Posted: 4/25/2011 5:55:54 AM EDT
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I have been losing the battle for the past two years––just as my corn is ready to pick, my garden is invaded by small, black marching?? ants. They leave everyting else alone and go for the corn. In the past I have tried Sevin Dust. I coated some of the stalks so heavily that it looked like it snowed in my garden. The ants ate right though it, the husks, then devoured my corn. I have also tried the liquid version of this. Last year I tried vinger, soap and water, and just soap and water (cuz I learned real quick I was not mixing the vinegar right, or that it is just a bad idea because it was hurting the plants.
I have also tried borax on a plate with syrup as bait, and each year I spray the area with lawn and garden insect killer. I have heard that diatomaceous earth could work?? This year I have found where some of the ants live (under landscape timbers bordering my garden) and eradicated them. I don't want to kill all the insects, just the ants. Suggestions? How do you use diatomaceous earth? Can you use the swimming pool kind or should I stick to the kind that costs so much more, but is labeled to kill insects? Thanks! |
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Quoted:
I don't want to kill all the insects, just the ants. Suggestions? How do you use diatomaceous earth? Can you use the swimming pool kind or should I stick to the kind that costs so much more, but is labeled to kill insects? Thanks! If Sevin isn't keeping them out, then D.E. probably isn't going to do it, either. You might try it, though. You're going to get mixed results using pool grade D.E. as it is not the same product as food grade D.E. intended for pest control. |
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I was trying to keep them out, but I think the bastards were already in and I did not know it. I am sure I picked the largest corn-eating ant population in GA to stick my garden on top of!
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I am going to hedge my bets and try them all. |
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One other thing, if you are looking for an effective insecticide, find something with fipronil as the active ingredient. I don't know if any of the products are labeled for crop use so maybe just a perimeter treatment. Fipronil is highly effective at getting rid of the entire colony. |
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Two natural predators.... an anteater would be a really cool pet, but ant lions are probably much better.
You'd have to dig a sand trench and keep it basically dry (so some kind of cover so the lions can build their sand traps, which only work in dry loose sandy soil). I have ant lions that live in the sandy soil adjacent to my house. They dig these great little pits that ants (and other insects) fall into and slide down with the help of the ants sand spray. Then crunch and dinner is served. IF you have a big supply of ants, ant lions would be a very effective barrier and they multiple to meet the supply. It is fun to feed the lions. |