I thoroughly believe that the sole purpose for ants on this earth is to torment me. This year they have done just that……since April. I think that we live on a huge ant hill. Perhaps that is why our city changed its name from Rivertown to Antioch years ago….because of all the ants. It’s not just us either….all of our neighbors and friends have problems with these six legged creatures.
Many years ago, I did a bad thing……I hired a pest control company at the urging of a friend of mine to help control the ants. It did help a lot, but I also noticed that we didn’t have any other bugs around either. No longer did I see praying mantises, lady bugs and butterflies. The birds left too. There was nothing for them to eat. It was very sad. I decided to engage in the ant battle without the aid of toxic chemicals once again. About six months after the pest control company stopped spraying their nasty chemicals, I started to see the good and bad bugs and the birds come back again. I guess that I’d rather battle the ants naturally than have all of those chemicals on my yard and in my body.
We recently purchased diatomaceous earth (DE). This consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. Apparently, when ants or other bugs cross over this stuff, it cuts up their bodies and they eventually die. We also use ant baits to help control the ant population. If anyone has a good idea other than building a moat around the house, I’m all ears!! I’ll post an update on how the DE works.
Photographer Steve Jurvetson. www.everystockphoto.com
Tags: Ants, Organic Pest Control
[...] *Beth Tibbits is a resident of Antioch and a founder of MonsterWorms.com If you’d like to know more about gardening and agriculture, please check out the Monster Worms blog. [...]
I totally know what you mean. No matter what you do, it seems like it’s almost impossible to keep these little invaders from going where they don’t belong. I haven’t notched up the chemical battle to professional pesticides yet, but have found that a good spray bottle mixed with some bleach and water seems to be effective at repealing them. I like it because the strong scent seems to convince them to move elsewhere without having to use a harsher chemical that might make you grow an extra finger. Keep us posted if you do come up with a more credible defense though, as I’m sure that this is something that many people have to deal with.
Hi Davis,
Thanks for your tip!
I received another suggestion from Don at Eli’s Greens. This is what he said, “A very organic method that works for me, at least in a very localized area was to place mint-type plants where you don’t want ants. I placed a potted pennywhistle [pennyroyal] plant in my wormbin when it was infected with ants and they left the next day. Don’t like the smell I guess. Other greenhouse growers I’ve read about use this plant to keep ants out of the greenhouse. Good Luck.”
We’re going to give this a try too. I’ll report back. Does anyone else have a suggestion out there?
Good to know about the Pennywhistle (never heard about it though). I had ants in my wormbin in summer, haven’t seen them now. Do ants go dormant when it gets colder?
How about Borax? Is it a no-no?
Hi Sue,
Don meant to say pennyroyal instead of pennywhistle. We will try that too in the springtime. In cold climates ants do go dormant. I always find it interesting to see how slowly they move when it is colder out. Out here in California, it doesn’t stay cold enough for extended periods so unfortunately our ants never go completely dormant. I have read that borax works too, but we have never tried it. Has anyone out there tried borax?
[...] *Beth Tibbits is a resident of Antioch and a founder of MonsterWorms.com If you’d like to know more about gardening and agriculture, please check out the Monster Worms blog. [...]
[...] *Beth Tibbits is a founder of MonsterWorms.com If you’d like to know more about gardening and agriculture, please check out the Monster Worms blog. [...]
Good piece, just what I was hunting for