Ants.

Bart 6/8/2016, 5:52 pm

Hi Folks,

I have ants in the garden. Are they considered a pest or should I simply ignore them? If they are a pest how do I get rid of them?

Thanks
Bart

**Kelejan** 6/8/2016, 6:28 pm

"I used cinnamon, borax, coffee grounds and baking soda. Something worked."

I searched and found the above, Walshevak posted this on an old thread.

Try it and see, Bart.

CapeCoddess 6/8/2016, 6:42 pm

Throw some corn meal in there, too. That's what I use. Apparently it blows up in their stomachs and they die.

CC

Zmoore 6/9/2016, 11:53 am

Kelejan wrote:"I used cinnamon, borax, coffee grounds and baking soda. Something worked."

ROFL!!!

Thank you for sharing that. That's great What a Face

"Shotgun" approach, gotta love it.

**Kelejan** 6/9/2016, 12:00 pm

Zmoore wrote:
Kelejan wrote:"I used cinnamon, borax, coffee grounds and baking soda. Something worked."

ROFL!!!
Thank you for sharing that. That's great

"Shotgun" approach, gotta love it.

It wasn't clear to me whether Walshevek used them singly or all at once. Very Happy

At least she/he gives us a choice.

Glad I made you laugh Zmoore.

**trolleydriver** 6/9/2016, 1:40 pm

Found this (see below) on the Internet. I heard about it before but never tried it. If you expect rain then maybe the mixture should be in a shallow container with a protective cover but one which allows the ants to get at the mixture.

"Mix equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar. Place small amounts in areas you expect ants to locate, including suspected points of entry or frequented hangouts. The powdered sugar is used to bait the ants, as many species of ants are attracted to sweet food sources. The baking soda is what kills the ants."

The baking soda expands and "blows up" the ants from the inside.

Windmere 6/9/2016, 2:26 pm

I have had good success mixing one part powdered boric acid with 3 parts powdered sugar and then setting very near nest (shelter it somehow). I also put a little in the nest itself. Ants carry poisonous mixture to queen, she dies and nest dies with her.

**Scorpio Rising** 6/10/2016, 12:18 am

Do they do damage?

BeetlesPerSqFt 6/10/2016, 7:30 am

I have three or four types of ants in my garden - probably more since some ant types look similar to me. They've never bitten me/they don't 'attack'; we don't have fire ants. They help aerate my MM. Sometimes I see them carrying off bugs (mostly 'bad' bugs) to eat. They rear treehoppers on the stems of the Jerusalem artichokes but it doesn't seem to affect the yield of the tubers.

http://www.finegardening.com/ants-arent-your-enemy

yolos 6/10/2016, 9:29 am

I hate ants. The ones that always invade my garden are small dark brown ants. They bite and leave a welt on you about the size of a big pimple. I struggle all summer with them.

Bart 6/10/2016, 3:37 pm

The ones I have bite.......

BeetlesPerSqFt 6/10/2016, 4:16 pm

Wildflower interfering with intended plants in a square = weed. Biting you in the garden = a pest in the garden. Don't know if I have friendly ants, or if they figure I taste bad... thinking

**sanderson** 6/11/2016, 4:49 am

The problem I have had with ants in the beds is that they seem to collect the pollen from the squash male flowers and female flowers that I have pollinated with a paint brush. So far this year, knock, knock, it they have not invaded those beds.

Cajun Cappy 6/13/2016, 8:55 am

We have fire ants and man do they bite! They also laugh at most internet solutions so we have resorted to ant poison we get at Lowes. We only poison the area they are, and that's usually in our boxes. We get lots of rain so they head for our boxes for the high ground. I truly hate poisoning them but we gotta. You cant pull weeds or pick veggies or walk too close to them with out getting bit. The doggies get bit too. So we had to resort to poison. We do NOT broadcast it over the yard we learned that the hard way. Only on the mounds and small surrounding area.

PapaRed 9/14/2016, 11:14 pm

I've tried the cinnamon,

Chili Powder,

Borax, sugar, honey mixture,

Soapy water

coffee grounds

None worked! They don't bother any veggies other than the yard-long beans. They eat the beans.

Help!

**sanderson** 9/15/2016, 3:29 am

Old style baby powder with talc (not the new cornstarch type) or other talc powder (like for feet?). I have to use it to keep ants off the female squash flowers after I have hand pollinated them. The ants take or eat the pollen. Shocked

Have you tried the ant bait stations like Raid? It takes a few days to knock them down.

newbeone 9/18/2016, 6:56 pm

I Just joined the forum today down here Texas we have Ants they look like regular household Ants but they BITE ! well I used about Everything I could think of then someone told me to try Molasses about 1/4 cup per 1 gallon water and water my plants with it, well it took about two weeks but the ants are almost gone. Hope this works for You. PS This is just regular store bought Molasses get the unsulphured type.

**sanderson** 9/19/2016, 2:54 am

Hi Newbeone, Glad something worked for you. Are they the fire ants? And, welcome to the Forum. $glad you\'re here$

has55 9/19/2016, 4:10 am

Ant - Control Newsletter

Fire Ant Control that Works

Leafcutting Ant

Ant, Carpenter

Harvester Ant

CapeCoddess 4/25/2017, 8:45 am

It's that time again. The carpenter ants are marching one by one. Not sure if these remedies will help with carpenter ants or not, except for the diatomaceous earth which I know works....
http://faithtap.com/7796/use-these-easy-home-remedies-and-youll-never-see-ants-again/

Banned Member 4/25/2017, 8:52 am

Peppermint oil sprayed indoors has worked perfectly for us. We had ants coming in through the kitchen window and from the underside of the splash behind the kitchen sink. I re-caulked the splash, and then sprayed peppermint oil on the inside and outside of the window over the sink.

The ants retreated.

I don't know how strong you would need to make a peppermint oil spray for outdoors or how long it might last, but ants hate peppermint.

Ants are interesting little insects. I have always wondered if the little granules made when they make their ant hills is good or bad. It looks a lot like browned worm castings.

**AtlantaMarie** 4/26/2017, 7:37 am

I mowed the back yard yesterday. I found probably 40 nests... Big ones! (Our entire lot is about a 1/2 acre.)

13 nests were in a straight line down the side of a fence. And I'm guessing that the nests are linked via tunnels. So this is timely information. Thanks!

SonSeeker 4/29/2017, 3:18 pm

Thanks for all of the suggestions here. Our Florida ants def know how to leave a whelp on you. I am hoping some of these ideas work.

**sanderson** 4/30/2017, 3:17 am

SonSeeker, Welcome to the Forum! Do you have the RIFA ants?

Sponsored content

Ants.

Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Ants! Ants!

Re: Ants.

Bring on the molasses

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.

Florida Ants bite

Re: Ants.

Re: Ants.


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.