▷ Means against ants in the garden: experts reveal the most effective

Towards the end of May, many gardeners start thinking about the best ant control products. In greenhouses, ants turn over the soil and, if you don’t look, are already creating an aphid farm on fruit trees. Naturalist Marius Cepulis and gardening expert Dr. Ingė Auželiene this article explains how to reduce ants and even ant-related aphids in your garden.

Gardening expert, “Yellow Wheelbarrow” course.Modern vegetable garden” AND “Farm landscaping“Teacher Dr. Ingė Auželienė about the LRT program”This is my garden” he joked that gardeners often turn an ant into an elephant.

Where do ants live?

According to Ingì, ants do not choose every corner of the ground. Whether they will be more or less depends on the humidity of the soil. Ants like to look for food in dry places, such as:

Sterile sandy soil where moisture does not retain;
A greenhouse with an irrigation system – where the capillaries do not hydrate, those areas are extremely dry;
Places where there are no tall or shade-casting plants that would help maintain humidity longer;
In unirrigated and unfertilized lawns where dry and empty areas appear.

Ants can cause damage in the garden. photo Marius Čepulis

How ants damage plants

Ants can settle in a pot if you keep it on the ground without a saucer. They can also lodge under plant roots. In these cases it can cause some damage, but rarely becomes a big problem.

It is worse with aphids, which ants take care of. There is no doubt that aphids damage plants. If there are a lot of aphids, they will suck the juice from the plant, damage the development of new shoots and may destroy the rose buds so that the flower no longer opens.

The peak of the development of aphid colonies is the beginning of summer. Afterwards, the colonies do not grow so actively. Therefore it is very important to control the reproduction of these colonies at the beginning of June, when they multiply more and feed more intensely on vegetable juices.

Where there are ants there are aphids and… ladybugs

Naturalist Marius Čepulis states that a third subject is also involved in the relationship between ants and aphids: ladybugs. These are predatory beetles: ladybugs and their larvae feed on scale insects, aphids and other small insects. Wonderful helpers for gardeners!

But here Marius Čepulis reveals an interesting nuance: aphids, while sucking plant juices, do not use them all. They remove excess sugar. And the ants got used to feeding on this sugar thrown by the aphids. The latter not only keep watch over the aphids hoping for this food, but also fiercely defend them from ladybugs.

So, ants not only move the lawn, create many mounds, but also protect and defend aphid colonies from enemies.

How to get rid of ants

Ingė Auželienė suggests not fighting the ants, but trying to limit their quantity. It is neither necessary nor impossible to exterminate them.

There is no single magic recipe. Inge advises that it is a good idea to change the anti-ant means, because the same means that are used continuously may no longer work in the long term. Try as many of the methods listed here as you can and see what works best for your particular situation.

Ant oil

You can find tips on how to fill an anthill with oil online. Inge advises: if you try to kill the ants with oil, the lawn may spread in those places.

Ant halls

You can kill ants between floors with salt, if they are not concrete floors, which can be damaged by salt. It is suitable for sprinkling salt on stone paths, it does not damage them.

Do not spread salt in your flowerbeds and garden, as this will damage the plants.

Minutes, soda

When using vinegar or soda to fight ants, be sure to dilute them with water. The ratio should be approximately 1:1. Spray the anthill or part of it with such solutions, the ants will escape at least temporarily and their numbers will decrease.

And keep in mind that pouring soda or pure vinegar may be more harmful to nearby plants than to ants.

However, one should not resort to folk remedies against ants. More or less, oil, vinegar, salt and baking soda should work to fight ants. Only these are not long-term means of combat.

Green soap

At the beginning of summer we can kill aphids and ants with organic preparations. It works well green soap preparationsand even better, green soap with chili pepper extract. By the way, chili powder, which you can find in the kitchen, can also be used to fight ants.

Chemical means against ants

Available at garden supply stores and similar markets chemical agents for ant control. Aerosols are sprayed on these pests and the insects that inhale them are killed. It is true that we must be careful not to inhale these chemicals when we spray ourselves.

Powdered insecticides are sprayed on the ant tracks. This is important for the ants to carry the dust deeper into the nest.

Before using any of the selected means, carefully read the instructions.