I am posting this topic here instead of a farming section since ants are a problem for homeowners as well as farmers.  Red Ants in my yard are so bad I can hardly walk through my yard without being stung by one. I have three small mango trees, however, I had ants long before the trees.  They are in or around my gazebo, garden, fruit trees, lawn, house, everywhere.  What can be done about the ants? I have tried several home tricks that only seem to feed them. My Thai wife has tried some type of power that only works a little and disappears when it rains.  I thought about having a pest company spray the entire yard and kill them all. However, I am worried about what else it might kill. Fish in my pond. Vegetables in my garden, etc. I need advise. Please give me your comments and ideas. Thank you.

Tesco sell ARS ant killer...54bht.....You put the granules in the plastic box supplied and put the box near the ant run...They get in the box to take the yummy granules back home which kill off the ants there.

I bought a few and placed them at different locations....Really good..

I have a pest control company that comes every 3 months and no more red ants. The little green boxes from BigC never worked.

Spinosad liquid or spray.

Borax and sugar mixed together into a paste, they will eat it and are supposed to die off, seems to work for a while.......

Edited June 18, 20197 yr by CGW

10 hours ago, BobBKK said:

I have a pest control company that comes every 3 months and no more red ants. The little green boxes from BigC never worked.

What affect does the products you use have on vegetables and fruit trees? I have quite a few. Are you located in or near Korat, Nong Bua Sala area?

 

Bayer quantum works good.  Just place a big drop on the ant trails.  It takes a couple days to get rid of them.  Just like borax the idea is to get the workers to take the bait back to the nest where the queen eats it too and kills off the nest.  

 

Home Pro had a product a few years ago, don't know if it still has

A white powder in 1 kg bags

It killed everything that stepped in it

13 minutes ago, monkeycu said:

Home Pro had a product a few years ago, don't know if it still has

A white powder in 1 kg bags

It killed everything that stepped in it

Oh thats great, I'll get some for the wife.  Now, back to the ant problem...........................!

 

10 minutes ago, ThaiFelix said:

Oh thats great, I'll get some for the wife.  Now, back to the ant problem...........................!

 

Chaindrite in an orange bag, THB140 I think. It works. Forget about Borax.

I use Chaindrite products. All seem to work fine wether spray, liquid etc.

Available in most stores. 

Red ants don't sting do they?  I thought they just pinch you really hard and not want to let go?

 

I have some black ants in the garden and if one stings you its like a wasp sting... really painful.

 

At my old place we had the big red ants.  I found them great for the garden as they killed all the other insects and protected the fruit trees.  The never came into the house, and if I was gardening and some pinched me they are easy to just pull them off.

 

This new place no red ants, but many kinds of nasty bugs, scorpions, stinging ants, tiny ants that get into the house, and other stuff.  I actually want the red ants to move in here and kill all the other things.

 

OP.  be careful with the insecticides... they are usually VERY toxic to water animals, fish etc, but they won't harm your vegetables or plants.  

 

 

Nothing much to add apart from stay away from spraying. Use the gels if possible and let the ants take the bait home to kill the nest.

You can always put them in the soup.

Seriously though my wife makes lines of chalk on the ground in places where she doesn’t want them to cross over, no chemicals involved only thing is they wash away quick this time of year.

51 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

I use Chaindrite products. All seem to work fine wether spray, liquid etc.

Available in most stores. 

I agree. Works like magic. Whenever I see any ants, indoors or outside, I just put a few drops right on top of them. The rest show up and take it back to the nest and instant ant genocide. The next day, no ants.

They are Weaver Ants.

 

To kill them instantly. Spray Window cleaner on them.

 

For long term and to kill the nest. Put out Boric Acid and Jelly mixed 1:1

58 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

I use Chaindrite products. All seem to work fine wether spray, liquid etc.

Available in most stores. 

Yes Chaindrite is the way to go or there is another brand called Zypertac same stuff but not so expensive, usually found next to it on the shop shelves. Dilute the white liquid around 20 to 1 and use it with a small pressure spray around and on the trees

 

We have mango trees which the ants quite like also a pond, keep the Chaindrite away from the water and the fish will be fine.  

The ants we call Red Ant, and have the most trouble with in the garden, are actually Weaver Ants as mentioned in a post above.

They move territory by marching along defined routes, in our case they come along the street cables. They live in foliage, bending leaves together to form a nest. If you disturb them with pruning or whatever, they swarm out and bite as one. They can spray formic acid on the bite wound causing some pain. They, and their larvae, are considered a delicacy in some parts of the country.

Thailand also has fire ants which nest in mounds in the ground.

 

what about borax ? boric acid ?

 

 

2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

they won't harm your vegetables or plants.  

 

 

That is until you eat them.      

14 hours ago, CGW said:

Borax and sugar mixed together into a paste, they will eat it and are supposed to die off, seems to work for a while.......

Yes, it works, but you need to get the proportions right to get the best effect. Takes a few days to see results.

Lots of videos on Youtube on how to do it. You can order Borax online from Chemipan.

Flea powder (the kind for dogs and cats)  from 20baht shops . Or WD40 does the trick best I find . 

Same situation at our house. They're everywhere. I found a simple cheap solution on the internet. Mix a half cup of dish washing liquid (use the cheap makro stuff) with 5 litre of water in sprayer (or equivalent amounts). Spray them directly and they will die in about 2-5 minutes.  You can experiment with the quantity, I just do it by eye. It really works and is cheap, because you will need to spray frequently. It does not harm my plants. If you can find them,  saturate the nests.

Edited June 19, 20197 yr by mhortig
additional information

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The ants we call Red Ant, and have the most trouble with in the garden, are actually Weaver Ants as mentioned in a post above.

They move territory by marching along defined routes, in our case they come along the street cables. They live in foliage, bending leaves together to form a nest. If you disturb them with pruning or whatever, they swarm out and bite as one. They can spray formic acid on the bite wound causing some pain. They, and their larvae, are considered a delicacy in some parts of the country.

Thailand also has fire ants which nest in mounds in the ground.

 

Isn't Google great!  

1 minute ago, tweedledee2 said:

Isn't Google great!  

Are you sure your name isn't actually Tweedledum.

For 100% eradication of an ant colony without using poisons or toxic substances, use boric acid and jam, mixed at a ratio of exactly 1 boric acid to 10 jam. Put this everywhere there are ants, placed in water bottle caps. Jeep the caps full until the ants disappear.  Ants won't die immediately at this ratio and will carry it back to the nest and the entire colony will die very quickly. Depending on the species, 1 to 4 days. I've never used it on ants outside the house, so I'm not sure if it works on Weaver ants. I got my boric acid online, delivered from BKK by a chemical company, for about 300 baht.....1 kilo..... is enough for many houses. The acid is not harmful in small amounts to animals or humans.

that bayer stuff above but also get the termite system set up in your house, the termite system will kill all ants, cockroach and termites.

The eggs are delicious!  My daughter would eat them like they were candy!

16 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

Spinosad liquid or spray.

Will also kill any lice you may have if rub it into your hair ????

Crabs as well I guess

 

25 minutes ago, DrPhibes said:

The eggs are delicious!  My daughter would eat them like they were candy!

They're totally tasteless, unless you mix them with chilli or something.