Me and my wife live in an apt and have a patio. We are in southern california. Anyway we have had a garden in the back of our apt for the last four or five years. What kind of home remedy could get rid of ants? I mixed some cleanser with sugar and put it out by the ants. I read where that would eventually kill the queen. Any infor I would appreciate.
Try some Sevin, if you're looking for the safest chemical control. There are more potent alternatives if that fails.
Thanks for the answer and what is sevin?
It's an insecticide that's available at any garden store.
That's because it takes out too many things. It will be replaced by "Eight".
However, the right thing to use on ordinary ants is boric acid, as in Boraxo powdered detergent. Mix in a little sugar to make it attractive to the ants. Cheap and effective.
There has to be one asshole in every group.
The best way to get rid of ants inside the home or on your patio is to use ant baits. They are safe for the environment, and for pets and children.
It's a big claim that bait is "best". Boric acid is the active ingredient in several "ant and roach" powders and it works fine for us. In fact, bait traps have never seemed to wor here in New England. You probably have a different kind of ant in TX.
It's no bigger claim than your "borax is better than sevin" claim.
The home remedy you mention is essentially a bait trap. The difference being your solution is in an open environment rather than a closed one.
I say they are best because for a number of reasons. The reason being when you are mixing poison and sugar you have something which animals and small children can get into. Generally speaking, when you are using a pesticide that only targets the problem and not anything else, it is the best solution. The problem with sprays and powders (including the home remedy you mentioned) is usually the poison acts too quickly and you only kill the forager ants. Killing forager ants often has the effect of stressing the colony and causing it to split into sub colonies which multiplies the original problem.
If you haven't used ant bait traps in the last few years, you should probably give them another try because they have greatly improved lately. There are also different types of baits that target different types of ants. There are also different types of baits for different areas, both inside and outside. Here in Texas, we have a much more diverse and pervasive problem with ants than you have in New England (I've lived in New England also). There are a few species of ants which don't respond well to baits, but these types of ants generally don't go near homes and these types of ants wouldn't respond to your home remedy either.
We use this:
curious to why you want to mix up a concoction for them and not just use something designed and tested to rid them. The baits will be probably less toxic than the cleanser you will use and since you will be using a cleanser, being a man made product mustn't be an issue.
Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!
You need to use Borax, boric acid, to be effective. Just any "cleanser" will not do.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.