I've always had good luck by spraying around my foundation and walkways with Lemon Joy dish soap and water. For some reason Joy works better than any other lemon dish soap. Add enough Joy so that you have some suds that remain after spraying. Use about a cap full to a quart of water. You can also spray the plants with this solution. First test by spraying an inconspicuous part of the plant to see if your mixture harms it at all. If there are no signs of yellowing or other leaf damage after a day, it is safe to use. Once you have determined that it won't harm your plant, spray the entire plant, paying special attention to the undersides of leaves.
Try diatomaceous earth. I was having problems with pillbugs on my strawberries, and the guy at the nursery recommended it, instead of poisons. It is harmless to pets and kids. I've had good luck with it on my berries and other plants. It kills ants. Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. It is used as a filtration aid, as a mild abrasive, as a mechanical insecticide, as an absorbent for liquids, as cat litter, as an activator in blood clotting studies and as a component of dynamite. Get the kind sold in garden centers not the kind used for swimming pools as that type has bleach in it.
Ants do not like a wet habitat, so every day for a few days pour a bucket of water on an anthill; after dousing them two or three times, the whole colony should move. Boiling water will work very well if you can pour it right on the ant hill. It kills them right away. I have used this several times. In addition, people have reported success ridding an area of ants by putting used coffee grounds around anthills and or plants. Coffee grounds are good for the plants. I don't have any coffee, am embarrassed to buy any and have not asked my coffee drinking friends for any so I have not tried this. It is an old Price trick.
The best companion plant to repel ants are the allium plants--onions, chives, garlic, leeks, and shallots. Ants do not like them. Plant mint alongside your house. Ants don't like mint! As a bonus, mint leaves are wonderful in summer lemonade!
Sprinkle aspartame around the plants. A friend of mine said to put aspartame all around the garden and in between the rows. He also said to mix a little in a spray bottle with some water and spray the plants. He said that it really works. The aspartame is poison to the ants but they like it because it's sweet. Like strawberry juice, they carry it to the queen to eat, then she dies and no more ants. The man who told me about this said he had a huge ant mound in his backyard and he poured a diet coke down into the hill and he hasn't had a problem with ants since.
Make a mixture consisting of 2 teaspoons molasses, one teaspoon dry yeast, and one teaspoon of sugar. Put the mixture in small containers such as bottle caps and place it around the strawberries. The yeast will kill the ants. Sprinkle semolina, polenta or cornmeal around the strawberries. The ants will carry it back to the queen who will not be able to digest it and die. The rest of the nest will dissipate soon after.
You can always buy benificial nematobes. You can buy them at garden supply centers, and sometimes places like Home Depot, or order them online. They are microcsopic "bugs" that go down into the ant coloney and eat the eggs. So you may still see adult ants for awhile, but they will eventually die and the eggs are gone. You mix the nematobes with water, and spray them on. Plus they don't harm anything, except dirt dwelling bugs, like fleas, ants, etc.
Indoors, the 20 mule team Borax is a great way to get rid of them without poisoning the family. Also, ants hate cinnamon. If you want to get rid of ants just sprinkle cinnamon around and you get rid of ants and you get a nice scent too. Black pepper is also useful both indoors and out. A dusting of fine ground pepper may help or make a spray of water and Tabasco sauce and spray the center of your plants. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on and around the strawberry plants. A line of cayenne pepper around the plants will keep the ants away. Curry powder will work as well.
Indoors, some have great success using Orange Glow wood polish and cleaner. Clear all cupboards and spray them with Orange Glow. Leave the cupboards open overnight because the scent is very strong.
Myrna
Thanks for all the ideas. I do have some of the ant bait stations and yes, Hailey would leave them alone. I'll try those. I think I'll also go buy some of the diatomaceous earth for the pill bugs. Thanks again!
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