User avatar
Francis Barnswallow
Green Thumb
Posts: 696
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:28 pm
Location: Orlando

I think this guy might have the right idea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy3lSZ69OTo Haha, I'm not sure I want those things all over my lawn either though.

I see those in and near my garden eating moths every day. I love those lizards. The bigger lizards in the garden are used to me and won't run away until I get within inches of them, even then they don't move far. I swear I see the same big lizard in the same spot all day long.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure my garden will be a decent source of a moth diet for them in the next couple of weeks. I've seen some new larger moths lately, especially at night.

barnhardt9999
Full Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:23 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC

Expanding on the borax comment. Mix it with powdered sugar and water. They will bring the yummy stiff back to the queen and make short work of her. Longer term solution that just getting the ones outside the nest. Also get roaches.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

OK, has anyone tried THIS method? I wonder if it would work on the little black ants that are causing mayhem in my raised beds and especially cherry trees by shepherding black oily aphids?

How To Get Rid of Ants In Your Garden (100% Proof It Works!!!!!)


...this guy is in Louisiana I believe — the ants in my garden don’t make piles/hills like that, so my first task would be to find nests from different colonies and find ways to to transport sufficient number of the workers/soldiers? to target colony.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Ants are plus minus in the garden. I prefer them to be minus. When I get in the garden, I don't always see them until they are crawling all over me. I do have about 4 species of ants. ( I sent a sample to the ant lab), one of them are tropical fire ants which do bite. When it rains, their house gets flooded and they come into my house. When it is dry, they come in the house for water. They do fight termites, but it is frustrating to try to control them indoors. Outdoors they do control other pests and their tunnels, like the earthworms, do aerate the soil. They in turn, are food for other denizens of the garden so they are an important player in the ecology of the garden. They are are also unintentional pollinators of some plants. They are part of the garden maintenance crew. They aid the decomposition of organic matter. I have seen ants dissecting roaches and carrying away the remains.

Ants in the garden protect and transport aphids, scale and other sucking pests as they farm them for their honeydew. They keep the ladybugs and other beneficial insects away. I put out Terro ant bait, when the new leaves start coming out especially around citrus trees and lemon grass which the ants love to nest near. Killing workers is futile, so baits work better since it targets the queen. I do have anoles,skinks and greenhouse frogs that eat ants. Ants nest in my pots, especially the orchids and that can be a real problem.



Return to “Vegetable Gardening Forum”