| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bart |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 06:21:51 AM
Does anyone have any organic non toxic way to get rid of ants in the garden? Or.... should I? do they eat the plants?
TIA! |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| kristin sherrill |
Posted - May 30 2010 : 2:25:16 PM
My mom called this morning and told me she was looking in a BH&G magazine from 1990. It said to use cucmber peels on the mound and that will make them leave. I guess they don't like the smell? I am going to try it.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
| Bart |
Posted - May 30 2010 : 08:22:09 AM
Badmamawolf.... I was just passing it along.. I don't have a clue since I've never heard of it or tried. I say, 'if it's working, keep doing it!'.
This morning the ants are congregated on my beautiful, fresh, red, strawberries!! I think the little buggers are eating them. do they know who they're messin with? So, I'm off to mix up some Dawn dish soap, clove oil and water and see if those strawberries STILL tastes so good.
There is a big fat wonderful toad in the garden... maybe he'll start earning his keep. |
| graciegreeneyes |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 4:17:50 PM
Funny you should post this, I was just wondering myself. I actually got stung by some ants last weekend but they aren't the kind that are supposed to sting/bite. Not sure what is going on but I let them be as what I read seemed to indicate that was the best option. The bites still itch though, a week later:(
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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| 1badmamawolf |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 2:43:51 PM
Bart, thats odd that you were told the cornmeal doesn't work, I've been useing it for years, and it works like a charm here.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
| Gloria Bonde |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 11:14:26 AM
One thing that some ants do is "work" with aphids. Aphids "poop" out honeydew and ants eat them. Some ants farm the aphids. Have you ever been under a big elm tree and get that sticky "sap" - It is honeydew - The black is also sooty mold.
www.DakotaGarden.com |
| Gloria Bonde |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 11:07:05 AM
I like to leave things alone, but sometimes an ant pile or mound is where it is a problem. It is good to know about the corn. I have a neat ant story. I once broke a large glass bottle of olive oil as I was going down the stairs. Oil got everywhere. I carefully washed the slippery wooden stair treads, but no way could I get the oil out of all the little cracks. Not too much later, I noticed out of nowhere some tiny, tiny little ants showed up. I left them be because I knew they came to clean up. They did and disappeared.
www.DakotaGarden.com |
| Bart |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 11:05:31 AM
Thanks all. They are small, red, non stinging vegetable / flower /herb garden ants. An entomologist said that the corn meal / grits method doesn't work... the ants just cruise the food down to the queen and don't die??? I really don't know - never tried it.
Maybe I'll just let them be - for now and hope that the resident frogs help keep them in check. They aren't hurting anything - just gross to play in the dirt (planting and grooming) and come out with ants crawling on me. I don't have a hummingbird feeder up, yet! but thanks for that tip... I'll watch for the ants near it. |
| vegetarian farmer |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 10:47:14 AM
Your standard ant actually eat small bugs in the garden. Sit and watch the trail of ants sometime and you can see all kinds of creepy crawlies slung on the ants back being carried down the holes.I have a huge colony in the greenhouse and two in the garden. They have never done any damage to any plant. Don't be to anxious to get rid of them until you identify the ant.
Jane
http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
| 1badmamawolf |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 09:26:26 AM
cornmeal works to rid anyplace of all kinds of ants, they eat it, but they can't digest it, so it kills them
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
| sherrye |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 07:23:02 AM
marilyn is right. what kind of ants? what kind of garden? what kind of environment? need more info then we could help you. ants in my garden here in the desert is not good. i do not like to get bit. happy days sherrye
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farmgirl #1014
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| edlund33 |
Posted - May 29 2010 : 07:09:26 AM
What kind of ants are they?
I've never had an ant problem on the plants in my vegetable garden here in WA before. But I have noticed that if there is a steady moisture source, or a source of honeydew or sugar (from a dripping hummingbird feeder or spilled soda)our little red ants will often find that and come running. Correcting these issues has always solved the ant problems in my yard.
Ants do have a symbiotic relationship with Peonies so it is a good thing to leave ants alone if you find them there.
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
