coffee grounds keep the ants away

[vtown05]

I used some free coffee grounds that I got from Starbucks and sprinkled them around my patio and grill and I haven't seen any ants since. I had no idea this would keep ants away. I hate those things. Also, the coffee grounds provide a good source of nitrogen for your plants.

[NorthCoastGardener]

I've never heard of that but if it works that's great, we have ants throughout our yard and they hang around the base of my rhododendron. We drink lots of coffee and have a good supply of coffee grounds. I'll try that out in the coming weeks, thanks for the idea.

[vtown05]

I've heard it works for certain ants and not others. I used them to keep the fire ants away and it worked great. I've heard it doesn't work as well on other ants but not sure which ones.

[NorthCoastGardener]

I'll give it a try, pretty sure these are garden variety ants. We have plenty of ants and plenty of coffee grounds, so its definitely worth trying on my end.

[cynthia_h]

Believe me, I have tons of coffee grounds in my compost bin (probably the most heavily represented "green" ingredient) and...if I don't water it or turn it frequently enough...tons of ants, too.

???

I've found diatomaceous earth (the gardening kind, NOT the swimming-pool kind--that stuff is dangerous to breathe), cinnamon, and direct spraying of soap sprays onto the ants (the kitchen-counter cleaner Fantastik also kills ants) to deter them as well.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[NorthCoastGardener]

Ah, good to know about coffee and ants. Cinnamon, never would have thought of that. I've used soap sprays on other bugs with some success, will look into Fantastik too, thanks.