Organic ant removal

[allen122467]

I have ants everywhere on my top 3 acres, red, small and medium black. Pleases help me to get rid of these pests organically.HELP :confused::eek:

[Cliff Timmons]

This is as organic as it gets. <grin> "I really hope you're a guy and in the country."

Go pee on a fire ant hill.
Yes, pee.
It takes you back to your childhood days and something about it seems to kill the hill.

[boston]

something about it seems to kill the hill.

would you want to stick around if somebody peed all over your house :D

[sparrowgrass]

I think that solution is best carried out by the male of the species. I can't imagine getting close enough to a fire ant nest to pee on it. Yikes!!

(Girls can too write their names in the snow--there are just a lot more footprints.)

[Buglady]

why kind of ants are you talking about and why do you want to remove them?

[cReAtIoN gRoAnS]

If you have fire ants you can use beneficial nematodes for long term control...but I am not sure where you are located and what kind of ants that you have.

[Buglady]

There is still a lot of work that is being done on the beneficial nematodes. I have worked with them for years and we are still not sure its a 100% thing for fire ants. We think that mostly it makes the ants move out of an area and retreatment is necessary. Also depending on the size of the yard it can get expensive (especially for homeowners being they pay a premium over commercial prices) Also know what species of nematode you are purchasing, There are about 6 readily available these days. A new cooler climate species is just coming to the market here from Europe.

I will tell you, working for years with Florida nursery growers, when we were using regular applications of nematodes for other pests ( like opogona sp. ) the fire ants seemed to leave the treated areas. I could go on and on about the theories of what we think is happening but don't want to bore you. I will tell you this.. don't believe what all you read in the Internet :) as I am writing this on the Internet,,.lol I just know people will stretch research sometimes to make a sale.

FYI Ohio state just got a 3 million dollar grant to work on entomopathogenic nematodes.. i am so excited!

[johno]

Magnifying glass and neighborhood kids?
(nobody seems to get my sense of humor, so that was supposed to be funny...)

[cReAtIoN gRoAnS]

Yeah I try not to get into all the details of things...if it works though...I use it. I really don't care how it does as long as there are results. What I have found with a lot of cures is the struggle between pratical experience and smarter people with facy papers on their wall. Wish I was as smart as that but I'm not so I am left with the practical experience part.

Like the thread about companion planting for example...it has never worked for me. I planted tons (TONS) of marigolds around my squash this year and guess what??? My squash are dead. Hmmmm.....I even had squash bugs on my marigolds! I have had horn worms on my basil....hmmm......thought they were supposed to keep em away??? I have had other things that work for me that don't for others as well...kind of strange. I have been in contact a lot lately with the university of Arkansas trying to figure out a problem that I have had for the last 3 years that noone can solve. Tests after test later the smart people with those fancy papers on their walls are still on the same confused soil that I am on. Hmmm....

Whatever works for ya... DO IT! I wish somtimes that I could get the results that others are getting. But oh well....

Chad

[Buglady]

Well what i do for a living is take those "smart" peoples papers and use their research and apply it to commercial growing applications. Extrapolating what will work in real world conditions then writing and lecturing about it.

Yeah and for the marigolds... those are the most loved here by the Japanese beetles.. they munch down on it before anything else... marigolds are highly over rated...

[johno]

Gasoline and bottle rockets?

[boston]

hey johno

:rolleyes: are you related to cliff :D

[johno]

If you look back far enough, we are all related.

Guess that last suggestion wasn't exactly organic...

[johno]

Seriously, though, I've just looked in several books, and most of them don't offer any advice on getting rid of ants on a large scale. In fact, the only advice I've found so far is in Organic Plant Protection by rodale press. They say that ants are good for aerating your soil and just let the grass grow a little taller so you won't have to look at their hills. I know, not what you wanted to hear...

Well, I have two suggestions on the matter. One, I bet if you wait long enough, nature will self-correct this overpopulation. You probably don't want to hear that, either, so why not try my home remedy on a large scale in your yard, albeit borderline organic? Two, In my house, when we have ants I mix a little borax with some jelly and set it on their path. They bring it back to the nest for everyone to eat and they all die. Sort of the Trojan Horse approach.

Hope this helps...

[Cliff Timmons]

If you look back far enough, we are all related.

Guess that last suggestion wasn't exactly organic...

Like last week. <grin>

[johno]

Huh?

[boston]

If you look back far enough, we are all related.

Guess that last suggestion wasn't exactly organic...
you got a point there "cuz".

If you think about it gasoline is made form a "natural" substance and I think the gun powder in bottle rockets are too.

[johno]

Yeah, you're right, boston, but natural isn't necessarily organic.

[johno]

Oh, I remember a third possible solution. I have heard that ants don't like lemon juice; maybe if you got a really big sprayer...

[Cliff Timmons]

We just got rid of ours.
We tried bleach, lemon juice, mint, vinegar, everything organic under the sun.
2 days of poison ant food had knocked'em down. Tomorrow the coup-de-gras, I'm spraying the foundation.

I've broken from organic, I've killed the ants, I've made my wife happy.
I win. <grin>

[dandelion meadow]

Yesterday I found ants farming aphids on the OKRA! Never heard of such a thing. Put diatomaceous earth in a hill around each stem this morning. This afternoon, shook the plant and watched hoards of ants scamper down the stem the way they came up, some under and some over the DE... so much for that theory.
We females can collect pee by having a gallon milk jug cut so the handle remains but there is a large opening at top ready for filling in the bathroom. Doesn't take many visits to acquire a fair amount. Definately not the thing to do when guests are due or if the rest of family is squeamish...(or whatever).

Cliff: Thank you!!! Yes, there is a point at which one has to choose to loose the crop/garden or let go of being a purist. It took me a month last year after receiving some pyrethrum/rotenone in a petroleum base before I used it. Even considered giving this $30 investment away. Thought I was getting an organically approved product when order was placed. In the meantime, nearly the whole spring greens garden was lost to flea beetle damage. The tables turned when Japanese beetles appeared in masses on the pole beans. Enough is enough. The bean crop was saved and the greens lasted longer this spring.
That borax/jelly idea is appealing.

[johno]

Are the ants/aphids really causing much damage to the okra? They are ever present on mine each year, but I still have more than I can give away... I never even attempt to get rid of them.

[dandelion meadow]

Johno, I don't know the answer to your question yet. The leaves on that one plant are crumpled and curled under. Okra was planted late this year and only have space for 15 plants. They are still 1-1 1/2 foot high. Due to limitations on garden size from general tree shade and black walnuts on one border of the property as well as a number of garden challenges have not had in easier to garden in sites, every plant is needed and of more value than might be the case elsewhere. In another garden, 20 plants produced a years worth of okra for the couple lending me the land to garden with some pickings left over to share.
Last year here, about 8 plants survived repeated uprootings from armadillos and gave enough okra for about 3-5 a meal for a few weeks and then a few precious small packets in freezer for winter treats. Garden is a real contributor to food supply in this household. With these and so many other losses last year to various factors, am super protective now.

[johno]

Better safe than sorry...

[dandelion meadow]

Thanks, Johno, for your kind reply. Have been thinking all day that the above post needed some softening. Elsewhere in the garden, ants thrive and are left to do their thing. Some crops have been relegated to the "whatever can be harvested is better than nothing" and other crops simply are left to others to do - like broccoli and cauliflower. Now, when it comes to beans and sweet potatoes...look out bugs and critters! Guess we have to choose our battles.
Sorry I don't have more to help this person with his ant problem, though.

[Mary]

Ant trap,- ingredients: 1/2 cup molasses or honey- 6 Tbs. sugar -6 Tbs active, dry yeast, Mix ingredients and place in bottle caps,this will kill ants.
Ant Bait,- ingredients : 3-1/2 oz. strawberry jam,-1-1/2 Tbs. wet canned cat food- 1 Tbs boric acid, mix ingred and roll into small balls, this will kill larger ants and termites. Although not poisonous, if injested by animal or small child, it could make them sick, so use cation.I have never tried these, I found them in a book, just experiment with different things.

[zebraman]

Hey Mary;Did you get BWH? No receipe's!

[Mary]

Hi Zebraman, yes I did , was much better issue this time. How are you doing with your garden?

[Mary]

Ant-hill solution-ingredients: 1 gal. of water-1/4 cup of liquid hand soap, mix in a large bucket and pour directly into ant hill, which will eleminate it. Don't know if you would want to use this or not, I have not tried it

[Amaranthos]

Paul Stamets (author of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms) has very recently proposed using a specially cultured insect-eating fungi to combat ants and termites.
For an abstract of his research:

http://acs.confex.com/acs/green06/techprogram/P26676.HTM

Apparently, it rid his house of carpenter ants. Just FYI.

[zebraman]

Hey Mary;Garden is Great!I got a large crop from the Confederate Gold Squash.Tomatoes are in Overdrive.I am really glad I planted Cut short Greasy beans.Taste is better than any other Green bean that I have grown!Dragons Blood is really productive,another great bush bean.Peppers and Eggplants (from last year)are even more productive the second year.Life is Good!-

[Nutter]

Get yourself some food grade diatomaceous earth.. and put it all over.. non-toxic and will show good results..

Nut

[Buglady]

well one problem is Metarhizium is not available commercially (only my why home from a conference on it today). Now Beauveria bassiana is but only in commercial sizes and it is labeled for foliar applications.