Ants

This is kinda off-topic. Last year and this year I have a bad problem with small black ants coming into my house. I have tried a variety of sprays purchases from the stores (Ortho did not work). This year I am trying with Amdro spray.


Does anyone know of any good sprays that work? I see them in my garden beds when I garden too.


Sorry for the off-topic! The ants are driving me crazy!

I generally get a robust little invasion of them each spring too. I've had the best results with the little plastic ant baits one can find at Lowe's and other similar places. I toss 3 or 4 down where I think they're coming in. (Of course, keep them away from pets). They find it pretty quickly, take a little nibble from the inside then carry it back to the nest to share. Generally in a few days I see a big drop off in the number of ants coming inside. Then again, my grandma used to swear by her chalk dust.

Malathion spread around the outside of the house should work.

Flower: Do you have oak trees near your house ? I seem to remember this being discussed before and someone mentioned that they (the ants) originate around oak trees and suggested that you use Orthene around the base of the trees. Hope someone can verify this.

I don't have any oak trees, but I have mulched garden beds around my house. I was told that will bring them in more too? I do see them when I am planting/weeding.


I have seen the Terro (sp?) ant bait stations. However, I can't imagine leading them into my house to eat! I freak when they are in my house. I am a bit of a clean freak so it gets to me. They were in my daughters room, and near my kitchen window yesterday. Those are two of the worst places for them to be. I saw Terro has outdoor ant bait stations that I may try.


Where do you buy malathion?

You can find Malathion 50 at Walmart. Did you use pine bark mulch?

I do have pine bark mulch.

Pine bark mulch is full of bugs and it seems to attract termites.

Well, too late for that now. My DH got the mulch, and it has been down for awhile. For future reference, what type of mulch is the best kind to get?

Pine straw (long leaf) works for me. It also breaks down and adds nutrients to the soil.
I learned about pine bark mulch the hard way, also. Cock roaches live and thrive under pine bark on the trees and also the pine bark mulch that you buy. We had an exterminator treat the mulch and he said to always leave a 3' barrier between the mulch and the house. This is because of the termites that live and thrive in it. Since we have the large Palmetto bugs here (roaches) we have had great success with "Home Defense". I'd give that a try and see if it works

DH said it was intitally hardwood in the front, and the newer beds in the back are pine. However, when we made the new beds he refreshed the hardwood beds with bit of the pine.

"Home Defense" as in an exterminator or the Ortho Home Defense Max spray? I have tried that spray last year, and it didn't work for longer than a few days.

I am trying uncooked, regular (cheap) grits on the ants. Anyone had sucess with grits? The dirtdoctor.com recommends grits and the organicgardening.com saids that girts are ineffective.

Grits are a joke .. I've had good success with Combat - just find anything with fipronil in it. Doesn't kill them or make them sick right away so they take it back to the nest. I use it in my greenhouse and it works pretty well for me. I always make it a point too to sprinkle some granular ant killer underneath pots I place on the ground .. keeps them out of the pots.

Ant's also hate lavender oil. You can get some cheap lavender oil at the family dollar store and "paint" it on your window sills .. they won't cross it.

we have some particularly nasty black ants up here. as i reach for the ant it actively turns and tries to bite me (rather than running in fear) normally an ant will at least wait for you to harass it before actively coming after you...