Natural Ant Deterrents?

Texas Fire Ants

My Jack Russell dog and myself got stung while we were burning trash.
My dog died with the bite still itching her for 10 years and I still have a scar on my foot. I can see no reason not to get rid of them without hurting the environment.

boiling water eliminates fire ants

I have been in my house in S Florida since 1980. When I found a fire ant nest in my yard I poured a teakettle full of boiling water on it. They bring out the dead. If one application didn't complete the job I would repeat the treatment. It took a couple of years of consistent applications but now there hasn't been a fire ant nest in my yard for at least 10 years.

Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is what we use. Its great for ants, fleas, ticks and other pests. We sprinkle it around base boards, outside along the base of the cottage, as well as in the hen house, dog shed. Its a natural pest killer.

Baby powder works because if the talc, which you can also buy as just the talc. It works much the same way as the Diatomaceous earth.

Also know your ants. You have ants who are after sweets, and you have ants who when there is rain or cold weather seek water or something else inside the place. And prevention is best.

Chalk worked for me!

Two weeks ago we had ants all over our kitchen. They didn't seem to be coming from anywhere specific or going anywhere specific. We finally tracked them to coming from our window through a crack. Someone suggested I use chalk. I had a box of 50cent chalkboard chalk so I took a piece and kind of ground up a little near the window sill and then put the piece of chalk itself in front of the opening. At first the ants kept coming and walked right over the chalk...then a couple hours later they were all gone and they haven't been back since. Not one ant and we probably had over 100! I'm not sure if this works on all kinds of ants, but it worked for us. (Note: the chalk dust I ground up was gone a few hours later...I need to ask my husband about this...I'm not sure if he added water to make a paste that I just couldn't see on our white windowsill or if the ants carried the dust off.)

biffa, Really, you don't want

biffa,
Really, you don't want to kill fire ants? Have you been stung by them? Worst itching I've had the pleasure to experience, and many people will allergic reactions.

I use a product from Perma-Guard that is diatomaceous earth plus pyrethrine.(the big guns, relatively speaking)

First, I'll agitate the nest trying to uncover the main channel. I sprinkle the dry powder on top. Then I mix the product with water and spray a large amount down the hole with a garden sprayer to try to get the queen.

Works most of the time and is much less toxic than the other fire ant treatments out there, which are scary.

Borax or boric acid works best at our house

Hmmm. I've tried a lot of these remedies without much success. I've tried bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger, chalk and vinegar. The ants crawled right over them. We have mint growing outside our deck (in a somewhat confined garden - it really does spread outrageously!) and still have small ants in that area. The thing that works the best I've found is Borax or boric acid. But you can't use Borax around children - it's relatively safe but can be dangerous to inhale. I use it in areas where the kids can't reach or won't be. I mix it with confectioners sugar - this disguises it. The ants then eat it or carry it back to their nests, thinking it's sugar but the boric acid kills them. I subscribe to a natural pest control company that comes out and uses a boric acid spray if I can't control the situation. Another thing is to find out where the ants are coming in and block it up if possible.

Ant solution

Growing up my mom always planted mint around the outside of the house and we never had a problem with ants.

Ants and how I got rid of them

I started having a really bad ant problem in my vegetable garden. I looked up natural ways to get rid of them. I tried borax, grated ivory soap, boric acid and still had them. I finally found a solution that worked and I could get it right out of my herb garden. Tansy. Amazing, I put the leaves over the tops of their holes and took the stems and poked them down into their holes. Amazing. Those poor ants took up their eggs and ran!!!

Leaf cutter ants in the garden

I recently successfully eradicated a large colony of leaf cutter ants in my vegetable garden. First I dug up the surface layers over the entrance to the anthills. Then, after we finished cooking a large pot of corn, we took the leftover very hot boiled water and poured it over all the entrances to soak the entrances to the anthills and soil underneath. We have seen no ants since then. And no chemicals. If you can find where the nests are, this will help a lot.

When I lived in Florida, I

When I lived in Florida, I worked on a barrier island where we were often plagued by ants. The Eco Lab used ginger in their spray to rid the offices of ants. It worked really well!

vinegar

my old home had terrible ants. I don't know if this works for carpenters as I never saw any inside but there were plenty outside... but I used white vinegar on a cloth to wipe across any surface they could come through, window sills, door frames, cracks in walls and all the corners of the house. it worked practicaly instantly.

Ant Problem

Cornmeal works great to kill them. As liamsmom33 said, they take it home, cannot digest it, and they die. To keep them out of the house or away from plants, sprinkle cinnamon (also suggested earlier) because they will not cross a line of it.

Cinnamon

I have a mixture of cinnamon and coffee grounds lining my window sills and it has kept the ants out really well.

Peppermint Spray

I've had decent luck spraying a solution of water and peppermint oil around the baseboards, counter backs, etc. in rooms where ants are a problem. Not sure of the ratio of oil to water I just wing it with a few full eye droppers onto a spray bottle. Shake and spray. Ants seem to go elsewhere and the room smells great. I've also sprayed this solution around the outside of our house where the frame meets the foundation and ants are most likely to enter. Ideally, you'd find the nest(s), and deal with the source but that can be hard to do.

That said, assuming you're in a rural or semi rural setting, are not using pesticides or bait traps elsewhere on your property and are dealing with indigenous ants vs. exotic invasion species, I wouldn't worry much about the eating thing. Ants are eaten in many cultures as a protein source. Strange from an American perspective, perhaps, but true. I don't know of any toxic native ants. You just don't want any biting ants ingested I suppose. But I'm guessing that like most of us you're dealing with little sugar ants or basic black ants.

I would not use borax if kids are around. It's relatively harmless and even used as a food additive in certain countries but if ingested in sufficient amounts it can be harmful or fatal. Those amounts are not that great for children. Just a handful of grams, I believe. So why take the risk, right? The ants are safer!

Coffee Grounds

Also good covering up gray in brown hair as opposed to using chemical hair color products.

Borox?

I know they hate borox, though I don't know if its safe for children. Not sure about how green it is, either... But if you know where they are getting in, and you know its not where your child can reach, sprinkle some in the area and it should help.