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Anyone have any idea how to rid the garden of ants ? They are eating the root crops !
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Re: Ants
Wed, May 20, 2009 - 8:46 AMIn England people rate 'nippon' as a good killer, as the ants take it straight to the queen. I have used a little borax powder mixed with icing sugar, as it's cheaper! -
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Re: Ants
Wed, May 20, 2009 - 9:51 AMI've also used borax/boric acid mixed with jam as a good ant killer. Beware though that you don't put it where pets/kids can get it. -
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Re: Ants
Wed, May 20, 2009 - 7:38 PMants indoors are detered by citrasolve. . .it destroys their scent trails and kills them, also gets rid of ticks.
that makes me think that fresh orange peels, torn up and scattered around the plant might halt the ants.
otherwise, I might just poor a little citrasolve around the plant.
what plants are the ants eating?? -
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Re: Ants
Thu, May 21, 2009 - 11:08 AMAlso they like dry areas so keep drenching :)
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Re: Ants
Thu, May 21, 2009 - 11:26 AMAnts love aphids and you probably got them. If you take away the ant food source you can successfully get rid of the ants.
If you do not mind the though of ants imploding or exploding. Here is a simple little kitchen trick that seems to work. You can feed your ants cream of wheat, rice or grits (anything that expands in their stomachs) Then fertilize your soil with some coffee grounds around the plants that they have been attacking. -
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Re: Ants
Thu, May 21, 2009 - 12:04 PMomg. . .exploding ants! how does that work, i'm curious. are you talking about flour? what makes it expand? do they eat the coffee or does it keep them away. . -
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Re: Ants
Thu, May 21, 2009 - 12:08 PMThis is a good question . I would like to know also .
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Re: Ants
Mon, May 25, 2009 - 12:20 PMI would really start by checking to see if you have aphids because they secrete a sweet substance that attracts ants and the ants help move them and protect them.
I really do not like any form of chemical so I constantly experiment with safe to human regular products. I also like to attract beneficial insects.
Dried grits/cream of wheat/minute rice etc... Once the ant start to consume water the grits and cream of wheat is that as it expands in their little stomachs and the explode, death by bloating.
Coffee grounds are acidic and can cause them to implode. - It definitely repels them
Other things you can try from your kitchen;
baking soda - acts like poison
Vinegar and water (equal parts) - acidic
Ants do not like any kind of spice pepper. (ie...chili/black) -repels them
1 cup Borax/ 2/3 cup sugar/ 1 cup water
Boiling water pored on the ant hills also works....but this to me is a bit extreme...
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Re: Ants
Thu, May 21, 2009 - 12:22 PMI always heard you have to find their hill and destroy it or they will keep coming back. I read somewhere if you pour vinegar into their hole they will move elsewhere. I haven't tried it yet. As far as coffee grounds you can get them from most coffee shops if you need a lot. This is handy if like in my instance there are only two of you that don't drink that much coffee. -Freya -
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Re: Ants
Mon, May 25, 2009 - 9:32 AMAnts were eating my tomatoes and basil. I dusted with borax, but they just moved to the begonias. I drenched them with hot sauce. which seemed to work until the rains came. It has rained here for the past 2 weeks. At one time my garden was under a foot of water. Now I have a dozen little hills all over the yard.
I just read about a guy in Texas who dusts with white flour. Thought I might try that. Same with the grits or cornmeal. No, that might attract the rats.
I was putting my coffee grounds out there, but was not consistant so can't tell if they made a difference. But, wth, I might as well dump the coffee grounds there instead of in the compost.
In my experience, if you pour something on them to get them to move, they may move somewhere you would want them less! Once, years ago, I doused the ants outside my little trailor with the hose and the next morning woke up to find them marching across my ceiling!
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