Safe Ant Killers to Spray from the Yard
Ants are among the most common insects that you’ll see in your own backyard. While they serve a valuable function by cleaning up dead bugs and organic waste on your landscape, some ants may also cause difficulties. For instance, certain ants may attack your plants while some may sting or bite you and your family. Before turning to toxic pesticides, try out some organic or organic sprays that can help control and kill ant populations in your garden.
Soap Spray
Liquid dish detergent is very good for more than just scrubbing oil and food off of your own pots and pans. When combined with water, then it makes a potent spray that kills ants on contact. It’s also successful at killing other common garden pests, such as aphids and whiteflies. For your best results, use a spray that has a concentration of just 3 percent less or soap, to help reduce the risk of harm to your crops. To achieve this concentration, mix 5 to 8 tablespoons of detergent in a gallon of water and spray it everywhere in your yard where you would like to kill ants.
Hot Water Spray
Hot water quickly kills ants when sprayed on their trail, and when pumped straight on an ant hill, it may also eliminate an entire ant colony on your garden. Hot water is so lethal that it can also kill many types of weeds as an all-natural herbicide. This option works best when attempting to remove ants in regions of your landscape that have no desired plants, such as on a trail or on your terrace.
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is lethal against ants and a lot of other bugs. It relaxes the ants by scratching their entire body, which in turn dries from the insects. It functions best in enclosed pieces of your lawn, such as in the nooks and crannies of a garden shed. But it also works on flat surfaces such as on your lawn. To earn a spray, then simply join a 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth with a gallon of water and spray it where ants are found. Wear a dust mask when applying diatomaceous earth.
Boric Acid
Boric acid ranks as the best natural treatment for ants. You’ll find this substance, which can be created from a natural mineral, in aerosol type. Some gardeners also use it by blending it with sugar or comparable sweet foods and spraying it where the ants are. Attracted by the apples from the spray, the ants will eat the sugar, and the boric from the mixture will poison and destroy them.
Organic Pesticides
If home spray remedies do not work, gardeners can turn to several commercially prepared, natural and organic sprays made out of plant and herbal extracts. Examples that are effective at killing ants include sprays made from pyrethrins and rotenone. Use the spray according to the manufacturer’s labeled guidelines, as toxicity varies widely by item.