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Help, Ants!!!
+3
yolos
camprn
cle112
7 posters
Help, Ants!!!
I lie in Orange CA, and I have little brown/black ants all over my SFG boxes. I tried diatomaceous earth, but there seems to be more now then the beginning of summer when I started with that. I am thinking of using Seven Dust, around the boxes. Has anyone used this, or is there a better way to get rid of these littlle pests.
Thank you
Thank you
cle112- Posts : 1
Join date : 2011-10-25
Location : Southern California
Re: Help, Ants!!!
They may just be swarming, moving to another nest site. Is this just happening in the past few days?
I would encourage you to contact your County Cooperative Extension Service Agent for advice on how to deal with them in a manner that wont harm your health or the health of beneficial insects you want to keep in your garden.
this link is geared toward household ants, but may give you some ideas.
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Ants
They also do not like boric acid crystals which you can get at the pharmacy (NOT BORAX).
There are quite a few older threads about ant control and you may use the search feature at the bottom of the 'Latest Topics' list to find them.
I would encourage you to contact your County Cooperative Extension Service Agent for advice on how to deal with them in a manner that wont harm your health or the health of beneficial insects you want to keep in your garden.
this link is geared toward household ants, but may give you some ideas.
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Ants
They also do not like boric acid crystals which you can get at the pharmacy (NOT BORAX).
There are quite a few older threads about ant control and you may use the search feature at the bottom of the 'Latest Topics' list to find them.
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books
Re: Help, Ants!!!
I also had ants everywhere. They were crawling all over my okra and all over the raised beds. In the Okra bed, I tried DE, corn meal, then got deserate and tried Home Defense, then got even more desperate and tried spectacide (bad, bad, me). None of these worked. The ants walked right over them to get to the okra stalks.
I finally tried corn syrup and boric acid. All of the ants were gone from the Okra bed in 2 days. The recipe for this is:
9 tsp sweet corn syrup
1 tsp boric acid
Mix syrup and boric acid, mix well, slightly heat in microwave if you need to thin out the syrup to mix.
Put this mixture into a small tub like a butter tub with a top so rain won't get in.
Just above the level of the mixture, punch a few holes in the tub big enough so the ants can get into the tub/mixture. I spread a little of the mixture on the outside of the tub near the holes so the ants would find the holes (but I doubt I had to do this and the recipe did not call for it).
Put this tub in the bed.
I spread these tubs around my garden and I have not seen any ants since I put these out in the garden.
I finally tried corn syrup and boric acid. All of the ants were gone from the Okra bed in 2 days. The recipe for this is:
9 tsp sweet corn syrup
1 tsp boric acid
Mix syrup and boric acid, mix well, slightly heat in microwave if you need to thin out the syrup to mix.
Put this mixture into a small tub like a butter tub with a top so rain won't get in.
Just above the level of the mixture, punch a few holes in the tub big enough so the ants can get into the tub/mixture. I spread a little of the mixture on the outside of the tub near the holes so the ants would find the holes (but I doubt I had to do this and the recipe did not call for it).
Put this tub in the bed.
I spread these tubs around my garden and I have not seen any ants since I put these out in the garden.
yolos- Posts : 4152
Join date : 2011-11-20
Age : 74
Location : Brooks, Ga Zone 7B/8A
Re: Help, Ants!!!
Yolos...i've tried them all too! They walk right over the "poison" or whatever we use, and keep coming. i tried a homemade mix and it didn't work. I'm gonna try yours and see if it works. We've used Terro, Combat, Sevin Dust, organic powders, home defense on and on! It's crazy! they're just the little black ants, but they bring in the aphids so badly! I'll let you know if your recipe works! Hope so. We tried one similar, but it used sugar and water instead of the corn syrup.
southern gardener- Posts : 1887
Join date : 2011-06-21
Age : 43
Location : california, zone 10a
Re: Help, Ants!!!
keep us posted on how it works....
ants have brought aphids to us as well
one area in our garden we tried the corn meal and it seemed to work.....we need to do something in our corn box's when we are done harvesting.....havent tried anything there yet....
hugs
rose
ants have brought aphids to us as well
one area in our garden we tried the corn meal and it seemed to work.....we need to do something in our corn box's when we are done harvesting.....havent tried anything there yet....
hugs
rose
FamilyGardening- Posts : 2424
Join date : 2011-05-10
Location : Western WA
Re: Help, Ants!!!
I 2nd the cornmeal. It works great for us! We use the fine cornmeal for small ants.
CC
CC
CapeCoddess- Posts : 6824
Join date : 2012-05-20
Age : 68
Location : elbow of the Cape, MA, Zone 6b/7a
Re: Help, Ants!!!
I am in the inland Empire area and had terrible problems(in several other threads earlier this summer) with those type of ants. I tried most everything organic that was reccomended here. I finally resorted to using Amdro ant block. It is not organic so I am very careful to not use it in the beds but first sprinkled it in/on the cinderblocks at the edge of the affected bed. They were gone within a few days!
Since then I have had a couple of times when they came up in a tabletop and in my compost. I just put a small amount of the Amdro in a small container (like a jar lid or bottle cap) in a corner of the bed or the compost pile where the ants could get to it. I leave it out for only a few days.
It is such a relief not to have my plants getting attacked by ants and not to have to worry about getting bit whenever I put my hands in the MM.
Since then I have had a couple of times when they came up in a tabletop and in my compost. I just put a small amount of the Amdro in a small container (like a jar lid or bottle cap) in a corner of the bed or the compost pile where the ants could get to it. I leave it out for only a few days.
It is such a relief not to have my plants getting attacked by ants and not to have to worry about getting bit whenever I put my hands in the MM.
Lindacol- Posts : 777
Join date : 2011-01-23
Location : Bloomington, CA
Re: Help, Ants!!!
Lindacol wrote:I am in the inland Empire area and had terrible problems(in several other threads earlier this summer) with those type of ants. I tried most everything organic that was reccomended here. I finally resorted to using Amdro ant block. It is not organic so I am very careful to not use it in the beds but first sprinkled it in/on the cinderblocks at the edge of the affected bed. They were gone within a few days!
Since then I have had a couple of times when they came up in a tabletop and in my compost. I just put a small amount of the Amdro in a small container (like a jar lid or bottle cap) in a corner of the bed or the compost pile where the ants could get to it. I leave it out for only a few days.
It is such a relief not to have my plants getting attacked by ants and not to have to worry about getting bit whenever I put my hands in the MM.
Well, the ants are all over the mixture. We'll see if they die, or bring all their relatives! I'll check into that Amdro. I want to stay as organic as I can, but holy guacamole! this is crazy! They seem to thrive on the measures I've tried. I think the corn meal was protein powder to them! lol
southern gardener- Posts : 1887
Join date : 2011-06-21
Age : 43
Location : california, zone 10a
Re: Help, Ants!!!
The ants were all over mine too. I put the Amdro outside the bed where there were some ants and the ants take it to their nest. But now I would suggest to put it in small containers which you can remove a couple of days after they are gone.
In the below link there are pictures of them in my potatoes, they were doing the same thing to my 1st crop of corn this year but after the Amdro I have seen no more in that bed. About 6 weeks later they showed up on a tabletop and I couldn't figure out how they were getting in, so I tried the Amdro in a small lid in the corner and it worked.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12158-ants-got-my-potatoes
In the below link there are pictures of them in my potatoes, they were doing the same thing to my 1st crop of corn this year but after the Amdro I have seen no more in that bed. About 6 weeks later they showed up on a tabletop and I couldn't figure out how they were getting in, so I tried the Amdro in a small lid in the corner and it worked.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12158-ants-got-my-potatoes
Lindacol- Posts : 777
Join date : 2011-01-23
Location : Bloomington, CA
Re: Help, Ants!!!
Lindacol wrote:The ants were all over mine too. I put the Amdro outside the bed where there were some ants and the ants take it to their nest. But now I would suggest to put it in small containers which you can remove a couple of days after they are gone.
In the below link there are pictures of them in my potatoes, they were doing the same thing to my 1st crop of corn this year but after the Amdro I have seen no more in that bed. About 6 weeks later they showed up on a tabletop and I couldn't figure out how they were getting in, so I tried the Amdro in a small lid in the corner and it worked.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12158-ants-got-my-potatoes
Thanks for the great info! Now that you mention it, we had tons of ants in our potatoes we harvested yesterday. Our ants are all black..yours look red/black? If my latest attempt doesn't work, I'm gonna try that amdro. I want them out. That's about all the pest problems I really have are ants, I'm having a hard enough time getting my stuff to grow without the ants bringing in more pests! TY again!
southern gardener- Posts : 1887
Join date : 2011-06-21
Age : 43
Location : california, zone 10a
Re: Help, Ants!!!
southern gardener wrote:Lindacol wrote:The ants were all over mine too. I put the Amdro outside the bed where there were some ants and the ants take it to their nest. But now I would suggest to put it in small containers which you can remove a couple of days after they are gone.
In the below link there are pictures of them in my potatoes, they were doing the same thing to my 1st crop of corn this year but after the Amdro I have seen no more in that bed. About 6 weeks later they showed up on a tabletop and I couldn't figure out how they were getting in, so I tried the Amdro in a small lid in the corner and it worked.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12158-ants-got-my-potatoes
Thanks for the great info! Now that you mention it, we had tons of ants in our potatoes we harvested yesterday. Our ants are all black..yours look red/black? If my latest attempt doesn't work, I'm gonna try that amdro. I want them out. That's about all the pest problems I really have are ants, I'm having a hard enough time getting my stuff to grow without the ants bringing in more pests! TY again!
Mine were little red/black. Here is what I used:
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/amdro-24-oz-ant-block-8150490.html
Lindacol- Posts : 777
Join date : 2011-01-23
Location : Bloomington, CA
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