Any new tricks to get rid of ants?

This year I get to garden again. My raised beds have waited patiently. I've been planting and seeding the last two weeks, but have at least two beds with ants working the soil. Lots of ants. Ants lead to aphids, aphids cause disease, and I can kiss my squash and cucumbers goodbye, if not other crops. Happens every year I raise vegetables.

Does anyone know any new, sure-fire, tried and true method(s) to rid the raised beds of ants? They're not fire ants, just black ants.

Guess I'm hoping some wonderful treatment came on the scene in the last year or so.

I had made and bagged MM in preperation of my soon to be built 4X6 TT well it took a lot longer than expected. When it was completed I dumped in the bags of mix not knowing the last bag was just full of fire ants. Since I had nothing in the box yet I flooded it repeatedly. This does not kill the ants but they decided to move out of my box . When I get ants in my potted plants I apply a lot of cinnamon and that seems to do the same thing. They hate the stuff.

Boric acid. Google it to find how to use it properly.

sounds funny but ants love to come in my house so I put down baby powder. they WILL NOT cross it for anything not sure if it would work in the garden but you may give it a try.. also grits works on some ants

shannon1 wrote:When I get ants in my potted plants I apply a lot of cinnamon and that seems to do the same thing. They hate the stuff.

I too have used this method not only for the garden but for my house as well. I see ants then run to Sam's or Costco and buy the big container and then sprinkle liberally around the garden or door. works every time

Ants despise the diatomaceous earth. It's inexpensive, natural, not harmful to anyone, except ants and caterpillars. sprinkle some down lightly on the ground. Don't work it in, so that earthworms are unaffected.

Cheap spices -- Odd Lots/Big Lots would also be a good place to look for cheap priced cinnamon

I, too, am at war. With fire ants! My new bed, not even 3 day old was noted to have a square filling with ants yesterday. Today it is two squares.

I went out armed with cinnamon when I got home from work and dropped the bomb. Ill let you know what happens. I hope I win.

kole....I'm eagerly awaiting your results.

My husband has had some success pouring boiling water on the "nest".
I wonder if perhaps if combined with some of these other methods.

GWN wrote:My husband has had some success pouring boiling water on the "nest".
I wonder if perhaps if combined with some of these other methods.

This works in my yard.

Thanks for this thread and the suggestions. Today, I opened up a bag of peat moss that sat out over from last year. I did not know it was full of ants until I poured it onto my compost and vermiculite mixture

Should I just add a bunch of cinnamon and mix it all in? (the soil is not in the box yet).

Boric acid... hopefully that is common or garden Borax powder that is sometimes used for cleaning off greasy grotty hands & softening hard water.

I've used Borax powder liberallly sprinkled around the outside of things in sunny weather , the borax is hydroscopic ( it attraxts moisture ) the ants take it back to base because it has the absorbed moisture and it kills off the nest in a couple fo days , the ants stay away for months and months .

Here is a site with 10 'organic' items. Lists the ones already reccomended plus some others.

Jo

http://doubledanger.com/living-green/10-tips-for-organic-ant-control

I purchased orange oil concentrate to use on fire ants, this is the first year I was able to use it. I cannot tell you how much I used in a qt sprayer, just a shot glass full almost and the rest water, I think is about the concentration. I had fire ants right where my feet were to be to plant strawberries. I soaked them with the sprayer, they were stunned, I could finish planting without being stung once. I went back the next day a few were left, I sprayed again, went back a day later all gone!! I am highly impressed. I have worried over what to do organically that is truly effective on fire ants, while spinosad can be organic, it is granular and my chickens would think its food. With the safer orange oil my garden smells of the most beautiful orange scent and I get rid of bugs I bought Orange Guard and it is a mixture of orange oil it is for bug spraying in the house, safe for the animals. I decided I could just purchase the pure orange oil and do other things with it. It can also be used as a drench for the soil supposedly, that has not been investigated yet

Orange Oil
http://www.amazon.com/Medina-Orange-Oil-MN012-Concentrate/dp/B0012YEKAE

Ha-v-v

'There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors' a wise man once said. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experiences. Once things dry out a bit around here after this storm, I'm going to try a few of these suggestions to rid my planting boxes of the ants. If I get rid of the ants, maybe I can avoid the aphid attack!

jollo wrote:'There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors' a wise man once said. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experiences. Once things dry out a bit around here after this storm, I'm going to try a few of these suggestions to rid my planting boxes of the ants. If I get rid of the ants, maybe I can avoid the aphid attack!

Soapy water for aphids

I won (for now)! But it wasn't an easy battle. I keep up with the cinnamon... the ants moved there bed 3 times... each time to a different garden bed. Finally with the third dousing of cinnamon they decided to look for a home elsewhere.



Kim

Hi there. We don't have fire ants, but we have redheaded ants here in Western Washington. I got rid of a colony by sprinkling a half and half mixture of baking soda and powdered sugar on the hill. Apparently soda does bad things to ants.

I have some DE so I'm going to try it. Thought I would stir up the hill a bit first to draw out as many as I could. i'll let you know how it works.

i put the whole pack of cinnamon over the ant hill right after reading your posts, we'll see tomorrow if they are gone.

A homeopathic remedy is to put a small strip of paper with "XXX" written on it. It sounds wacky but I have had some small luck with it. Sadly, it has NOT worked on my fire ants- the only thing that does is boiling water and that just kills some and moves the hill. For the red and black ants that tend to cohabit with the fire ants, sometimes the homeopathic remedy works, but if that fails I use a paste made of boric acid and powdered sugar (but only where other critters won't eat it).

jollo wrote:Ants lead to aphids...

I always thought that ants are a symptom of aphids, not a precursor.

Hi Olga.Harrison!

It seems like the ant posts have really drawn out the newbies! Welcome to the forum!

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:Hi Olga.Harrison!

It seems like the ant posts have really drawn out the newbies! Welcome to the forum!

hi!
i've had a raised bed for a couple years now, but never had ants there. i just got my tomatoes and artichokes ready to plant and found unpleasant surprise. so SFG forum was my go to place. i'm waiting for my baby to fall asleep and i'll go out there whether to continue battle, whether to plant. thanks for welcome message and great tips!