Containers infested with ants
 

Several of my containers have become infested with ants. I need to clear them out before I replant. I do not want to throw the potting mix out but dont know what to use to get rid of the ants. Years ago I would have drenched the soil with a diazinon solution but diazinon Is no longer available. What can I use as a soil drench to get rid of the ants?

Billm302, a good drench to get rid of an ants nest is water, really soak em and keep it moist, they don't like that. They want a place that's dry and undisturbed.
Boric acid baits work better than other poisons on ants, afaik. I have tried spraying with some pyrethrum stuff a few years ago, and they even seemed to get off on it! :shock::?: Insecticidal soap spray was really slow to have any impact on them, not a very effective way of crushing them..
Hot water and bleach did the job on a nest in a wall...

Amdro, just pour some granules on top and poke some holes. They love the stuff and will take it back to the nest and kill them all. I just put some around my garden because the fire ants decided to move in.

Correction: I guess Amdro is just for non crop lands. I've never used it in a container, just around my garden area.

I planted an 1884 plant in a pot full of fireants just to see what would happen. The fireants are no longer in the pot. I'm guessing I watered them out as bower wrote above.

[QUOTE=bower;643309]
Boric acid baits work better than other poisons on ants, afaik.
[/QUOTE]

Agreed with the effectiveness of borax.

[url]http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Ants-Using-Borax[/url]

I used to use spinosad, and flood the container

[url]https://youtu.be/ntLU2do_DZM[/url]

[url]http://homeguides.sfgate.com/apply-diatomaceous-earth-vegetable-gardens-45493.html[/url]

The ant poison Terro is just sugar and boric acid. The bottle of it is getting hard to find. They want to sell you the pre-packaged baits, which are of course much more expensive. One small bottle of Terro will go a long way.

This is my kitchen windowsill yesterday. They ate it all, and I put out more this morning.

Permethrin or pyrethrins kills them in seconds and you can safely eat the fruit the next day.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;643409]The ant poison Terro is just sugar and boric acid. The bottle of it is getting hard to find. They want to sell you the pre-packaged baits, which are of course much more expensive. One small bottle of Terro will go a long way.

This is my kitchen windowsill yesterday. They ate it all, and I put out more this morning.[/QUOTE]

Is that real?



:?:

water it. They will go away.

[QUOTE=Shrinkrap;643621]Is that real?
:?:[/QUOTE]

I see the same feeding ring with the Raid equivalent which is 7.7% Borax. I put a few drops on a small sheet of waxed paper. The workers take it back to their nest and feed it to the queen - the entire colony is wiped out in a few days.

[url]http://www.raid.ca/en-ca/products/raid-ant-killer-liquid/tabs/ingredients[/url]

I have not tried it yet but my father tells me he make couple holes to bottom of container and fills it with Sevin dust and covers the top back up with dirt. He claims it will kill anything bad in the container but is not accessible to good bugs, except earth worms.

I used borax and sugar for the first time a week or so back. Ants were ticking me off at a hummingbird feeder. I was shocked just how effective it is - sugar borax cotton ball. I don't know what is in the traps we have been using for years, but the ants don't even go in them.