What's the best way to get rid of ants in the garden without using chemicals? Are ants harmful to the seeds, seedlings and plants? Thanks for your help.

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), July 02, 2001

Answers

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

I think I have read to pour hot water on them. I know you have been working hard to get a good garden, hope your getting a lot of produce.

-- Joanne (traverlerjo@hotmail.com), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

Pour boiling water down the anthill.

@--->--->---

-- Dee (deejarvis@aol.com), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

I'll try some experiments on it for you. I was wondering what effect vinegar might have. Even though it would raise the acidity of the mound area, seems that it could be controlled with respect to the rest of the garden and maybe the higher acid levels would do em in.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

Vinegar is very high in salt, so make sure you won't be hurting your garden plants wherever you use it.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

We have fire ants here and I have had good luck with this method. After several days of no rain sprinkle about 1 cup of corn meal on the hill. The next day, pour 1 gallon of water slowly down the hill so it absorbs instead of running off. I have been told that the ants eat the corn meal and then drink the water and explode (nice visual). It's kind of the same as not throwing rice at weddings any more because that's basically what happens with the birds. I would assume that this would work for any variety of ants. Good luck.

-- Auntie Annie (sahamett@msn.com), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

I vote for the boiling water treatment, as well. This also works if you get ants in the house. Check around outside to find the ant hill and dose it with the water. That will usually stop the house invasion right away.

Jennifer L.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@imcnet.net), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

Have you tried DE? (Diotomaceous Earth (sp?))

-- Brendan K Callahan (sleeping@netins.net), July 02, 2001.

Response to The Ants Go Marching..........

A thought on the exploding ant. What about a mix of sugar and baking soda? Bet they don't burp or poot.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 03, 2001.

When I was in MS a friend told me that ants don't like flour -- the plain store bought stuff. I put some where I had fire ants and they left the area. No water, just put flour where the ants are. Good luck.

-- jim anonymous (dont@wantmail.com), July 03, 2001.

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I haven't tried anything as yet and I think I will wait til this weekend as we are expecting rain and what a mess we'll have. I know what happened. This past weekend I cleaned off my back porch which is adjacent to my garden spot. There were tons of ants everywhere (on my back porch) and I sprayed what I could with bug spray. This must have driven the ones I didn't get in to the garden area. There are MANY ant hills throughout the garden spot now so getting rid of them without harming the plants should be quite a task. But thanks again for all your responses. They are greatly appreciated.

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), July 03, 2001.

Oh Jesus! I am still in a turmoil with this one. Ants can build a humagous mound. Fire Ants included. I have tried to ride both sides of the fence. Only to arrive at the following: God made Man/Woman more superior. When you have a mound of ants, wet the mound, wait, then sprinkle the mound with Baking Soda, wait, then pour vinegar, and watch the mound implode. Dog on thing will disappear. I saw it, though I still stand, in amazement.

-- My Story (andIam@sticking.com), July 03, 2001.

I get rid of the fire ants in no time. A few minutes after sprinkling food grade Diatomaceous Earth on the mound, the ants start going in circles, then convulsing and death. The next morning you'll see nothing but dead ants. The DE will kill any insect that walks thru it except earthworms. No poison is involved ~ the DE slits the outer skin and dehydrates them.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 04, 2001.

Ants do not hurt your plants, but they are usually a sign of another problem: aphids. Aphids secrete a sticky substance that ants really like. So pay attention to where you see the ants because they can point you toward the real problem.

-- Anne Lewis Sieck (AnneSieck@hotmail.com), July 04, 2001.

In another vein, the aphids main enemy is: BELIEVE IT OR NOT: the old favorite THE GRANDDADDY LONGLEGS. This is an insect that feeds mostly on aphids. I believe that they may be of the spider family.

Wayne Roach

-- Wayne & Lyn Roach (R-Way@msn.com), July 13, 2001.

Hey I have lived in Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, North Carolina, And Florida while in the ARMY. We were never allowed to use any poisen on ants because of the EPA. We used POWDER LAUNDRY SOPE. Cover the mound with some cheap detergent and the ants either leave or die. Not sure which but I know it works on fire ants.

-- Derek (Derekcrow1970@hotmail.com), October 13, 2001.