| Author |
Garden Gate:  killing ants  |
|
|
threebusybees
True Blue Farmgirl
222 Posts
Mandi
Myrtle Beach
South Carolina
222 Posts |
 Posted - May 21 2007 : 09:18:53 AM
|
So after the weed topic anyone know how to kill red ants in the yard without killing the grass, hurting the earth, poisoning your kids and animals? I have already tried Diatomaceous Earth the ants laughed at me I swear!
Mandi
"There will no longer be so many pleasant things to look at if responsible people do not do something about the unpleasant ones." Madeleine L"Engle |
|
|
GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2007 : 10:09:36 AM
|
Ants dont like vinegar either. If you use it in the house they will stay out...liek clean your countertops with it.
In Slugbread and Beheaded Thistles, Ellen Snadbeck writes "kill ants by pouring 1 pound of coffee grounds in 1 quart of boiling water over an anthill. A bigger anthill may require a larger amount of coffee and hot water....equal parts of baking soda dn powdered sugar will kill ants....1 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp boric acid, soak cotton balls in the mixture put into a jar with ant size hols in the lid. works like the ant baits you buy commercially. they share it with the colony and they all die.....kill the queen! Quickly, scrape off the top layer of an ant hill and pour boiling water int o the nest and RUN!"
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://tasharose365.wordpress.com/
Homepage:
http://gaiasrose.etsy.com
http://ForestFaeries.etsy.com
Birth is safe, interference is risky; TRUST BIRTH |
 |
|
|
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2007 : 11:14:24 AM
|
honey and borax mixed together and laid by their pathways did it for us. We were being invaded by huge black ants that bit and were a huge nuisance, now I am surprised if I see 1 a week. Before we were killing them by the dozens.
Alee |
|
|
|
Reepicheep
True Blue Farmgirl
78 Posts
78 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2007 : 11:49:40 AM
|
Vinegar has never worked for us - they just move to another spot in the yard. I've also tried coffee grounds - sometimes it works, sometimes not.
One thing that does work, but we can't use because our dogs eat it and get sick, is grits. Just pour uncooked grits on the ant mounds. I can't remember exactly why it is that it works - something about it destroys the colony because they eat the grits and it causes their stomachs to blow up(?). It won't work if it has just rained or rains within the next 48 hours after putting the grits on the mounds though.
We have some fierce red ants here so I know what you're up against.
http://naturalpaths.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
|
grace gerber
True Blue Farmgirl
2804 Posts
grace
larkspur
colorado
USA
2804 Posts |
|
|
ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
|
|
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - May 25 2007 : 12:38:58 PM
|
How is the battle against the ants going? It took about a week or two for me to really notice a decrease in the ants around our apartment.
Alee |
|
|
|
Terre
True Blue Farmgirl
97 Posts
Indiana
USA
97 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2007 : 09:23:14 AM
|
I have an ongoing problem with little tiny ants in the bathroom. Keep putting traps out, but I think they like them for dessert and then are up on the counter again. I'm not one for bugs of any kind in the house, so I think I'll try the honey and Borax. How much of each or does it matter? Help is a great thing!!! Ants are not :(
Be true in heart. |
|
|
|
Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2007 : 2:43:14 PM
|
Kim suggested the grits- that's what we've used for seven years now. I always put them out in the spring, inside the house, because the ants came in. When we have red ant mounds outside, I pour grits there too. I've put them in my garden this year to see if it works the same. Easy, cheap and safe.
Kim in NC |
|
|
|
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - May 26 2007 : 3:16:36 PM
|
We put about an 1/8th to a 1/4 of a cup of borax in a little dish and a good sized dollop of honey and then mixed it aroud a bit. We put this outside around the foundations and inside anywhere where we saw the ants traveling a lot.
Alee |
|
|
| |
Garden Gate: killing ants |
|
killing ants
