"ant" wrote in message
...
Where do you get Borax from?! I tried Bunnings (I hate bunnings) and Coles
(hate them too) and neither had it. Where do you get it from?

I just got some from foodworks, but I'm sure Coles and other supermarkets
would have it as well. You'll find it in the laundry section, with washing
powders and stain removers.

Jen

"ant" wrote in message

Where do you get Borax from?!

You should find it in the Laundry soap section of a supermarket. It's
prime use (domestically) is for washing things like blankets. The
brand I use is Hovex and it's in a plastic container about the sixe of
a smallish can of corn.

"John Savage" wrote in message

I do wonder whether there might be meat-loving ants in the garden
that
go around collecting grubs off the cabbages, and aphids off radish
leaves, etc. Can anyone vouch for this? Maybe not all ants in the
garden
are undesirable.

I used to do furniture making classes with a world wide expert on
ants. For some reason the Japanese are fascinated with ants and he
was always either being filmed or interviewed by them or asked to
Japan to talk about them Lord knows what the film crews thought of
some of the places he used to drag them off to.

Can't remember his surname now but he was Dr. Bob Something or other.
At lunch time we would always find some sort of ant and he would
instantly say: "It's a 'xxxx xxxx'" giving it's Latin name and then he
would either squash it because it was an introduced species or
carefully put it right back where we found it if it was a native ant.

Anyway, I know that I have at least 5 different types of ants in my
garden. I haven't a clue what they are except black, brown and blue.
They have never bothered me except when they have bitten me (rarely)
or done damage to anything that I can identify. In fact the big 1cm
long brown ants have been the most reliable forecasters of rain that
we can identify with the exception of the Black Cockatoos. When the
big brown ants start building up dam walls around the entrance to
their nests we know it is going to rain. I've never had any need to
poison ants outside but have had to do so in the kitchen.

Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message

Where do you get Borax from?!

You should find it in the Laundry soap section of a supermarket. It's
prime use (domestically) is for washing things like blankets. The
brand I use is Hovex and it's in a plastic container about the sixe of
a smallish can of corn.

I did look there, and didn't see it.
Might be buried under all the stuff that pays more for a better spot in the
supermarket. It's a particularly crappy Coles, this one.

--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

g'day john,

i don't find any ant undesirable in the garden it is only those times
they bring in aphids etc.,. they have hteir part to play in recycling
in the garden eg.,. when we last lived in the 'burbs we would do the
torch safari and squish those snails and the ants would clean up the
dead critters. even termites in the garden are a benefit.

not sure about ants just try to live with them, but up in the bush we
had a lot of what i know as meat ants a fairly large ant, that created
food trails through the grass dunno how they did it? but they had
clear walkways to regular food sources, and they collected lots of
fallen bugs or whatever they could find but they still
harvested/farmed scale instect. so i would be guessing that most ants
will like sweets after the main meal huh chuckle?

an amazing ant to watch they where, if it was going to rain heavily
their food collecting activity was dramatically escalated and they
where far less tollerant of you getting in their road then the only
time i ahve ever been bitten by them, if the night was going to be
cold they would have the dark coloured stones on top of their nest to
gather heat so they could take them down and warm whatever part of the
nest they needed warming, then the opposite in summer they had the
lighter stones on top.

i've seen before when the ants are hurredly removing the aphids down
to the roots of the roses you can count on it raining heavily.



On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 11:56:48 GMT, John Savage
wrote:

snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.gardenlen.com

"ant" wrote in message
Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message

Where do you get Borax from?!

You should find it in the Laundry soap section of a supermarket.
It's
prime use (domestically) is for washing things like blankets. The
brand I use is Hovex and it's in a plastic container about the
sixe of
a smallish can of corn.

I did look there, and didn't see it.

Now was that a boy's look or a girl's look? And did you look high on
the shelves and low on the shelves? Slow movers like Borax would
probably be either high or low on the shelves.

You could try some of the more "ethnic" supermarkets like the one at
Karabar. If you have trouble getting it, let me know and I'll get
some at my local and send it to you.

"Jonno" wrote in message
...
SG1 wrote:
I got mine from PharmacyDirect, but that is what happens when the
nearest
big supmarket is 100 miles not those new fangled french things
(kilometres).
Jim


Chemist as always...its a chemical...
Probably cheaper to "find" it at Coles or Woolies
But have you got the time?

in NZ we can get it through farm merchants in bulk lots (10/20/30 kg bags).
Works out cheap though the bag last ages. I guess Aus farm merchants would
sell it as well.

rob

"ant" wrote in message
...
Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message

Where do you get Borax from?!

You should find it in the Laundry soap section of a supermarket. It's
prime use (domestically) is for washing things like blankets. The
brand I use is Hovex and it's in a plastic container about the sixe of
a smallish can of corn.

I did look there, and didn't see it.
Might be buried under all the stuff that pays more for a better spot in
the supermarket. It's a particularly crappy Coles, this one.


I found it right next to washing soda, I think fabric softeners were very
close too. Mu one was by Harpers in a 500g white plastic container with a
red lid. It's only a small supermarket too.

Hopefully that'll help.

Jen

Jen

Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message
Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message

Where do you get Borax from?!

You should find it in the Laundry soap section of a supermarket.
It's prime use (domestically) is for washing things like
blankets. The brand I use is Hovex and it's in a plastic
container about the sixe of a smallish can of corn.

I did look there, and didn't see it.

Now was that a boy's look or a girl's look? And did you look high on
the shelves and low on the shelves? Slow movers like Borax would
probably be either high or low on the shelves.

You could try some of the more "ethnic" supermarkets like the one at
Karabar. If you have trouble getting it, let me know and I'll get
some at my local and send it to you.

It was probably hidden with the washing soda! I'm going to put my brother on
the job, he'll find it.

--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

Jen wrote:

I found it right next to washing soda, I think fabric softeners were
very close too. Mu one was by Harpers in a 500g white plastic
container with a red lid. It's only a small supermarket too.

argh, I knew it! Rotten coles.

--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

I got mine from PharmacyDirect, but that is what happens when the nearest
big supmarket is 100 miles not those new fangled french things (kilometres).
Jim

SG1 wrote:
I got mine from PharmacyDirect, but that is what happens when the nearest
big supmarket is 100 miles not those new fangled french things (kilometres).
Jim


Chemist as always...its a chemical...
Probably cheaper to "find" it at Coles or Woolies
But have you got the time?

George.com wrote:
"Jonno" wrote in message
...
SG1 wrote:
I got mine from PharmacyDirect, but that is what happens when the
nearest big supmarket is 100 miles not those new fangled french
things (kilometres). Jim


Chemist as always...its a chemical...
Probably cheaper to "find" it at Coles or Woolies
But have you got the time?

in NZ we can get it through farm merchants in bulk lots (10/20/30 kg
bags). Works out cheap though the bag last ages. I guess Aus farm
merchants would sell it as well.

I was wondering about that. There's a big one in Fyshwick but they open
tradesmen hours. Might have to nip out at lunchtime. A big bag is what I
need.


--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"Jonno" wrote in message
...
SG1 wrote:
I got mine from PharmacyDirect, but that is what happens when the
nearest
big supmarket is 100 miles not those new fangled french things
(kilometres).
Jim


Chemist as always...its a chemical...
Probably cheaper to "find" it at Coles or Woolies
But have you got the time?

in NZ we can get it through farm merchants in bulk lots (10/20/30 kg
bags).
Works out cheap though the bag last ages. I guess Aus farm merchants would
sell it as well.


Why would anyone need such big bags? What else is it used for?

Jen

"Jen" wrote in message
"George.com" wrote in message

in NZ we can get it through farm merchants in bulk lots (10/20/30
kg
bags).
Works out cheap though the bag last ages. I guess Aus farm
merchants would
sell it as well.


Why would anyone need such big bags? What else is it used for?

Boron deficient soil. It's an important trace element but you'd need
a lot of land and to be growing lots of cabbages in boron deficient
soil.