How to fight ants in the garden, apartment and house with baking soda

It's nice to see the coordinated work of a large team. Ants are a prime example of this. Indeed, their complex social organization, intelligence, hard work and power will be the envy of any team. These insects can carry objects that are 5000 times heavier than themselves. Such facts are admirable. But it ends when the working ants settle in a summer cottage or in a house. There is little pleasant from such a neighborhood: insects spoil seeds, ovaries and roots of plants, damage fruits, and are carriers of mold and microbes in the house. Chemicals help get rid of this nightmare quickly, but they are not always safe. Folk remedies are more accessible and no less effective, including baking soda for ants.

Ants are restless workers, but their appearance in a garden, orchard or home can lead to spoiled harvests and unsanitary conditions.

Why get rid of ants

Ants are rightly called forest orderlies, because they help get rid of many pests. But if a gardener or gardener notices the settlement of these insects on his site, he is unlikely to be happy. Although they perfectly loosen the soil, they also cause quite a lot of harm.

Firstly, swarming in the ground, a large family destroys the roots of plants.

Secondly, ants eat seeds. If you decide to sow something in the area where these hard workers live, do not expect abundant germination. Already ripe fruits or berries are a favorite delicacy of ants, which is why strawberries and raspberries often suffer from their invasion.

Thirdly, the ants drive the aphids to the tops of the young shoots, thus “grazing” them, and at this time the green insects suck out all the juices from the plant, and it dies.

Fourthly, black trails of insects in a house or apartment put everyone in a state of shock. In addition to being disgusting and unpleasant, it is also dangerous: ants are carriers of germs, and their bites can cause allergies.

Simple and affordable means, such as baking soda, will help solve the problem with unwanted guests.

A little about ants: what they are, how they live, how they are useful

Ants are common in almost all climatic zones, with the exception of forest-tundra. They can make their homes in the ground, in the remains of decaying wood, above the ground surface. In the middle zone, stray species of insects are often found.

Research by scientists has shown that representatives of just one anthill can destroy about 2,000 eggs laid by caterpillars, flies, spider mites, and slugs within 24 hours; in addition, they actively eat the larvae of harmful insects. Ant families contribute to deep loosening of the soil, enriching it with oxygen; the humidity in the underground dwellings of ants is maintained at 90%, which is very useful for the roots of plants located nearby.

The soil in areas inhabited by ant families is enriched with phosphorus and potassium, and these elements are present in it in a form that is easily absorbed by plant roots.

How does soda work?

It is known from chemistry lessons that sodium bicarbonate creates an alkaline environment that neutralizes acid and has disinfecting abilities. This factor also works great in the case of ants, whose bodies are saturated with acid. Once in the pest's body, baking soda reacts with it, as a result of which the outer shell of the insect is destroyed and it dies. This point is important: ants do not consider soda in its pure form as food, so they have to dodge and prepare various mixtures with soda in order to feed them to harmful insects.

Benefits of Soil Powder for Insect Control

Experienced gardeners and gardeners have long used baking soda to kill ants. As soon as their families settle in the garden, it’s time to get down to business, otherwise you can forget about a good harvest. The undeniable advantages of sodium bicarbonate are as follows:

safety - soda does not cause any harm to both people and pets;
accessibility - every housewife always has a package of NaHCO₃ at hand, which can be used to remove unwanted insects;
effectiveness - after several treatments, soda will repel ants from the area for a long time;
versatility - soda mixtures and baits contain affordable ingredients that are suitable for use both in the house and in the garden.

Sprinkle soda on the anthill, and then pour boiling water on top

Few gardeners will be happy with ant trails on their property. But for successful pest control, you just need to take a closer look at the hardworking insects. You need to assess where the ants have settled, which paths lead them to the house, and then start hunting for pests. An integrated approach is very important here, since fighting only the paths or only the house will lead to nothing: soon the ant metropolis will find other habitats on your site.

Soil safety

Naturally, every gardener, in such a situation, will be concerned about the question: “Will soda be even more harmful to the garden than ants?” Soda is an alkali, and the presence of such a group of substances in the soil is extremely undesirable. In fact, in order to disrupt the acid-base balance of the soil, more than 10 kilograms of soda per hundred square meters must be used. Thus, small amounts of the substance used to exterminate insects will not affect the quality of the soil in any way.

Recipes for preparing solutions

Since ants have a well-known sweet tooth, try to play on this passion of theirs. Various mixtures and solutions using sugar, sweet powder and aromatic seasonings will have the desired effect and quickly remove unwanted guests from the garden. Here are the most popular recipes.

Sweet bait

For this mixture, just mix equal parts of NaHCO3 and powdered sugar or regular sugar. Add 2 tbsp to the composition for viscosity. spoons of water. After thorough mixing, the bait is scattered near the anthill and along the paths. The ants are unlikely to refuse this dessert, and therefore will soon die. And the smarter ones will go looking for another secluded home.

Preparing a sweet bait for ants based on sugar and soda will help cope with the invasion of pests in the garden.

Soda solution

The killing agent can be prepared using soda and hot water. In a 2-liter glass container, mix 3 tablespoons of soda and 1 liter of boiling water, shake and immediately pour into the anthill. Cruel but effective. It is advisable to cover the ant house with earth and cover it with thick material or a piece of black film.

Soda-vinegar mixture

A blow below the belt for insects is treatment with a real explosive mixture. To do this, just generously sprinkle the stirred up anthill with soda, then pour vinegar on top, and cover it with turf to be safe. The procedure can be repeated a few weeks later if the expected result was not achieved the first time.

Also read: Soda for bee and wasp stings: home remedies, compresses, lotions

Areas of application

Baking soda is used for different crops. Spray cabbage, other vegetables, berries and fruit trees.

A solution of sodium bicarbonate in a summer cottage is used:

for treating seeds before planting - soda allows you to disinfect planting material no worse than potassium permanganate;
for spraying plants against diseases and pests - allows you to fight various types of rot, destroys slugs and caterpillars, is effective against spider mites, aphids and ants on the site;
for soil treatment - helps reduce soil acidity;
as a fertilizer – it improves the growth of tomatoes and cucumbers.

How to remove ants using traditional methods

Seeing a crowd of ants in a jar of sugar or honey is not a pleasant sight. You immediately want to interrupt such a neighborhood, and for this, not only soda is suitable, but also many other folk remedies that are always at hand. It is known that insects cannot tolerate strong odors. Here is a fertile field for using spices, various herbs, coffee, lemon.

Ammonia

As soon as you see a couple of brave scouts in the kitchen, it’s time to get to work, otherwise tomorrow the whole colony will be feasting on you. The smell of ammonia is lethal to ants, so we urgently prepare a solution:

100 ml of ammonia;
1 liter of boiled water.

This solution should be used to wipe down surfaces in the kitchen or throughout the apartment where ants can reach. During such a “chemical” attack, small children, allergy sufferers, asthmatics and animals should be removed from the house, since the smell is unlikely to be useful to them either. After treatment, the room is ventilated. You can use the method again after a couple of weeks.

If you decide to use ammonia on the site, then you need to generously moisten an old rag with the solution, wrap it around the anthill, and put a film on top to retain the specific smell longer. You can simply pour the solution over the entire anthill, having first stirred it up.

You might be interested: How to properly use baking soda to protect tomatoes from late blight

Lemon juice

This method is suitable for those who cannot stand the smell of vinegar or ammonia, although it is less effective. To do this, dilute 1 part lemon juice with 3 parts water. It’s even easier to dissolve 2 tablespoons of citric acid in a liter of hot water. This fragrant solution is used to water the paths and houses of ants, and wipe all surfaces in an apartment or house.

Birch tar

Birch tar is an excellent antiseptic and an indispensable assistant for gardeners and gardeners. They treat the trunks of trees and bushes to protect them from pests and diseases. It is also destructive for ants, since they cannot stand its smell. You can use birch tar in several ways:

apply in its pure form to a tree trunk along which swarms of ants “trot”;
soak the fabric in the solution and cover the anthill or wrap the tree trunk;
Dig into places where insects accumulate if you need to get rid of pests in the greenhouse.

Birch tar is not used in houses and apartments.

Baking soda and salt

Baking soda will get rid of ants in the garden in tandem with salt. To prepare, just mix these two ingredients in equal quantities and sprinkle them on the anthill. You can add ground black pepper for a spicy sensation. For prevention, you can draw circles around the trees with the mixture to prevent pests from attacking the plants.

Also read about the use of technical soda: Soda ash (technical): application, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages

What problems do ants cause?

Despite their obvious usefulness, ants breed aphids, which destroy the foliage of garden plants and sometimes even cause their death. When built close to trees, anthills depress plants; soil acidity increases over time, which also negatively affects vegetation and reduces the yield of fruit crops. In addition, ants are not averse to feasting on the nectar of flowers and ripening sweet berries. Since families of insects that have settled on a site bring both benefit and harm, the issue of combating them must be decided separately for each specific case. You should also think about what folk remedies for ants in the garden are best to use, because there are a lot of remedies invented by gardeners, and they differ in the degree of effectiveness.

Pests that attack cabbage

The number of insects that harm cabbage beds is small, but the problem is that they are very difficult to remove.

Cruciferous flea beetle. A small jumping insect that destroys three times its own weight in green leaves in one day. Young crops and Chinese cabbage suffer the most.
Caterpillars. The eggs laid by the butterflies are hatched and voracious caterpillars are born, which are capable of destroying many heads of cabbage.
Aphid. Green insect. Affects young plants. The leaves curl and black spots appear on them.
Cabbage fly larvae. Destroy the underground part of the plant.
Slugs and snails. Nocturnal pests that are difficult to catch during the day. And they cause a lot of harm, because all they do all night is eat.

Additional available insect control products

In addition to sodium bicarbonate, pests on cabbage can be controlled in other ways, without the use of chemicals.

Methods that destroy most pests:

Valerian infusion. For 3 liters of water, a bottle of valerian and 1 tbsp. spoon of liquid soap. Cabbage should be treated with this solution. This will repel insects and allow them to grow further.
Ammonia. Take 1 bottle and dilute it into 5 liters. water while adding 1-2 tablespoons of liquid soap.
Garlic. Take 800 gr. pour boiling water over garlic (preferably unpeeled). Let simmer for another 2 hours. Then pour the resulting solution, diluted half with water, over the beds with plants. This helps control aphids and other pests.

Reviews

If you look on the Internet and wander around its vastness in search of reviews about the use of soda, then for obvious reasons you will find a variety of responses - for some it helped a lot, for others the effect seemed almost unnoticeable, and others argue that Such measures bring relief only for a short period of time. All this is understandable, because the same thing happens when using other means, and each person may have their own expectations. However, using soda is more profitable than the same chemicals that poison the soil and make it unsuitable for growing plants. Soda is a natural resource, a way to gently influence flora and fauna without causing damage to it, but at the same time achieving the goal.

The safety of soda is beyond doubt, as are its benefits. However, trying with all your might to finally remove ants from your site, think about whether this is really necessary. Without ants, the ecological system of the area may be disrupted, and in their place completely different, much more dangerous pests, which could not show themselves in full force, will begin to take over. That is why it is better to live in harmony with nature, and use soda only to move the ant family from one place to another, so that plantings are not disturbed. There is no need to completely kick them out of the area.

Author: Evgeny Udaltsov
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