Fighting ants with folk remedies at home and in the garden

Folk remedies for household pests

The modern market is oversaturated with various insect control products. All of them contain aggressive substances. For this reason, people prefer folk remedies that cause minimal harm and give positive results when used systematically.

Their essence lies in 3 areas:

• repelling ants using plants, products, etc.;
• luring insects for further destruction/removal outside the home;
• poisoning.

The effectiveness of such remedies has been proven over decades and the experience of millions of people, which is why folk recipes are popular.

The most effective methods and means to help get rid of small transparent ants

The little ant is not as harmless as many people think. If you notice the first signs of their vital activity on the territory of your home, try to begin the process of combating them as quickly as possible.

In fact, ants are the same carriers of various dangerous diseases as cockroaches and flies. The method of transmission of infections is movement from the garbage dump to the edible products of the owners of the house.

And the presence or absence of certain types of microbes depends on how clean your apartment is, and the size of the colony of the arthropod family also influences this. Also, don’t forget about neighbors’ apartments, which uninvited “guests” like to visit while looking for food.

Lures

The purpose of baits is to lure all insects at the same time to one place, where a trap or poisonous substances awaits them. For this purpose, products are used that have a pleasant aroma for ants (to attract them).

With boric acid

This is a recognized substance among gardeners. To prepare the product, a powder mixture is used, which can be purchased at a pharmacy.

Peculiarities:

• a weak concentration of the substance does not destroy immediately, it acts gradually (the ant, returning to its home, regurgitates the remains of food with acid, as a result of which it poisons all other family members);
• strong concentration kills instantly;
• boric acid helps to sterilize females and males, so the reproduction process stops.

Best recipes:

• Add 20 g of boric acid to 400 ml of water. Add a little jam, honey or sugar to attract. Use the liquid to trap (pour into open bottles) or spray the paths of insects.
• Take mashed potatoes or minced meat, mix in a 2:1 ratio with acid. Form into balls and place in a place accessible to insects.
• In 1 tsp. (5 g) boric acid, add boiled or raw egg yolks (4 pcs.). Pour in a little fragrant vegetable oil and stir in enough flour to form flour crumbs. Scatter it in the favorite areas of insects.
• Combine 1 tsp. acids with 4 tsp. glycerin, 1 tbsp. l. water and sugar (the amount is arbitrary). Make balls. Place them in areas where ants often appear.

It is recommended to leave the bait for a month. Additionally, the poison will destroy cockroaches.

With borax

Borax is considered as effective as boric acid. Compositions are made from it:

1. 1 part granulated sugar, 0.5 parts substance. Place in lids from jars and plastic bottles. Place containers near potential anthills.
2. To the same mixture, add water mixed with honey to form a paste. Used against house ants. Apply the mixture onto pieces of cardboard and place it on the floor.

With baking soda and cereals

The alkaline substance destroys ants. It is enough to sprinkle soda on the path along which insects move or fill up the entrance through which they enter the house.

The second option is to mix soda with water until a paste forms, adding a little honey. Pour into caps. Place the containers at a short distance from the ants’ homes.

The safest method is to scatter millet grains on the floor or pour them into an anthill. The principle of action is that millet, when mixed with gastric juice, swells greatly and clogs the stomach. The process leads to the death of the pest.

With starch and yeast

The yeast, after being eaten, swells in the ant's stomach. Starchy substances affect the gastrointestinal tract. This is fatal to the insect. The products are used individually or together:

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water, adding a little honey. Pour into the caps. Place it around the apartment.
2. Sprinkle the anthill with a dry mixture of starch, ground black pepper and salt.

Additionally, you can add a little boric acid to the composition.

Sweet baits

Ants have a big sweet tooth. This is especially true for domestic pests. They can often be seen near sugar bowls and saucers with jam. Sweet baits are designed for this weakness.

First way:

1. Pour 2 tbsp into 200 ml of water. l. sugar or 1 tbsp. l. honey/jam.
2. Pour the solution into a shallow container. Place it on the floor. Ants, hoping for a “sweet treat,” will drown in the liquid.

Second method:

1. Spread 2–3 mm thick stationery glue over a piece of cardboard.
2. Place a treat (sugar, honey, jam, candy, etc.) in the center.
3. Place the trap in the area with the greatest concentration of insects.

Most often, ants crawl towards such a trap at night. The downside is that the glue dries quickly, so you have to make a new trap every evening.

Small red ants

Red ants are quite common neighbors in a person's apartment. These are real occupiers, crawling into all sorts of places in search of food. Their usual habitat is gardens and vegetable gardens, but if they appear in the house, it will not end well.

Red ants also build several nests at once, and in each nest there are several queens, productively and constantly engaged in breeding offspring. Therefore, when starting the fight against these ants, you need to be prepared for a long war. The whole problem here is not so much the large size of the colony at the time of its extermination, but the fact that if at least a few queens survive, they will actively continue to increase the number of family members. Thus, the destruction of ants can take a long time and the goal here should be the destruction of the nests themselves, from where the queens never crawl out.

Red ants create nests in the most secluded corners, and not necessarily in the apartment itself, as if knowing what exactly must be preserved at any cost. Therefore, most often it is very difficult to find their nests. For ants it is important that it is damp and dark.

Despite the ability of insects to move long distances, they still prefer that food be closer, so living near a person is quite convenient for them. Interestingly, this type of ant remains active in winter.

Repellers

This method involves the use of products that have an odor that ants cannot tolerate. As a result, insects will begin to leave the house.

Plants

The gentle method involves the use of fresh and dried plants. These include spices and seasonings.

Ants cannot tolerate:

• mint, lavender, parsley, chamomile - herbs are hung in the kitchen or laid out in places where insects often appear;
• anise, cloves, bay leaf, hot peppers - pour seasonings into fabric bags and hang them at the bottom of the wall closer to the floor;
• garlic - cut the cloves in half, spread around the room or lubricate the ant paths with juice;
• lemon - application is identical to the previous one;
• geranium - growing indoor plants on windowsills.

Essential oils

There are benefits to using essential oils. The smell does not disappear for a long time, the aroma spreads over a large area. Contraindication: allergic reaction. Cannot be used if infants and children 2–3 years old live in the home.

Effective oils:

• orange;
• eucalyptus;
• mint;
• juniper;
• fir;
• needles.

Application options:

• mix with water, spray or wash the floor;
• put a jar of oil in an open position;
• light incense sticks.

Vinegar, ammonia and other means

Pharmaceutical preparations are also widely used to control pests. One of them is ammonia. Ants cannot tolerate the ammonia smell.

How to prepare and use the product:

1. Pour one bottle of ammonia (100 ml) into 1 liter of water.
2. Treat all surfaces on which insects move.
3. Wash the floor.

Ammonia has a pungent odor. Children, allergy sufferers and pets should not be present in the room being treated. The use of a respirator is mandatory. The “aroma” disappears after 25–35 minutes.

Other means:

• Take vinegar, soak a piece of cloth in it, wipe the baseboards, floor, table and chair legs, trash can, walls.
• Apply Vaseline to the entrances through which ants enter the apartment.
• Place tobacco from 1 cigarette in 200 ml of water, let it brew for 24 hours, add 2-4 drops of iodine, spray around the room.
• Draw chalk “barriers” through which insects will not crawl.

Food products

There are a number of food products with odors that are unacceptable to pests. Most of all, ants don't like coffee. To repel, burnt natural grains (insoluble analogue) are used. Place the grains around the room in random order or leave an open jar on the table.

Other repellent products:

• Peel the orange/grapefruit and place the peel around the house;
• leave smoked sausage, lard, etc. in the kitchen;
• buy smoking liquid, soak the sawdust in it, put it in open containers, and place it in the room.

Rules for getting ants out of your home

The main reason for entering a house is the search for food, drink and warmth. Ants are most often localized in the kitchen. After entering the house, insects form nests that are inaccessible to humans (behind baseboards, etc.).

In the fight, the first thing to do is to discover the anthill. To do this, you should study the vital activity of insects.

Organization of ant life

House ants are organized individuals with excellent memory. If they find food once, they return to this place again, bringing relatives with them.

Before entering the house, ants can settle in garbage chutes, garbage cans and other places where rot accumulates. They are carriers of infection.

Ant colonies are used to migrating. They can travel long distances to find food. There is a scout in their family who is the first to set off. After finding a favorable place, he leads the others.

Other features:

• these insects are not picky eaters, but prefer meat products and sweets;
• It is important for them that the room be warm;
• the queen ant is always hiding, laying eggs;
• Foragers (working individuals) always move along a certain path when they return to the anthill (they leave behind a trail of pheromones, along which they again go to the food source).

You can't kill insects that get food. They feed the queen and other workers who are designed to care for the offspring. It is important that the brothers bring poisoned food to the “house” to feed the queen. This is why boric acid cannot be diluted in strong concentrations.

How do ants get into the house?

Small insects use various options for entering a person’s home.

Methods:

• through cracks and openings (in doors, windows, walls);
• through the ventilation and piping system;
• from the basement;
• brought into the house with fruits and vegetables, food, and any items from the street;
• carried on shoes.

Maintaining a cleaning routine

Keeping your home clean is an important factor in pest control.

Simple rules of sanitation:

• do not leave food on the table, floor or other surfaces, wipe away crumbs, etc.;
• close the trash can with a tight lid, regularly remove garbage from the apartment;
• wipe the sink dry, do not leave water open (ants are attracted to moisture);
• wash and dry cat/dog dishes;
• Wash the floor more often with special cleaning products or vinegar.

Why ants settle in houses, why they are dangerous and how to deal with them - watch the video.

Prevention of ants

If you want to protect yourself from such a problem or you have carried out pest control and want to maintain its effect, you cannot do without preventive measures. You will have to follow some rules, which are essentially basic sanitary standards:

• Do wet cleaning in the apartment regularly. This is necessary at a minimum to ensure that there are no crumbs left on the floor and tables. After all, in essence, this is all that ants need. The crumbs left after eating serve as food for insects and save them from having to look for food in cupboards.
• Take out the trash can promptly. This simple procedure will take you a few minutes before bed, and will play an important role in terms of disinfection. The garbage contains food waste, which is also suitable for pests as dinner.
• Don't leave water. Water is almost more important to ants than food. Therefore, make sure that after watering the plants there are no drops of water left on the windowsills or on the surface of the sinks. If you completely block the ants' access to water in the kitchen, they will quickly lose interest in your home.
• Always seal food packages and put them away in cupboards. Don't give the ants any reason to believe that you have something to profit from.

Source: eco-stolica.ru

Folk remedies for fighting ants in the garden

The use of folk remedies to get rid of ants in the garden is justified by the fact that chemical poisons will not penetrate into the soil, which happens when using store-bought products. Some substances require careful handling.

Boiling water and kerosene

A simple method is to fill the anthill with boiling water.

How to do it:

1. Find an anthill and stir it with a shovel, which will allow the boiling water to penetrate deeper.
2. Pour in 4-6 liters of hot water.
3. Repeat the procedure 3-4 times.

To enhance the effect, add vinegar, essential oil, etc. to the water. The disadvantage of this method is that the pests will most likely move the anthill to another place in the same area.

A more effective way is to use kerosene. There are 2 options:

1. Dilute 5 tbsp in 5 liters of water. l. kerosene. Pour into the anthill.
2. Soak rags in clean kerosene and place them around the anthill. Avoid contact with plants.

Ash, pepper, mustard powder

A useful method is to use ash, which is a natural fertilizer. The ash solution destroys ants and aphids. For prevention, ash is scattered around the garden or placed in holes with seedlings.

To fight, you will have to prepare an infusion. There are 2 recipes:

1. Add 3 kg of wood ash to 10 liters of water, leave for 48 hours, strain, add 100 g of crushed laundry soap. Pour into the anthill.
2. Add 150 g of ash to boiling water (500 ml), simmer over low heat for 30–40 minutes. Dilute with water to a volume of 5 liters, add 50 g of laundry soap. Fill the anthill.

Ants are afraid of hot peppers. You can use ground black and red product. To process it, just sprinkle the spice on the anthill and the paths along which the insects move.

Another option:

1. Buy an alcohol-based tincture of capsicum at the pharmacy.
2. Dilute with water in a ratio of 1:7.
3. Pour into the nest.

Ants will not come running to your garden plot if you sprinkle it with mustard powder around the entire perimeter. It will not be possible to get rid of a large number of insects using mustard. If there are still few pests, the following action will help:

1. Prepare a solution of 10 liters of warm water and 100 g of mustard powder.
2. Pour into the anthill. Additionally, spray nearby growing plants.

Recipes with soda

There are 3 ways to treat your garden with baking soda when fighting ants.

Application:

1. Mix baking soda (kills) with powdered sugar (attracts with smell) in equal proportions. Sprinkle the anthill generously.
2. Add 5-6 tbsp to 2 liters of boiling water. soda Fill the nest and cover with plastic wrap.
3. Fill the anthill with baking soda and pour vinegar on top.

The last method is considered the most effective of all baking soda recipes.

Treatment with tar and lime

Lime is often used by gardeners to normalize soil acidity (lower pH). At the same time, the substance destroys pests. Pour dry lime into the anthill or make a lime mortar (as for whitewashing trees) and pour it into the nest.

For ants, mole crickets and aphids, birch tar and ordinary tar soap are used.

Methods:

1. For 10 liters of warm water you need 100 g of soap, 5 tbsp. l. tar.
2. Mix tar and sawdust in equal proportions, pour boiling water over it so that you get a steamed mass (not liquid).

Pour the mixture and place it on the ant hills. Repeat the procedure 3-4 times.

Ammonia and urine

Ammonia is rich in nitrogen, so the gardener does not risk anything when using it in the garden.

Recipes:

1. Stir 100 ml of ammonia in 1 liter of water, pour the solution into the anthill.
2. Periodically water the beds with ammonia solution - 5 ml of alcohol per 5 liters of water.

If you need to destroy aphids, spray the affected plants with a solution of 8 liters of water and 1 tbsp. l. ammonia.

A slightly strange but effective way is to use urine. To do this, the anthill needs to be filled with urine, since uric and hippuric acid kill pests.

Chemical repellents for ants

When choosing a means of fighting ants, we will be helped by instructions indicating how this drug should be used.

GET

GET capsules are a preparation made from chlorpyrifos, safe for people, their pets, indoor plants and used as bait for ants. Mix the microcapsules with the yolk of a hard-boiled egg and scatter along the ant trails.

The ants, having eaten the bait, die in the nest and infect the entire colony. We can also buy GET in online stores.

DEET

The drug DEET is produced on the basis of diethyltoluamide, developed back in 1945 by the Americans against blood-sucking parasites. But kitchen ants also quickly disappear from this remedy.

Apply this white paste with a sweet smell twice a day to the ant paths. The product will repel ants and drive them out of our apartment.

By the way, Taiga and Angara preparations are made from the same component and easily rid us of uninvited visitors. And the price of these funds is quite affordable. You can also treat ant trails in the kitchen with any product containing dimethyl phthalate (DMF).

Boric acid or borax

These products slowly kill not only the insects that try them, but also contact ants, and if you’re lucky, even the female (Find out how to get rid of moths in the kitchen). However, the drug must be used carefully so as not to harm yourself and your pets.

How to get rid of ants in the kitchen using baits with boric acid and borax?

Dry bait: scatter a mixture of granulated sugar and borax in places where they accumulate. Liquid bait: 5 gr. boric acid + 50 gr. sugar + the same amount of water. However, you can add jam or honey instead of sugar. Place the mixture in saucers along the ant trails.

We’ll make even a more complex liquid bait with our own hands: heat 2 tablespoons of water + 4 teaspoons of glycerin + 1 teaspoon of boric acid + honey (sugar) until these components dissolve. The mixture will not deteriorate even after 3-4 months.

Advice! It is not worth strengthening the bait by increasing the amount of boric acid: let the poison act on the working ants after they feed it to the inhabitants of the nest.

Chops

The drug will effectively solve the problem of how to deal with ants in the kitchen. By the way, it will also destroy cockroaches. We will treat 40 square meters with 1 tube. m around the perimeter of 30 cm drop from drop.

Having eaten the bait, the insects die in the nest along with others after 20 minutes.

Antiant

Antiant granules in blister packs contain 10% borax. We will place these opened bags around the kitchen in places inaccessible to children and animals: 1 bag per 1.5 square meters. m. The main thing is not to get them wet when cleaning.

After a few days, the ants will disappear for a long time.

Combat

Floor and adhesive baits and Combat aerosol based on imiprotrin have a delayed effect. An ant with particles of bait in its nest infects other insects. Therefore, the larvae also die, and sometimes even the female, and the question of how to get rid of red ants in the kitchen is finally resolved.

In addition, imiprotrin destroys cockroaches, flies, bedbugs and moths in the kitchen. Aerosols have pleasant fruity odors and do not smell treacherously like dichlorvos. And yet they are very harmful, so you need to use them in the kitchen with the windows open.

Absolute

We place baits on ant trails: 1 per 3 square meters. m. We will secure such a bait on the wall with tape or plaster. Apply the gel in drops or lines, and the tube will be enough for 40 m2. After 8 hours, many ants die.

The maximum effect is observed on the second day. Complete elimination of ants occurs in the third week. And after 6 weeks, for prevention, we will carry out another such treatment.

Chalk Mashenka

Mashenka chalk contains 0.25% fenvalerate, an effective remedy against ants, fleas, and cockroaches. As shown in the video, it is enough to draw a line with this chalk along the procession of the ants. 1 chalk covers almost 30 m2.

After such drawing, you should wash your hands with soap.

Globol

Globol baits and aerosols based on 0.1% D-phenothrin are an effective modern remedy. 1 bait is designed for 15 m2 near ant passages and nests and is valid for a whole month.

Before installation, we simply remove the cap, easily crush the capsule, put the cap back on and place it in the right place.

We take precautions and wash our hands. And we direct the aerosol stream at the ants in a ventilated kitchen.

Advice! Let's remove all leftover food in the kitchen: after all, the ants will choose this dish that is safe for themselves and will not touch our poisonous baits.

How to protect fruit trees?

Ants are excellent at loosening the soil, but they damage the bark of trees. They need to be protected. Special methods are used for this.

Adhesive and repellent belts

To prevent insects from climbing up the trunk, make a repellent belt. There are many options:

• whiten with lime;
• wrap the barrel from below with tape;
• lubricate clotheslines with Vaseline and wrap the tree;
• Apply grease to the barrel.

Tie with foil (slippery side out and sharp edges). Make a design like a skirt.

Wrap polyethylene and coat with tar. Make the belt closer to the ground.

Water ditch and tires

To limit access to the trunk, dig ditches around the perimeter and fill them with cement mixture. When the concrete has hardened, pour in water.

For the same purpose, use tires from car wheels. To do this, cut in the center so that you get 2 rings. Insert through the crown onto the circum-trunk circle upside down. Pour water.

The second option is convenient when the tree is massive and it is impossible to thread a rubber ring through the crown. In this case, the tire is cut and inserted under the tree, and the cut edges are fastened with staples, etc.

To prevent insects from moving to the trunk, the rubber is lubricated with turpentine, oil and other oil-based substances.

What to do if folk remedies didn’t help?

If folk remedies do not bring positive results (this happens when there is an excessively abundant invasion of ants), you will have to use store-bought insecticides. They are available in different types:

• aerosol - quickly and conveniently used in an apartment (only working individuals die);
• solution - used in gardens, no need to dilute;
• the powder is universal, can be scattered and diluted in water;
• granular form - used for home and garden (a huge plus - harmful substances do not penetrate the respiratory tract);
• gel - convenient and effective for placement (ants carry the drug to the uterus);
• pencil - acts like a powder and is convenient to apply to walls;
• repeller - an ultrasonic device powered by mains or batteries (harmless to humans);
• trap - a device with gel that is glued to the wall.

When using folk remedies for domestic ants, try to choose those that do not kill insects instantly. Give them the opportunity to carry the poisoned food into the anthill. When fighting garden pests, take into account the percentage of harm to plants and soil. Save chemicals as a last resort.

Ants in the kitchen: how to get rid of them

Using the methods described below, you can get rid of small ants, large, red, black and any other types of these insects, since they all have the same physiological structure.

You can try using folk remedies against ants, however, they can either only scare away insects or destroy only those individuals that have been in direct contact with the poisoned bait.

• Sprinkle cornmeal along ant paths in your kitchen. The eaten flour disrupts the digestion of pests, which leads to their death. If the ants ignore the cornmeal, add a little powdered sugar or vanilla to it.
• Wipe kitchen surfaces and fixtures with a 9% vinegar solution every few days or more often, depending on the number of ants. You can also spray the ants themselves with vinegar from a spray bottle the moment you see them.
• Ants do not like the scents of juniper, pine, eucalyptus and citrus. The oils of these plants can be heated from time to time in an aroma lamp or applied to cotton pads and placed in the path of the ants.
• If ants are crawling out of your sink, pour a generous amount of drain cleaner into the drain, let it sit, and then pour boiling water over it.

You can more effectively repel and destroy ants using special insecticides. They can be in the form of poisonous baits, sprays, powders, crayons or some other form. Insecticides for ants can be purchased in supermarkets, hardware stores or online. Suitable options include:

• Delicia
• Bros
• Raid
• Gel Attack
• Ant-eater
• Clean house
• Dr. Klaus
• Raid
• Raptor
• Combat SuperSpray

If you have ants in your kitchen, the fastest and most effective way to get rid of them is to order treatment from a SES certified by Rospotrebnadzor. 100% results are achieved regardless of where the ant nest is located and how many insects have occupied your home.

• Treatment is carried out by spraying a finely dispersed ant-poisoning fog with high penetrating power.
• The procedure is done in just 1 day and for an apartment it takes no more than 1-2 hours.
• The prolonged effect of the drug continues to destroy insects in the apartment for another 40 days after treatment.
• Modern, high-quality products do not have a persistent unpleasant odor.
• By ordering treatment of the entire apartment, you receive a guarantee of results.

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