Ants! Help!

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Permalink Reply by Joy Williams on April 17, 2009 at 1:16pm

"Create Homemade Ant Repellant

Ants are very sensitive to odors, as any picnicker can tell you. Just as they are attracted to sweets, certain smells repel them. Experiment with cotton balls soaked in ant-repelling essential oils. Ants detest mint, camphor, tansy, and clove oil. You can also grow your own ant repellent in the vegetable garden. Place hot peppers in a blender with a bit of water to create a dense mash, which you can spread in problem areas.

Read more: http://organicgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/control_ants_in_the_...
"

Maybe that will help?

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Permalink Reply by Katie Rolston on April 17, 2009 at 2:20pm

Hi,
I recently heard that ants are extremely adverse to cinnamon. Maybe try sprinkling some around the area under attack.
Hope it helps.

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Permalink Reply by TAR HEEL on April 17, 2009 at 9:25pm

dynamite.

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Permalink Reply by Joy Williams on April 17, 2009 at 9:32pm

er, that would blow up the bed :P

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Permalink Reply by TAR HEEL on May 1, 2009 at 7:31am

.......what about a GECKO?...the kids could name him.just an idea.

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Permalink Reply by Cescely Hill on May 1, 2009 at 8:58am

Geckos eat ants? I didn't know this. I think that may be a bit much!

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Permalink Reply by TAR HEEL on May 1, 2009 at 9:10am

ok. guess we're back to dynamite then.

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Permalink Reply by Martha Hill on May 1, 2009 at 3:46pm

If you are just now preparing the soil add some dry manure !! And not the stuff that you buy commercially !! Horse manure doesn`t have to be composted as long as it has dried a few weeks !! I have 6 horses and have a manure pile from cleaning out the corral !! It has some sand mixed with it from using the tractor and front end loader !! I sometimes use the manure pile to stick a plant in that doesn`t look too good !! But there is not an ant anywhere around it and very few in the garden !! They seem to stop at the fenceline !! Not 100% sure if it would help but if it doesn`t,,, your vegetables should grow like mad !!! Actually I have never had a vegetable that was damaged by ants although they get around the roots occassionally !! Worst thing is,,,the stinging !!

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Permalink Reply by Martha Hill on May 1, 2009 at 3:49pm

If nothing else works,,, better go with Ed`s suggestion !!!

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Permalink Reply by sandra anderson on May 1, 2009 at 7:42pm

When we moved onto our current property there were a couple of pretty large ant colonies, just doing their ant thing.
Of course they were in spots in the garden that made it imposible to share (some of them little guys bite!)
But we learned, kind of by accident that if they feel threatened, they will move the colony.
So we went out, pant legs tucked in to socks, and proceeded to dig up and turn over the colonized area.
We dug deep until we saw frantic nurse ants carrying babies.
Then we left.
The next day we did the same thing. We did it about 4 times before the whole colony moved.
One colony moved to another part of the garden (repeat shovel action) but most of the ants are now gone. I would say we have "normal" ant population given our square footage.
Last year we noticed ants in the house and gave in to an exterminator. He came once, and was supposed to come back every month, but we couldn't do it...being organic and all.
There are a lot of ways to kill things. Sometimes just getting them to move is possible too.
We managed to get the yellow jacket colony to move using similar techniques only at night with goggles and a flashlight. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by TAR HEEL on May 1, 2009 at 9:24pm

.....hope you didn't hurt those yellow-jackets ''self-esteem''.

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Permalink Reply by sandra anderson on May 1, 2009 at 10:17pm

We still wave at them over the fence!

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