[jacnal]

I've hundreds of colonies on my plot, and I fear they're eating my stuff  

[WG.]

I found this on another forum.  Can't vouch for its efficacy ...

4 to 5 tbsp. cornmeal
3 tbsp. bacon grease
3 tbsp. baking powder
3 packages of yeast (I would opt for the rapid rise)
Mix cornmeal & bacon grease into a paste, then add baking powder &
yeast. Dab the gooey mix on the insides of jar lids, and
set them near the ant hills.
When ants eat this mixture, they swell up and go to the big ant hill in
the sky

Since it is Amurrrican, cornmeal probably means polenta rather than cornflour.

[jacnal]

Thanks WG.

Everytime I go someplace new at my allotment there's a colony, and it's beginning to p.155 me off.Never knew they'd be so destructive outside of crowding one's jam jar/sugar bowl.

[Trillium]

Stepping on them is pretty organic. Otherwise, we put boric acid powder (from chemists) down their holes. Boiling water works to a point. Best luck we've had is with commercial ant killer, the type that you pour some into a tiny container by the hill opening and the ants take it to the queen who dies, then the colony follows. It's not so organic but for your serious problems, it gives you a good start on them. If they're where I really don't want them, I dig into the nest and spread everything out. They soon find somewhere else, like possibly the next plot.  :twisted:

[ziggywigs]

They don't like water, flood their nests regularly and they will move on....or hot water is pretty organic too!

[jacnal]

Stepping on them is pretty organic. Otherwise, we put boric acid powder (from chemists) down their holes. Boiling water works to a point. Best luck we've had is with commercial ant killer, the type that you pour some into a tiny container by the hill opening and the ants take it to the queen who dies, then the colony follows. It's not so organic but for your serious problems, it gives you a good start on them. If they're where I really don't want them, I dig into the nest and spread everything out. They soon find somewhere else, like possibly the next plot.  :twisted:

Hi Trillium,
Thanks for the  :twisted: advise  .
I've been scattering them, and it kinda seems to get them moving away as they're confused. I throw the clumps of eggs next door too (evil, I know, but..... it's vacant Also read somewhere that corn flour / maize meal kills the queen as she can't digest, so dies really full, and of course the colony follows suit with no queen to reproduce. I've since sprinkled some around colonies, and will look when I next go to the plot. Hoping they're tailing of.........

[jacnal]

Hey Ziggywigs,

I'll flood their nests and hopefully drown them, lol!

The only thing with hot water - doesn't it kill other good beasties, like earthworms and woodlice? I feel guilty enough disturbing them - especially earthworms - when I dig, wouldn't want to scald them to death too..... Oh, I'm becoming my MIL! She feels bad about killing other creatures - even bad nasty ones, like slugs!

[Pablo]

Your MIL is right! It's wrong to kill other creatures! Ok,now bombard me.......

[jacnal]

Your MIL is right! It's wrong to kill other creatures! Ok,now bombard me.......

I hear you Pablo. I also note you've not given a handy hint on how to stop ants or slugs or snails or mice or rabbits or squirrels etc destroying plants (clothes and furniture too, for mice.....)  :roll:   . What was I to do with the slugs that polished off my only 3 cucumber plants? I left them to it as the plants were gone, but I did sprinkle iron sulphate pellets around my remaining plants.... Any better ideas Pablo? Make them cost effective and as organic as possible please.

Oh, BTW, MIL slug pellets slugs, even though she feels bad about it. Some things just have to be done if you want a good result   It's us and our crops against them, or we're left without. Or just buying, which we growers are trying to eliminate some  :roll:

[WG.]

Hi Jacnal

Did you try the cornmeal recipe against your ants?  I'd love to know whether it worked or not.

[jacnal]

Hi Jacnal

Did you try the cornmeal recipe against your ants?  I'd love to know whether it worked or not.

Hey WG,

I'm not sure it worked (might have). I've been working too many shifts this past week, or it's been raining too much on my days off so haven't spent a good deal of time at the allotment to find out . I'll be taking a good look on Thursday. I also tried just plain maize meal, so will compare - if I can remember the spots  :oops: I'll be making more of the recipe Thursday too.

Work's really getting in the way of gardening  :cry:

Hope you're well WG.

[muntjac]

american cornmeal is maize mate,,, well in tennesssee anyways lol

[mushroom]

I've hundreds of colonies on my plot, and I fear they're eating my stuff  

I had 3 biggish colonies. One colony was reddish ants. I think they were red, might have been red-brown. Deeply rotovating the plot seemed to persuade them to move elsewhere. By deeply rotovating, I mean to 18 inches. Ants don't like disturbance or too much moisture. I had to rotovate the same patch 5 times. Make sure you pull out any grass tufts you find, they like those it seems. Haven't had to use insecticide yet.

[muntjac]

as above

[mkhenry]

Ants can not stand Baking Yeast.Mix it with sugar and place it on bits of wood around the nests.  

OR..............

Spread Camphor on and in and around the nests .They will vacate very quickly.(Paraffin will also work)

OR...............

Spead chalk and pepper in liberal amounts around the plants and the area.