mcmoose wrote:
Anyone have any other methods for controlling ants?
Thanks for reading!
Matt
This got so long I didn't feel right posting it in the
DE thread.
Hi Matt,
If you just need to kill the
ants boiling
water down the nest works well. If you cannot locate the nest try the borax sugar
feed, there are many recipes around for this. For the aphids which are attracting the ants a sharp stream of water a couple times a week
should do them in. Once the aphids are gone the ants will move on the next easy source of food. Ants are quite beneficial so unless you really need them dead I would also point out that the ants are just doing what ants do. In this case exploiting the aphids.
An example of how
permaculture can/might change the way you think about these types of problems: At first glance it appears to me like the real problem is the aphids. The over abundance of aphids attacking your plants are being exploited by the ants as a source of food. Unfortunately because this is a beneficial relationship for both; the ants actively work to increase the aphid population. So if the aphids would leave/die so would the ants solving the ant problem.
However if we dig a little deeper I think you will find your real problem comes from one of two places. Scenario 1. Your plants being eaten by the aphids are over fertilized or stressed out in some fashion: being over fertilized would cause sweet sap and lush juicy growth, perfect food for aphids. Under scenario one here I look to aphids as indicators of too much fertilizer or sick plants, either way what we need is a deeper/better understanding of what is going on with the plants.
Assuming no real problems with your plants or no noticeable problems with your plants anyway you might be in Scenario 2. Scenario 2 is that coincidence just happened to bring you all the
local aphids. This is possible, I live right next to a field and as it dries up for summer and eventually gets mowed the aphids come looking for something better to eat. In my case I noticed a couple of years ago that the
dandelions get the bulk of the aphids in my
yard when the migration occurs so I make sure to keep some around, especially around the plants that used to get hit the worst. As more good bugs have made my back yard home I find the sudden impact from the influx greatly reduced. I have also noticed each year I have less problems with aphids at all as my plants continue to get healthier and stronger.
Good Luck,
Jeff
