ANTS - is this the solution?

[Nurseynutcase]

Like many other people on this forum I have a problem with ants, both in the garden and in the kitchen.

 

The kitchen is kept scrupulously clean but the little s**s still find the most minutest scrap I may have missed when cleaning down.

 

The plants have been chomped unmercifully.

 

So I tried this recipe which I found on line;

 

boil up used lemon/lime rinds for about 15 minutes.  Drain.  Add a few drops of essential oil of cinnamon and some washing up liquid.  Put into a sprayer and use.

 

I must admit I was sceptical at first but yesterday when I  upended a plant pot and found a load of ants scurrying around I sprayed them with this mixture - instant massacre!!!

 

I do not like using baygon to kill the little blighters as it also kills the geckos but the geckos are still to be found in the garden.

 

Maybe worth a try?

 

 

[Justfine]

The washing liquid alone might work or dettol.

[JAFO]

What I have found that works extremely well is Mr Muscle cleaner(Basically Windex) I have a spray bottle and dilute by 50% with water and spray along their trail to erase the scent they leave behind for others to follow. It's quite effective and non-Toxic.

 

Good Luck

 

 

[Nurseynutcase]

22 hours ago, Justfine said:

The washing liquid alone might work or dettol.

Did try this - used it in the uk to get rid of aphids but it did not seem to work on the ants.

[everett kendall]

If you only kill the ants you see,

you will not get rid of them.

 

Using Boric acid powder in a bottle cap with a drop of honey in the center will get rid of the colony. 

 

At least for many months.

[Andyfez]

I got a yearly contract with rentokil. There are other companies around, and they will visit rural areas.

I can't remember the cost, as the contract lapsed, and the ants stayed dead. At least till now.

The sum 9,000 baht a year comes to mind, but I may be wrong.

 

Basically a man visited every 3 months, drilled holes in certain areas, pumped something in, filled up the holes and left.

It cleared the whole area around the house.

 

Perfect.

[AsiaCheese]

Bayer Quantum works like a charm in the kitchen (and other places). Place a drop near where there's an ants parade; they'll go feast on the stuff, and then disappear. Forever. It doesn't just kill them off, like sprays do (useless) - they take it back to their nest and feed the queen. You'll be okay for ~3 months. Then: rinse and repeat...

[jossthaifarang]

2 hours ago, AsiaCheese said:

Bayer Quantum works like a charm in the kitchen (and other places). Place a drop near where there's an ants parade; they'll go feast on the stuff, and then disappear. Forever. It doesn't just kill them off, like sprays do (useless) - they take it back to their nest and feed the queen. You'll be okay for ~3 months. Then: rinse and repeat...

Where did you buy it mate?

[timendres]

I really like the chalk - recommended to me by my maid. You can chalk walls and ceilings with this. I chalk every path I see them run, and can create "borders" that box them in. I even chalked the legs of my dinner table, and never saw them there again. Because it is boric acid, it solves the problem at the source. Cheap and super effective.

Edited March 14, 2018 by timendres

[sirocco]

BLUPORT     HUA HIN

[sirocco]

Not at all effective chalk.
Even if they hesitate, the ants eventually pass.

[timendres]

3 minutes ago, sirocco said:

Not at all effective chalk.
Even if they hesitate, the ants eventually pass.

Then you are buying the wrong chalk. I lay this down, and dead bodies pile up right at the line. Eventually, they stop coming. When they finally do return (many months later), I chalk again.

Edited March 14, 2018 by timendres

[simoh1490]

Chaindritte, white bottle, red top, inside or outside - it's the nuclear solution.

[sirocco]

 Timendres, hello

 

That could have been a reason,
but I have the same chalks at home.
I tried the pepper mixture, the water and the dishwashing product.
Bah! not too effective.
I tested corn flour. Effective over a year.
Otherwise, a bombshell makes everyone agree.
But a pity for tarentes.
 

[simoh1490]

As a general all-purpose bug repellent in the garden: I boil up a large bag of red chillies and a bunch of garlic cloves, bring to the boil and then simmer for about three hours, mashing the mix with a potato masher from time to time. Let it cool, strain it and put the liquid into plastic milk jugs with screw tops, DO NOT tighten the top of the jug for several days otherwise, they will explode. Fill up a garden sprayer and spray on anything in the garden that looks like it's being attacked by bugs and voila! Also spray around winddows and doors to prevent ingress by ants etc. I keep two sprayers cocked and loaded, one with the bug mix described above and the second with Chandritte, between them they take care of all my bug related problems.

[fulhamboy]

We used ARS ANT KILLER in the kitchen, easy to use safe and clean,

available from Tesco lotus. 

 

[QPRFC]

Aerosol can and lighter.....be careful to point the hole in the cap at the ants and not your eyes!

 

[OmarZaid]

6 hours ago, Andyfez said:

I got a yearly contract with rentokil. There are other companies around, and they will visit rural areas.

I can't remember the cost, as the contract lapsed, and the ants stayed dead. At least till now.

The sum 9,000 baht a year comes to mind, but I may be wrong.

 

Basically a man visited every 3 months, drilled holes in certain areas, pumped something in, filled up the holes and left.

It cleared the whole area around the house.

 

Perfect.

Yup ... they do an excellent job --- house has been ant-free for 6 months now.

Ya gotta find the nest and kill the queen

[AsiaCheese]

4 hours ago, jossthaifarang said:

Where did you buy it mate?

Bayer Quantum is available at Foodland (but be careful: there's another product that looks almost the same, but doesn't work on ants - QUANTUM is the key!). I also saw it at HomePro (Najomtien branch) just the other day.

[thailand49]

4 hours ago, timendres said:

Then you are buying the wrong chalk. I lay this down, and dead bodies pile up right at the line. Eventually, they stop coming. When they finally do return (many months later), I chalk again.

I use to visit a guy at his house, and he used chalk. He never told me he had a problem as soon as I walk in it was laid out everywhere really unsightly.

I think it is a matter where you live if in a Condo complex you have a better chance but as one can see from the posting you can never get rid of them forever because all you do is move them to another location hoping to contain them. 

[dinsdale]

Baby powder. Ants hate it. Google and see for yourself.  

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, fulhamboy said:

We used ARS ANT KILLER in the kitchen, easy to use safe and clean,

available from Tesco lotus. 

 

It's the most effective I have seen here.

[Russell17au]

I use Borax Powder and I mix with a little water and honey to make a paste and place it in a spot where it wont get disturbed and the ants love it and they take it back to the nest and it kills the queen ant and destroys the whole nest

[rwill]

8 hours ago, jossthaifarang said:

Where did you buy it mate?

I bought some and it works great.  At first you will get more ants as they come to feed on it.  But then they disappear.  I don't recall for sure where I bought it.  It was either Tops or Homepro.

[sometimewoodworker]

12 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Chaindritte, white bottle, red top, inside or outside - it's the nuclear solution.

When you use it follow the safety instructions including wearing a mask and gloves as it it extremely toxic. SWMBO took one look at the bottle I just got and said it's for termites 

[jacko45k]

On 3/6/2018 at 12:35 PM, Justfine said:

The washing liquid alone might work or dettol.

Dettol is quite expensive.

I think a regular spraying is the only option, I have the inside of the house done monthly, they use some biologically safe mixture that won't kill the cat. Outside wall of the house gets done too....It's really for the bigger bugs, ants are everywhere and will be here after we have gone. I do attack the red-ant nests as I find them in the garden, with the stuff that they take back into the nest, and then the chemical killer... but like Arny they will be back.

Edited March 14, 2018 by jacko45k

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

When you use it follow the safety instructions including wearing a mask and gloves as it it extremely toxic. SWMBO took one look at the bottle I just got and said it's for termites 

Yes mom!

 

Chandritte is designed to kill a range of insects including ants, ticks fleas and termites, the product spec. is here: http://www.sherwood.co.th/spec_en/Chaindrite_Stedfast_30_SC.pdf

 

An ex Shell company their profiler is here:

http://www.sherwood.co.th/product_detail.php?category_id=1&product_id=23

[dotpoom]

Don't bother too much about them myself....live and let live....I do my best to keep the place clean, after that whatever will be... will be?

[jossthaifarang]

8 hours ago, rwill said:

I bought some and it works great.  At first you will get more ants as they come to feed on it.  But then they disappear.  I don't recall for sure where I bought it.  It was either Tops or Homepro.

Thanks mate, I found it on Lazada, cash on delivery.. 

[timendres]

19 hours ago, thailand49 said:

I use to visit a guy at his house, and he used chalk. He never told me he had a problem as soon as I walk in it was laid out everywhere really unsightly.

I think it is a matter where you live if in a Condo complex you have a better chance but as one can see from the posting you can never get rid of them forever because all you do is move them to another location hoping to contain them. 

As I mentioned, the key is that whatever you are using has boric acid, or some other chemical with similar properties. The boric acid typically kills the ant later, hopefully once it is back in the nest. The other ants deal with the dead ant, and are likewise killed. The process repeats until the nest is history. This is the only true solution. It appears the Quantum product mentioned also has this exact quality (maybe it is simply boric acid in a delicious gel).