Am overrun with ants-- red and black. With pets I'm looking for a safe, natural pesticide. Plant & herbal.

Answer 1

Diatomaceous earth is a non toxic all natural powder that will kill ants or any insect that comes in contact with it.

Answer 2

Dust food-grade diatomaceous earth along the ant’s pathways. The white powder will cut through their exoskeleton and they will dehydrate and die.

Pour boiling water on ants, especially their anthill.
Vinegar poured on the anthill is said to work, too.

Some people use grated citrus rinds because orange oil is used against red ants. You can try Citrus Magic, an air freshener made from concentrated citrus oils (oranges, lemons, grapefruits, etc) which clings to the insect and permeates any exoskeleton & membrane.

Plant mint around the foundation & areas you don't want ants in (if you don't need it for a garden) & landscape with Cedar mulch. It would be effective & decorative too.

Or dig a hole into the nest with a shovel and pour in an insecticidal soap (a mixture of 1/3 cup rubbing alcohol, 1 tsp dish soap and water in a 32 oz spray bottle) into the nest and put back the soil. You may have to do this a few times to really get rid of the ants.

Borax is also effective. 1:1 mix of sugar and 20 Mule Team Borax detergent. Sprinkle it in hard to reach places (away from pets) or put the sugar/Borax mixture in a small plastic margarine container with holes punched into it.

Aspartame (Nutrasweet ) seems to kill ants by interfering with their nervous system. It kills most ants by simply sprinkling in a corner & letting them take it back to their nest. For fire ants it worked best when moistened a little. Small black ants would not eat the aspartame until it was mixed with apple juice, then they would quickly take it back to the nest, and all would be dead usually within 24 hours. http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20060612.htm

Granular molasses, among other things, has been recommended on this site for getting rid of ants:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/frugal/msg0617023830653.html

Lots of suggestions here: http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html... about using cayenne pepper, cinnamon, Simple Green, chalk, Bay Leaves, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, baby powder, & Shakley's Basic H. (a non-toxic soap made from soybeans). Fill a pint spray bottle 1/3 with Basic H and 2/3 with water, mix & spray for ants &.... as a bonus... it is said to kill fleas: "Spray your lawn to keep it flea free".

Good luck! Hope this helps.

Answer 3

When you find it, please post it. Ants and fleas are at an all time high in Missouri.
You can try this one (below). It seems to make them reproduce faster where I live.
The way it is suppose to work is...They feed on it and carry it back to the nest and it destroys the reproductive system. It contains borax.
Another remedy is (more organic) is sprinkle coffee grinds/grounds around your residence(outside)
Product Name: Antrol ant syrup
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Product.jsp?REG_NR=00047500013&DIST_NR=000475
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/List_Products.jsp?PestName=Grease-eating+ants
Forum below for ideas
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0720064529127.html

Borax For Ants Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/609/Borax-For-Ants95380.shtml
Ingredients:
3 parts sugar
1 part borax
Directions:
Mix well and place in out of the way places, like the back of cabinets, AWAY from children and pets.
This recipe for Borax For Ants serves/makes 1
Recipe ID: 66253
Hope you get some ideas here.

Answer 4

Washing up liquid will kill them, just dilute in water. Even better, add to very hot water.

This doesn't kill the queen ant, unless the hot/boiling water gets to her. For this, you'll need something else. I sometimes use cigarette butts, soaked in water, as a 'natural' insecticide. Again, I don't always manage to remove an ant colony.

Answer 5

Nutmeg sprinkled in the area will work. Is the bowl outside or inside? If it's inside you will need to find out where they are entering the room that the cat food is in and try to get rid of them there. If it's outside try putting a line of chalk or petroleum jelly around the area.

Answer 6

try this mix
4-5 tbsp of cornmeal
3tbsp of bacon grease
3tbsp of baking powder
3packages of baker's yeast
mix cornmeal and bacon grease into a paste, then add the baking powder and yeast. dab it on the sides of jar lids and set them near the anthills. they will aet it and die