Ant control...

[Phoenixsylvestris2]

I'm having problems with ants making their mounds in my flower beds and around the new plants I just put in the ground. Is there something I can use to control them that will not harm my birds? (sorry if this is the wrong section for this)

 

[897tgigvib]

Diatomaceous Earth

Non toxic, cheap by the 25 pound bag 13 dollars at tractor supply.

Use it repeatedly, try to keep the application dry, but if it gets wet it'll dry again. works best dry.

For ants it's like crawling on their belly over broken glass.

will not harm worms, mammals, or birds. course, unless you eat too much i guess. It's like dry clay powder.

 

[897tgigvib]

Welcome to the forum Phoenix!

Have any recipes for Dates? I bet it'd make a good and unusual jelly!

 

[digitS']

Welcome, Phoenixsylvestris2!

Take a look at Joz' post yesterday and her dealing with ants in her tomato patch:

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=338811#p338811

I have found much the same thing - without the witching . We don't have fire ants here but you can "torment" an ant colony until they leave. You've got to stay on them and disrupt their colony about every 12 hours. Still, they are only moving to your neighbor's yard, at best.

Here is what UCDavis says about ant control: Ants Management Guidelines (link). Scroll down to Table 2 and look at those liquid baits. They are in bottles and that may well keep the birds out of them.

Steve

 

[joz]

I tried the Witch's suggestion yesterday, as the Tomato Ants hadn't moved out despite being tossed 3 times now. But I found the Nursery, I think, and tore that apart (was a weakness/patch in my "raised bed" 2x12), so maybe between that and tossing in a shovelful of the Compost Pile Ants they'll give up and move into my cucumber bed.

I've also heard that sprinkling dry grits out for food will kill them. I only rarely eat grits and don't have any on hand, and have only tried it with a bag of Quaker Instant Grits my tenant gave me, and didn't notice that it helped.

 

[lesa]

I don't have fire ants (another good thing about New York State!) but I did have ants that were obsessed with making hills in my Brussels sprout row. I finally put one of those little metal ant traps out there- and in a matter of days I never saw another ant. This is not an area my chickens have access to, so that was not an issue... Good luck!

 

[catjac1975]

Boil water and poor it down the holes.

 

[Phoenixsylvestris2]

Hi everyone, thanks for the ideas and links. I already have some diatomaceous earth, so I'll try that first and see if it works. I already try to drown them out, but they just move to another planting area and eventually make it back to the starting point.

marshallsmyth, I just started keeping palms and do not have any that produce any dates just yet, I think they're too young right now but hopefully in the future...

 

[stephenmoore]

Well the most easy method i know is to pour some water at least two to three times and you may get rid away from ants in you flower beds.

 

[897tgigvib]

Howdy and welcome to the forum StephenMoore!

You'll like it here. Try to catch up on some of the older topics and posts, make sure you remember your login stuff, and come here often

You might've noticed we're like a bunch of neighbors drinking coffee or sipping tea with the shovel in our hands leaning up against the back fence, except our gardens are all over the place.

Right now I'm on a coffee break from chores, lol.