I only want to talk about the ones outside (I can't even
bear to talk about the ones indoors right now.) List of what
I've tried: peppermint, baits (boric acid and others),
nematodes (total failure from two different companies), grits,
cinnamon (two pounds... I'm not kidding... cinnamon seems to
prevent germination of seedlings by the way), enzyme soaps,
peppermint soap, tansy, DM, yeast, ......
So I figure I need to learn to live with them. But,.....
whenever I pull a weed ANYWHERE in the yard, about one hundred
ants (rough estimate but no exageration) attack my arms. They
do not appear to be living in hills but in nests under the soil
in every inch of every part of my garden. They bite but not
quite as bad as fire ants. I spent the day pulling weeds then
pouring wood ashes on the area so that they at least stopped
biting my ankles while I worked on the next area. Each and
every minute I was out pulling weeds, I was being bitten.
I am just beginning to see worms in my yard. I don't want
to use organic pesticides. Is there anything else?????
ANYTHING!!! I'm afraid that while I love my no till
approach, it seems to have become a perfect haven for these
ruthless beasties!! and I'm having worse problems with them
than ever!!! If I could move I would.
can you flood your yard?????
hook up a looong hose to your hot water heater????
have you tried using orange oil?
Is your soil/mulch dry, hard to wet????
like gumbo (soil under the mulch)when wet?????
sandy?
bill,,, fishing for clues
Laura McKenzie wrote:
Gardens Alive have an Ant killing product but it says it is for suger-lov=
ing and other household ants. Won't all ants go for sugar? It says the =
bait has borax that they carry back to their colony's. Maybe you could =
mix your own, sugarwater and borax. Takes 7 - 10 days to kill them all. =
Just a thought.
Sydney zone 7
----------
Whoops! Just noticed that you went that route already.
Sydney
----------
In a message dated 6/15/99 11:01:12 PM, Laura McKenzie wrote:
Laura,
There are probably several reasons for the failure to control ants
with nematodes, boric acid, enzymes, pepperment, etc.
First of all, your expectations might not be realistic. You're not
going to see an overnight change. I've knocked out nuisance ant
colonies in my garden with enzymes. It takes about 48 hours and
the ants are gone/relocated.
I wouldn't use very much boric acid in the garden since boric acid
can be toxic to plants. However, a product like Niban Granular Bait
which is 95% corn and 5% boric acid might not be too hard on the
garden. However, I'd probably prefer to go with other tactics.
Diatomaceous Earth alone can be useful at controlling foraging ants
and there's a formulation with pyrethrum powder that is even more
effective against ants. There has been a severe shortage of natural
pyrethrum in the U.S. for over a year, but I have about 20 lbs of DE
with pyrethrum and can still get small canisters of pyrethrum
powder.
Entomopathogenic nematodes can control ants, but you'd probably want
to use a combination of Steinernema sp and Heterohabditis sp to get
the best results, and you need to use enough of them. There is also the
issue of getting live nematodes through the mail. Some vendors who
might not handle them properly could be selling dead or dying nematodes.
It's been known to happen. Several US nematode producers have gone
under because of poor handling, although not necesarily by the producers
themselves. I've heard that the marketing departments have blown it in
their zeal to get lots of product on the shelves. If they are not properly
refrigerated, they might not last more than a week on the shelf.
You can check your nematodes by looking at them under a microscope.
An inexpensive 30x scope is available at Radio Shack for under $10.
Check the nematodes in three or four different parts of the batch. It's
possible that a few near the edges may be dead, but at least three out
of four samples should show activity. Sometimes adding a drop or two
of water helps improve visibility. It's quite obvious when they're alive
and "kicking". During the hottest months it might be wise to request
overnight delivery of nematodes to insure live delivery. They can
tolerate some heat, but sitting in a hot truck all day can be stressful
for them, especially if they've already spent a day in a hot warehouse.
Entomopathogenic nematodes are one of the natural enemies of ants, so
they are not going to hang around too long in soil where there is a high
density of these nematodes. Nematodes can infect an ant colony and wipe
it out in a few days. However, ants have a defense. If they realize that
some of their colony is "diseased" they can quickly isolate the sick
individuals and move the colony away from the danger. This might happen
50% of the time. I'm not sure. If enough workers are killed, the queen
starves. If nematodes get to the queen, the queen dies. There are always
"reproductive" females standing in the wings waiting for their chance
to be queen, so a colony can relocate and start again fairly easily.
Nematodes can be applied with a watering can, which should help you to
put them precisely where you want them. It's also less stressful on them
than pushing them through a hose end sprayer. A pump sprayer is not too
bad though.
If anyone has any other questions about nematodes or ants, let me know or
check out the links to information about nematodes on our nematode page
http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/nemas.html
Regards,
Eric W. Acosta - Director
Biocontrol Network
Bio-rational Alternatives for an Ever Shrinking Planet
*********************************************
URL http://www.biconet.com Email: ebugs@biconet.com
*********************************************
Dear Laura
I appreciate your frustration with ants, having gone through a
similar frustration with slugs. I hope others can give you a
quicker and more effective solution, but the following may be
helpful for the longer term.
Ants set up where they do, simply because the living conditions are
favourable. I have found in my situation that there are lots of
ants in locations where:
1: There is a lot of dead vegetative material.
2: It is dry.
In particular, the vegetative material they prefer seems to be tree
materials..... roots, branches, etc, rather than grass and weeds.
However, your ants may prefer any cellulostic organic matter. The
key thing here is the cellulose content of the organic matter....
cellulose is a very close cousin to sugar, and I would speculate
that if you fully composted your organics before you aplied them,
then the "attractive feed", the cellulose, would have been
"pre-consumed", and the compost would be of little interest tio
them. Looking at it from another angle, ants are a composting
device of sorts; they take cellulostic organics, and remove the
cellulose, leaving the remains as "ant castings." :-)
On the plus side, when I remove ant sites, the soil under them is
very good looking.... granular, and deep brown.
My simplistic diagnosis is that you have too much cellulose, and
your land is too dry. I don't know what to do to enhance cellulose
degredation, other than finding a source of nitrogen to encourage
its composting. (Sounds like a great use for fish emulsion!!! :-)
However, you might try a test plot where you water especially
heavily, and then determine if the excess moisture drives them
away.
Best wishes in your efforts to control them. The clue is to beat
them at their own game; deprive them of their needs, and provide
them with what they don't want.
Kindest regards,
Kevin Chisholm
Laura McKenzie wrote:
> I only want to talk about the ones outside (I can't even
> ...del...
> I am just beginning to see worms in my yard.
This could be a good sign.... it could mean that the excess
cellulose is consumed by the ants, and they are moving on from that
area, and the worms are moving in.
Is there something about your "no till" approach that is favourable
to ants? Perhaps you are using compost which is not fully
composted?
Chert,thats like slate?rocky?
In dry climes ants and termites do the soil a great benefit in place of
the earthworm. I know that makes you feel a whole bunch better,
Have you contacted Gardenville in texas??????
bill the pusher
whoo says to make a better environment for garden crops and
decomposers,,, to the detriment
of those of rhizomataceous ilk ,add compost and calcium lime....
or go 50-50 w/ dolomite if sandy soil
The ants are right in the vegetable
But,.....
> whenever I pull a weed ANYWHERE in the yard, about one hundred
> ants (rough estimate but no exageration) attack my arms.
Did you try the trick someone sent in months ago - peeing on them? Don't
know if it works, but it should relieve your mind at least. He swore (in
Spanish) that it drives away ants.
I did try pouring a cup or two of pee on an ants' nest here, and it went. - JTT
JT Thompson wrote:
Dear JT
If I ever have occasion to visit you, please serve Coke, and not tea or coffee. :-|
Kevin Chisholm
