Ants in vegetable gardens often attract other, more destructive pests, including aphids, whiteflies and scales. Ants offer protection to these sap-sucking insects while “milking” their honeydew secretions as food source.
Gabel advises eschewing sprays or powders that could harm beneficial insects in favour of natural ant repellents like capsicum-based concoctions that irritate and repel ants.
1. Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth, more commonly known by its acronym DE, is an all-natural non-toxic product made from fossilized algae sediment that contains silica crystalline structures that act as mild dehydrating agents against insects such as ants, earwigs, fleas, and cockroaches. Safe for children, pets and the environment alike! Diatomaceous earth’s popularity lies in its versatility as an eco-friendly product used in home and plant settings to eliminate ants. Also safe for use around plants or in homes to eliminate pest control issues caused by insects like ants; safe for children pets and environmental hazards alike! DE is made up from fossilized algae sediment with silica crystallized structures made up from silica crystal structures created from silica crystal structures present within its fine powder form providing mild dehydrating action on insects like ants, earwigs fleas and cockroaches among others!
Effective insect control requires using products which absorb oils on insects’ exoskeletons, leading them to dehydrate and die off naturally. Ecogardener products contain no chemical ingredients so can be safely applied directly onto ant colonies and trails as well as providing a perimeter around vegetable garden beds.
Sprinkling dry DE in areas where you frequently encounter ants is an effective and eco-friendly alternative to more toxic insecticides; use a sifter or duster to evenly disperse it throughout the infested area and avoid getting it on plant leaves, as this may damage them. Although messy, DE is an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative that works.
Reapply as needed, especially if it rains or the DE becomes wet; once exposed to moisture, its effectiveness decreases, necessitating additional applications of DE in order to continue protecting against ants and other pests.
Diatomaceous Earth can be purchased at most gardening centers and even grocery stores, while food-grade versions are also readily available for kitchen use. Simply mix equal parts of powder with water to form a spray that you can then spray directly on vegetable gardens, planter boxes or anywhere you spot ants to cause them to quickly succumb and die off.
2. Borax
Ants can be a major pest in vegetable gardens and even your home, leading to unpleasant encounters and damaging crops. Store bought ant traps are only effective against those ants who happen upon them; for a more long-term solution use borax instead!
Borax is a type of silica made from fossilized diatoms or crustaceans. As a fine powder, Borax dehydrates pests such as ants, cockroaches, and slugs while remaining safe for plants, animals, and humans alike. Use Borax sparingly around plants, pets, people, raised garden beds where ants may be an issue, along with the edges.
Mix Borax and sugar to create an ant bait. Ants will be attracted to the sugar, while when they consume it they’ll find they consume poison instead of succumbing to more toxic ant baits available commercially. This makes an effective and eco-friendly ant control method!
Make an ant bait by mixing equal parts sugar and borax in a bowl and then adding enough water to create a paste. Store this paste in an airtight jar or shallow dish before spreading around your home where ants have been seen entering through various openings.
Ants will carry your bait back to their colony, where they’ll share it among all of the ants there and spread its poison throughout their colony, eventually killing off every last one of them. Therefore, making extra ant bait and storing it away safely from children or pets would be wise; otherwise there are commercial products on the market which may also work just as effectively; read labels carefully when purchasing one of these products!
3. Cayenne or Cinnamon
Ants are wingless insects that consume sweet substances produced by sap-sucking pests like aphids. Ants then bring this honeydew back to their nests for consumption by other members of their colony; should you get too close, an angry ant may give a painful sting!
Whenever you spot ants crawling around your garden or near your house, cayenne pepper or cinnamon are great solutions to use to deter them and make life difficult for them to find food sources in your garden. Both of these substances can be sprinkled around the perimeter of your home and at entry points where ants might enter such as doors, windows, vents, pipes etc. Although they won’t kill ants directly they should act as deterrents by making food sources harder to find in your garden.
Diatomaceous earth, made from fossilized algae that has been crushed into fine powder, is another natural ant repellent made up of fossilized algae that has been ground into fine particles. This powder dehydrates ants while remaining safe around vegetables, plants and pets. You can apply diatomaceous earth directly along ant trails and nests – just make sure it doesn’t rain for several weeks so the product can work effectively!
Create an effective ant-repelling spray from vinegar that’s effective for short periods. Just make sure it meets food-grade specifications; pool maintenance grade vinegar could potentially be harmful to humans and pets.
Peppermint oil and cedarwood oil are two natural ant repellents to consider as natural solutions, with peppermint’s menthol compound disrupting ants’ ability to communicate and navigate, making it harder for them to follow pheromone trails established by established colonies. Cedarwood oil can also be used as an effective deterrent against ants – use it around your home perimeter or other outdoor spaces where ants have become problematic.
4. Diatomaceous Earth Spray
Diatomaceous earth, commonly referred to by its acronym DE (pronounced die*a*too*may*shus), is a powdery chalk-like substance composed of fossilized algae sediment. When used responsibly and sparingly, DE can be safely utilized without harm to humans, pets and crops; yet its effectiveness against insects such as ants, earwigs, millipedes snails slugs beetles fleas cockroaches and bed bugs is undeniable.
DE’s sharp-edged particles adhere to the outer exoskeletons of pests, cutting into them until they dehydrate due to lack of water. Since it’s an physical process rather than poisonous substance, no resistance can develop and no harm comes to insects in this way.
As DE can take days to kill pests like ants and other vermin, it’s essential that it’s used regularly. Either sprinkle around the exterior of your home with 6-12 inches beyond baseboards as an entryway or mix it with water and spray it directly on plants or areas where you notice ant trails.
Spray application of DE is an efficient way to cover large areas without the powder blowing away or being washed away by rain, but beware: not all brands of spray DE are suitable for wet application as some brands contain larger particles which could clog your sprayer and prevent you from applying DE.
Spray DE is also advantageous because you won’t have to rinse it off after use like powder would require; simply sweep or vacuum up. However, for optimal results when working with DE, always wear a mask when handling and vacuum any potential spills as soon as they appear.
5. Natural Repellents
Ants are an integral part of a healthy garden and should be allowed to work the soil without harming your vegetables or creating any other issues. But if they invade and cause havoc in your vegetable garden, use natural ant repellents like these as effective deterrents!
These easy ant repellent recipes use ingredients you likely already have at home and will be safe and effective against your veggies, without harming any beneficial insects, fungi, or microbes that help your plants flourish.
Orange peels make an effective natural ant repellent; simply grate or crush up orange peels and mix with vinegar for an effective homemade ant spray. Use it on infested areas as preventive measures and reapply regularly as the weather changes.
Vinegar can be an effective and readily-available solution to protect against ants. A 50/50 concentration of vinegar to water will disrupt their scent trail and kill them quickly on contact. Just be sure to test this solution first on a small area in your garden as its exposure to direct sunlight could burn delicate plant leaves.
Black pepper can also act as an effective natural ant repellent, when applied directly onto vegetables in your garden, to stop them from nibbling at them. Or you can make your own pepper spray using freshly ground or powdered black pepper by mixing it with water in a spray bottle and applying as preventative measure around your veggie patch.
Fire ants are an annoying garden pest that can not only damage some of your vegetables but can also sting you as you stroll through their territory. Treat the lawn surrounding your garden three times annually using products like Amdro (hydramethylnon), Extinguish Plus or Advion to rid itself of this threat.