Greenhouse and ants - how to deal with?

[andynewby]

H,

I've been using my greenhouse for years, and every time I get the unwanted guests: ANTS! They burrow into the pots (or ground), and set up home right under my plants. Eventually killing (most) of them. I've managed to get rid of the blank ones before using different tricks (semolina, ant bain traps, etc) , but the red ones just don't wanna go! So my questions:

1. What the best way to stop them in the first place? I've tried keeping the ground wet, but even that doesn't help (and it just ends up rotting the plants)
2. I've tried them in big pots of compost with the holes at the bottom plugged - it seems they just went up the side, down into the pot, and set up home
3. I've tried grow bag - and while they had a bit better success, I still got infestations

It feels like a never-ending battle, and I'm almost at the point of saying "Why bother?" and giving up. I'm at my witts end.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

Thanks

Andy

 

[Chuck]

If you will use a spinosad based insecticide as a soil drench it will kill the ants. Just drench under and around your pots. D'Limonene aka Orange Oil is also a great destroyer and preventer of ants.

 

[andynewby]

If you will use a spinosad based insecticide as a soil drench it will kill the ants. Just drench under and around your pots. D'Limonene aka Orange Oil is also a great destroyer and preventer of ants.

Thank you

Is this what you mean? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jarrow-Formulas-D-Limonene-Protects-Esophagus/dp/B0025PX4JC/

BTW I had a look for spinosad products, and it seems they all come from the USA (I'm in the UK), and come with large shipping costs and import taxes

 

[zigs]

I put an upside down clay pot above the nest, wait for them to move the nest into it (they like the warmth) Then slide a shovel underneath it and take it away.

Welcome to the forum @andynewby

 

[Chuck]

Thank you

Is this what you mean? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jarrow-Formulas-D-Limonene-Protects-Esophagus/dp/B0025PX4JC/

BTW I had a look for spinosad products, and it seems they all come from the USA (I'm in the UK), and come with large shipping costs and import taxes

No thats not what I'm talking about. D'Limonene is also Orange Oil. It is a great cleaner and many grocery stores here sell it under many different brand names. It is also a degreaser and auto parts stores sells orange oil where carburetor cleaners are located. I have a hard time understanding why the US is the only country that has this stuff. And spinosad. Spinosad is the best and safest insecticide there is. It seems like someone there would import it. Sometimes I get ants in my compost piles and I just mix up 2 oz per gallon of water of either spinosad or orange oil and pour it on. No more ants.

 

[andynewby]

I put an upside down clay pot above the nest, wait for them to move the nest into it (they like the warmth) Then slide a shovel underneath it and take it away.

Welcome to the forum @andynewby

Thanks zigs. Unfortunately they set up home right under the plant, and don't seem interested in moving

 

[andynewby]

No thats not what I'm talking about. D'Limonene is also Orange Oil. It is a great cleaner and many grocery stores here sell it under many different brand names. It is also a degreaser and auto parts stores sells orange oil where carburetor cleaners are located. I have a hard time understanding why the US is the only country that has this stuff. And spinosad. Spinosad is the best and safest insecticide there is. It seems like someone there would import it. Sometimes I get ants in my compost piles and I just mix up 2 oz per gallon of water of either spinosad or orange oil and pour it on. No more ants.

Thanks for that. So is this more like it?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Conserve...325017&hash=item41b7f5ef37:g:OzAAAOSwux5YLegb

It looks like that would be enough to do 4 fills. I found this one as well:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Monterey...474646&hash=item3f819e523b:g:uUMAAOSwqVBZZE3d

Seems like that is a 18oz, so would do a bit more uses for the price. Is that the same stuff? (or does it just "contain" Spinosad , so wouldn't be in such quantities? )

I have a hard time understanding why the US is the only country that has this stuff.

Tell me about it. The shipping is the killer when trying to get it to the UK from US

 

[Ian]

I use what I presume is Limonene in the workshop for degreasing, but it's often just called "citrus degreaser" or similar. For example:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citraclean-Citrus-Degreaser-Concentrate-Litres/dp/B00JDI9MPE/

That's 5L for £6.64.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for that. So is this more like it?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Conserve...325017&hash=item41b7f5ef37:g:OzAAAOSwux5YLegb

It looks like that would be enough to do 4 fills. I found this one as well:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Monterey...474646&hash=item3f819e523b:g:uUMAAOSwqVBZZE3d

Seems like that is a 18oz, so would do a bit more uses for the price. Is that the same stuff? (or does it just "contain" Spinosad , so wouldn't be in such quantities? )



Tell me about it. The shipping is the killer when trying to get it to the UK from US

It's the same stuff.

 

[Chuck]

I use what I presume is Limonene in the workshop for degreasing, but it's often just called "citrus degreaser" or similar. For example:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citraclean-Citrus-Degreaser-Concentrate-Litres/dp/B00JDI9MPE/

That's 5L for £6.64.

Yup, that's orange oil. Works great in the home too.

 

[DirtMechanic]

If you mix borax laundry cleaner with a little sugar and water to make a paste, you will have have made a slow acting bait that will poison the whole colony and is not terrible for soil, in fact its a micronutrient.