Ant problem
Hi All,
I have a 'slight' ant problem here - never seen anything like it before! They're getting into anything and everything inside the house, and unfortunately that's not much of an exaggeration :/ Anyway, I'll stick to the garden side of the problem: Basically they are killing off my plants one by one. So far they've killed off a few beans, some Kohl Rabi and now one of my Dill plants is terminal. Ditto with a Rosemary in a pot. One of my Corianders is looking a little iffy too. At first I didn't twig to the problem being ants, but closer inspection today showed ant trails through the mulch around the affected plants. As to what kind of ants... not sure, but they're small (.5mm) and dark brown to black in colour. I'm sure some of you have had to deal with this problem before, so I'm hoping you'll have some ideas or solutions... I grow organically, but am open to any ideas as I'm going to have to do something soon. I've tried 'ant sand' and every type of 'ant rid' in the past, but it doesn't seem to have an impact on the little buggers. TIA for any ideas :) |
Ant problem
I reckon you could be in for some rain maybe?
Is it dry there? We had ants come inside into our electric jug looking for water. when it was very dry in midsummer. They may be after the moisture in leaves. Jeßus wrote: Hi All, I have a 'slight' ant problem here - never seen anything like it before! They're getting into anything and everything inside the house, and unfortunately that's not much of an exaggeration :/ Anyway, I'll stick to the garden side of the problem: Basically they are killing off my plants one by one. So far they've killed off a few beans, some Kohl Rabi and now one of my Dill plants is terminal. Ditto with a Rosemary in a pot. One of my Corianders is looking a little iffy too. At first I didn't twig to the problem being ants, but closer inspection today showed ant trails through the mulch around the affected plants. As to what kind of ants... not sure, but they're small (.5mm) and dark brown to black in colour. I'm sure some of you have had to deal with this problem before, so I'm hoping you'll have some ideas or solutions... I grow organically, but am open to any ideas as I'm going to have to do something soon. I've tried 'ant sand' and every type of 'ant rid' in the past, but it doesn't seem to have an impact on the little buggers. TIA for any ideas :) |
Ant problem
Hi,
Yep, well the ants may be due to rain coming or the fact that your place is the only one with moisture around. However, you say that ..... I grow organically, But then say ..... I've tried 'ant sand' Correct me if I'm wrong but "Ant Sand" contains Chlorpyrifos which is the last thing you want around "veges" etc, whether growing organically or not. If you are using/have used Chlorpyrifos, which is probably the most toxic Organochlorine known, then I wouldn't be consuming anything from your garden for years......... Cheers, David. |
Ant problem
Theyre probably argentinian ants . Where do you live?
Have a look here, to see if theyre the same:::: http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf...RT-6PM2EH?open David wrote: Hi, Yep, well the ants may be due to rain coming or the fact that your place is the only one with moisture around. However, you say that ..... I grow organically, But then say ..... I've tried 'ant sand' Correct me if I'm wrong but "Ant Sand" contains Chlorpyrifos which is the last thing you want around "veges" etc, whether growing organically or not. If you are using/have used Chlorpyrifos, which is probably the most toxic Organochlorine known, then I wouldn't be consuming anything from your garden for years......... Cheers, David. |
Ant problem
On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:36:06 +1000, Jonno wrote:
Hi Jonno, I reckon you could be in for some rain maybe? Yeah, possibly? They do come in waves (of sorts) although they are around more often than not, regardless of weather. But impending rain does seem to make them more active. Is it dry there? I would say we have had a fair bit of rain overall in recent weeks, but the soil here is very quick draining. I'm right on the coastline, in Kiama NSW (Illawarra region) Either way, the ants tend to be ever present. We had ants come inside into our electric jug looking for water. when it was very dry in midsummer. They may be after the moisture in leaves. They do seem to seek out moisture, lately theyve even invaded the dunny bowl here, and I can't even leave fresh cut herbs or other vegetable matter on the kitchen bench for longer than about 15 minutes. I'm even brushing them off of my computer desk as I type this... I find it a little odd, since it isnt /that/ bloody dry here, as mentioned we have had a fair bit of rain here this year. And yet, they do seem to be seeking out moisture all the same - not to mention food of course. Theyre probably argentinian ants . Where do you live? Have a look here, to see if theyre the same:::: http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf...RT-6PM2EH?open Hmm, theyre much darker than in that photo, but apart from that seem to be the same size and shape... (nice site though - I'll be moving to Tassie in a few months myself). Thanks for the help Jonno, I might phone the ag dept next week and see what they might suggest. |
Ant problem
Jeßus wrote:
Hi All, I have a 'slight' ant problem here - never seen anything like it before! They're getting into anything and everything inside the house, and unfortunately that's not much of an exaggeration :/ Had the same problem here (WA) 2 or 3 times this year First time in years that ants were severe inside the house (House is on stumps,so generally we are pretty well bug free; except when the cats push the doors open and the flies say "thanks") They were just the normal small red / brown ones though - if you crush one, they have a very distinctive smell. Understand that Argentine Ants do not give off any smell when crushed (from book learning from years ago; never actually encountered any) As to what kind of ants... not sure, but they're small (.5mm) and dark brown to black in colour. er, 0.5mm or 5 mm? If the former, I must admit my eyesight does not measure up these days ;) Anyway, I'll stick to the garden side of the problem: Basically they are killing off my plants one by one. So far they've killed off a few beans, some Kohl Rabi and now one of my Dill plants is terminal. Ditto with a Rosemary in a pot. One of my Corianders is looking a little iffy too. snip garden description Over the years we have used all sorts of ant powders etc with little real success. Basically it seems that the easiest thing is to kill off the odd one and just "wait 'em out". They seem to come and go in cycles. The one thing we have found to be quite good in eliminating / moving them on is talcum powder (Johnson's Baby if u are feeling rich; otherwise any old - read cheapest - homebrand). Basically sprinkle this in a circle around the ant hole. Seems that the ants track this back into the nest and (from dim memory) suffocate as the powder coats their bodies. Can also put some along their trails. We have found this works as well as anything and (should be) less harmful to the environment. For vegie plants, perhaps sprinkle a circle around each plant or set of plants - this of course presupposes that you are not using sprinklers ;) good luck giovani |
Ant problem
Jeßus wrote:
On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:36:06 +1000, Jonno wrote: Hi Jonno, I reckon you could be in for some rain maybe? Yeah, possibly? They do come in waves (of sorts) although they are around more often than not, regardless of weather. But impending rain does seem to make them more active. Is it dry there? I would say we have had a fair bit of rain overall in recent weeks, but the soil here is very quick draining. I'm right on the coastline, in Kiama NSW (Illawarra region) Either way, the ants tend to be ever present. We had ants come inside into our electric jug looking for water. when it was very dry in midsummer. They may be after the moisture in leaves. They do seem to seek out moisture, lately theyve even invaded the dunny bowl here, and I can't even leave fresh cut herbs or other vegetable matter on the kitchen bench for longer than about 15 minutes. I'm even brushing them off of my computer desk as I type this... I find it a little odd, since it isnt /that/ bloody dry here, as mentioned we have had a fair bit of rain here this year. And yet, they do seem to be seeking out moisture all the same - not to mention food of course. Theyre probably argentinian ants . Where do you live? Have a look here, to see if theyre the same:::: http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf...RT-6PM2EH?open Hmm, theyre much darker than in that photo, but apart from that seem to be the same size and shape... (nice site though - I'll be moving to Tassie in a few months myself). Thanks for the help Jonno, I might phone the ag dept next week and see what they might suggest. Try putting a few on your scanner if you have one.Then get on their website and sen em ther pic. |
Ant problem
"Jonno" . wrote in message u... Jeßus wrote: On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:36:06 +1000, Jonno wrote: Hi Jonno, I reckon you could be in for some rain maybe? Yeah, possibly? They do come in waves (of sorts) although they are around more often than not, regardless of weather. But impending rain does seem to make them more active. Is it dry there? I would say we have had a fair bit of rain overall in recent weeks, but the soil here is very quick draining. I'm right on the coastline, in Kiama NSW (Illawarra region) Either way, the ants tend to be ever present. We had ants come inside into our electric jug looking for water. when it was very dry in midsummer. They may be after the moisture in leaves. They do seem to seek out moisture, lately theyve even invaded the dunny bowl here, and I can't even leave fresh cut herbs or other vegetable matter on the kitchen bench for longer than about 15 minutes. I'm even brushing them off of my computer desk as I type this... I find it a little odd, since it isnt /that/ bloody dry here, as mentioned we have had a fair bit of rain here this year. And yet, they do seem to be seeking out moisture all the same - not to mention food of course. Theyre probably argentinian ants . Where do you live? Have a look here, to see if theyre the same:::: http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf...RT-6PM2EH?open Hmm, theyre much darker than in that photo, but apart from that seem to be the same size and shape... (nice site though - I'll be moving to Tassie in a few months myself). Thanks for the help Jonno, I might phone the ag dept next week and see what they might suggest. Try putting a few on your scanner if you have one.Then get on their website and sen em ther pic. I suspect they are carpenter ants. They are small, also prone to invading houses and I think there are varieties that eat plants. I am in WA and after a recent home invasion went on the attack. I sprinkled talcum powder along the back of the house that they were gaining access through. I found a nest which I poured some kerosene down. I also found some trails coming from neighbours which I made a syrup up for. The syrup was 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water , 1 tablespoon of borax, 1 tablespoon of boracic acid. The mix was boiled for 3 minutes and bottled when cool. I just put a teaspoon of this across the trails and they ate it with relish but are gone 2 days later. You can use this on window sills and bench tops inside, sticky but effective. Around the same time I also had a termite scare in the wall of a hardflex/polystyrene/gyprock patio enclosure. The termites came in and ate all the brown paper off the unexposed side of the gyprock. I suspect the ants were coming in to eat the termites and having a look around for other food sources. My only clue to termites was a small trail of mud where the gyprock butted up against an aluminium window. I was lucky as only aluminium channeling was used and no wood. I have installed a moisture barrier now which keeps the soil drier than before making it less attractive to termites. I also had a spot treatment and installed some termite monitors which I check monthly. So have a look for signs of termites as well. Cheers Richard |
Ant problem
You too! I've got them everywhere! Ant rid stops them for a while but it
won't hold them back forever.... I spent a small fortune on something that was guaranteed to kill off the queen (ant that is) Seems the ant colony must have taken a vote and agreed to carry on without her cos there still here, business as usual! Linda at war "Jeßus" wrote in message ... Hi All, I have a 'slight' ant problem here - never seen anything like it before! They're getting into anything and everything inside the house, and unfortunately that's not much of an exaggeration :/ Anyway, I'll stick to the garden side of the problem: Basically they are killing off my plants one by one. So far they've killed off a few beans, some Kohl Rabi and now one of my Dill plants is terminal. Ditto with a Rosemary in a pot. One of my Corianders is looking a little iffy too. At first I didn't twig to the problem being ants, but closer inspection today showed ant trails through the mulch around the affected plants. As to what kind of ants... not sure, but they're small (.5mm) and dark brown to black in colour. I'm sure some of you have had to deal with this problem before, so I'm hoping you'll have some ideas or solutions... I grow organically, but am open to any ideas as I'm going to have to do something soon. I've tried 'ant sand' and every type of 'ant rid' in the past, but it doesn't seem to have an impact on the little buggers. TIA for any ideas :) |
Ant problem
The only thing that works here is Malathion sold as Crawly Cruncher in
supermarkets....BUT I wouldn't recommend it near anything you plan to eat. Could you spray the ants 'near' your vegie gardens in the hope this will kill some of them? Maybe lay attractant baits, eg honey in soup cans etc just near the vegie garden? I don't get ants in my house (famous last words) as I selectively spray with the above...it's good for RedBackSpiders too, but last week I turned on the iron to do some ironing. When checking where the dial was to make sure it wasn't too hot, I noticed the clear plastic tank was black!! yuck!!! Slid back the cover on the water tank and emptied the water into the sink only to discover this black glob was millions of tiny ants!! I've NEVER seen them in an iron before. Anyway it took about an hour and several litres of water to get them all washed out, after I had given a very light spray of fly spray because the little buggers went everywhere, once disturbed. There was not a trace of them anywhere else in the house, nor across the walls/floor/etc so I don't even know how they got to the iron. Hopefully they drowned in the heavy rain last night and won't return. Bronwyn ;-) odonata28 (Linda) wrote: You too! I've got them everywhere! Ant rid stops them for a while but it won't hold them back forever.... I spent a small fortune on something that was guaranteed to kill off the queen (ant that is) Seems the ant colony must have taken a vote and agreed to carry on without her cos there still here, business as usual! Linda at war "Jeßus" wrote in message ... Hi All, I have a 'slight' ant problem here - never seen anything like it before! They're getting into anything and everything inside the house, and unfortunately that's not much of an exaggeration :/ Anyway, I'll stick to the garden side of the problem: Basically they are killing off my plants one by one. So far they've killed off a few beans, some Kohl Rabi and now one of my Dill plants is terminal. Ditto with a Rosemary in a pot. One of my Corianders is looking a little iffy too. At first I didn't twig to the problem being ants, but closer inspection today showed ant trails through the mulch around the affected plants. As to what kind of ants... not sure, but they're small (.5mm) and dark brown to black in colour. I'm sure some of you have had to deal with this problem before, so I'm hoping you'll have some ideas or solutions... I grow organically, but am open to any ideas as I'm going to have to do something soon. I've tried 'ant sand' and every type of 'ant rid' in the past, but it doesn't seem to have an impact on the little buggers. TIA for any ideas :) |
Ant problem
odonata28 (Linda) wrote:
You too! I've got them everywhere! Ant rid stops them for a while but it won't hold them back forever.... I spent a small fortune on something that was guaranteed to kill off the queen (ant that is) Seems the ant colony must have taken a vote and agreed to carry on without her cos there still here, business as usual! Heres some recipes for Ant war III. Pot plants can be dunked and left a few hours. That will make em take notice, and add a small amount of deter gent (and ladies too.) Solution 9 seems to be the most popular and mentioned everywhere. If you still have problems after trying all of these, stop being mean and biological and call a pro. I mean war is war!!! Scorched earth policy!! They will think twice about tryin you again... There are multiple organic methods of getting rid of ants that are eating your plants. 1. Dust area around plants with baking soda (poisonous to ants).? 2. Sprinkle grits, cream of wheat,or instant rice in circle around plants, the ant will eat one grain, drink water and the grain expands and kills the ant.? 3. Sprinkle flour or baby powder around plant. Ants will never cross flour or baby powder. ? 4. Fill spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water and spray on plants. The acetic acid in vinegar kills ants. ? 5. Coffee grounds, black pepper, chili powder, cream of tartar, cinnamon, andpeppermint all deter ants. Coffee grounds can be poured directly on anthill, they eat the grounds and seem to implode exploding ants I like!!! 6. Fold contact paper in half sticky side out and make a circle around base of plant. They'll get stuck on the paper. If this fails use superglue to glue the ants together and make a gi ant conga line. (I saw the movie!) 7. Mix one-third cup molasses, six tablespoons sugar, and six tablespoons active dry yeast into a smooth paste. Coat strips of cardboard with th mixture. Keep out of reach of pets and small children. You can leave mixture on a saucer outside anthill and they'll eat it and die. If you leave it standing in the rain you will have made ANT beer.... 8. Cut off bottom of paper cup and cut slit up the side of the cup and coat outside with vaseline and place around base of plant. Packing tape works too. 9. One cup borax, two-thirds cup sugar and one cup water. Dip cotton balls in the solution and place in areas near your anthill Ants will leave the plants alone and ingest the sweet mixture and the borax will kill the ants. This one looks fine! 10. Diatomaceous Earth will destroy the insects outer skeletons, causing the pests to die from dehydration. Maybe! 11. The final solution Flame throwers and move out your self. |
Ant problem
Just came across some old written notes I had taken down at one of those No
Chemical workshops. Orange oil for ants. I myself have not heard of Orange Oil before, but hope it helps someone. Also borax and jam. We tried AntRid but was of no use. Katherine |
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