into a piece of string and place around scent trails.

- Use a piece of chalk to draw a line over trails - again, the ants won't cross it. Chalk also has the advantage of being able to be used on vertical surfaces

One enterprising reader decided to work with the ants rather than against them. She made a sugar trail away from the house to her compost pile and put out the intent that they would find a greater feast there. It worked!

Ants invade for a reason - usually for food or water, so be sure to keep food items well secured and clean up after you prepare food. Also check plumbing for leaks, particularly under sinks. Dead insects can attract large numbers of ants, so check window sills and other areas where they may accumulate.

Ant eradication tips

Unfortunately, some times you'll need to eradicate the ants rather than deter them. A couple of greener ways to do it:

A mixture of 1/8 teaspoon of powdered borax and sugar or honey will attract and kill ants. This is a mixture that is often used in commercial ant-specific products. Worker ants take it back to the nest and pass it onto other ants, killing the colony. While borax in small quantities is relatively harmless to larger animals, in big enough doses it can kill, so be cautious about placement and keep out of reach of pets and children.

A reader reported using dry grits to kill ants; a non-toxic strategy she's used with success for 20 years. The theory behind it is that the ants eat the grits and when they drink water the grits expand in their stomachs, killing them.

Hopefully one of the above tips will help you in your environmentally friendly control of ants! If you have any other tips, please add them below.

 

[tiffanyg2]

Quote:
I commented in bold and underline for some of these that I've tried for anyone else who is interested in trying to control your ant populations! I think I will try some of these I haven't and I do think the grit method works, but sometimes they don't eat it! Guess I will just keep on trying that and some of these other methods. I plan on getting some DE Food grade to try on them as well~ Thanks for looking this up for me!

 

[joneus]

Baking soda or brewers yeast, mixed with something sweet and sticky (honey, maple syrup, molasses, whatever you've got). Put it in a shallow dish somewhere they congregate and give 'em a few days. Let 'em swarm over it all they want! If you can find their hill, move it closer so they dont have to work as hard!

If they dont go for the sweet/sticky concoction, they're not sugar ants. Try something oily, like veggi oil and baking soda.

This has worked for me EVERY time I've needed to get rid of ants.

The reason it works? Ants cant pass gas. They eat the mixture laced with Baking soda, it does its bubbly-thing and they explode... but by then, they've already shared it with the rest of the colony including the queen.

 

[Mgui35]

My dad saw a large ant pile in my backyard. He boiled some water and added dishwashing detergent in it. Then he poured it over the ant pile. It killed them.