Cinnamon against ants: helpful or not?

If you want to drive ants out of the house or garden with home remedies, cinnamon is the product of choice. We explain whether and how cinnamon helps against ants.

Who remedy against Ants (Formicidae) in the form of home remedies, usually finds more or less long lists of strongly smelling herbs or oils that the ants are supposed to successfully drive away. However, these are by no means checked for their effectiveness, but can be found on Such lists rather also a number of substances, whose effect tends to fall into the realm of myths and legends heard. It is different with cinnamon: its effectiveness as a remedy for problems with ants has been scientifically tested. The result is a clear confirmation of its effectiveness - albeit with small restrictions.

Ants have an excellent sense of smell. It should be at least as pronounced as that of dogs. This is not surprising, after all, the small hymenoptera live almost exclusively in cracks, crevices, dark corridors, burrows and nests. Their eyes are accordingly reduced and their hearing is limited to the perception of vibrations underground. You smell with the feelers, which are equally densely populated with sensory cells for smelling and touch. Ants can also taste, perceive air currents and temperature with their delicate, flexible antennae.

How does cinnamon help against ants?

Cinnamon acts as a repellent, also known as a deterrent, on ants. This is an active ingredient that is supposed to be perceived by an undesirable living being and that discourages this living being from approaching the smell any further. Almost all repellents work with the sense of smell. Since this sense is very highly developed in ants, the use of these remedies is obvious. However, repellants have a species-specific effect. This means that not every type of insect or ant is repelled to the same extent by the same repellant. Rather, there are species-specific aversions and preferences when it comes to smells.

Scientific tests have shown that some species of ants were severely repelled by cinnamon powder and cinnamon oil. The ants tested were black garden ants (Lasius niger), Blackhead ants (Tapinoma melanocephalum) and pharaoh ants (Monomorium pharonis). All three tested species responded to cinnamon powder or ten percent cinnamon oil with a clear avoidance tactic: 75 to 100% of the ants avoided crossing a cinnamon barrier. Thus, cinnamon worked much better against ants than the baking powder barrier, which was hardly a deterrent to pharaoh ants in particular.

Unfortunately, these results are by no means universal and there are certainly also ant species that are not impressed by the cinnamon smell. As long as the effectiveness of this home remedy has not been tested for all of our relevant ant species, it will remain so Private users have no choice but to test for themselves whether cinnamon acts as a repellent on the ants present functions.

Tip: Baking powder as a home remedy is used both as a repellent and as a food poison. In order for it to be eaten, however, it must be mixed with sugar. Whether and how Baking powder against ants works, you can read here. If you are looking for an effective way to get rid of ants, you can contact us here Plantura ant remedy inform.

Use cinnamon against ants

It is known to many that ants find their way to the next source of food based on the pheromone traces of their scouts. It has been found that these "olfactory trails" are very reluctant to give up by social animals. Even if another way to the food source would be possible and a repellent makes the way more difficult, the path marked with fragrances will continue to be chosen. No wonder: since the ant primarily uses its sense of smell to orient itself, it cannot “see” that other paths also lead to its goal. Three steps are therefore necessary for an ant trail to be abandoned.

Overview - fighting the ant trail with cinnamon:

• The pheromone trace must be removed. This can be done with lemon vinegar or vinegar essence, for example.
• A 5 cm wide strip of cinnamon powder or ten percent cinnamon oil is laid out as a barrier at any entrances for the ants.
• Former food sources of the ants must be stowed airtight as possible and must not lie around openly.

In the long run, an ants-plagued household will only have peace and quiet if all the ants' places of entry are tightly sealed with silicone, plaster of paris or clay. It should also be mentioned that cinnamon has a very good effect for a certain time in the house and apartment as well as in the garden. However, this evaporates relatively quickly compared to chemical repellents. After a few days, the cinnamon barrier would have to be renewed - unless it was removed earlier by the wind. In return, cinnamon can be used without hesitation and an unlimited number of times, as it is not toxic to humans, animals or the environment.

Of all home remedies, cinnamon against ants has the greatest potential - both as an oil and as a powder. However, preventive action and the sealing of living spaces remain inevitable if an ant plague in the house is to be ended. Even Cinnamon in the garden can help against ants. As in the apartment, the pheromone traces must first be removed in order to reliably scare off the ants. Then you can apply the cinnamon powder or the cinnamon oil in a five centimeter wide strip at the point from which you can Want to keep ants away - for example at the foot of a raised bed, in front of the patio door or as a circle around a particularly badly infested one Plant. If you put the barrier directly at the exit of an ant den, it can even happen that the entire ant colony is relocated. Whether cinnamon helps against the type of ant that occurs in each case must be tested on a case-by-case basis.

Alternatives to cinnamon against ants

Anyone looking for an effective ant remedy can rely on our Plantura ant remedy To fall back on. Just like cinnamon, when used correctly, it is harmless to insects that do not disturb us in the garden, but rather delight and are useful. When using biocides, please always observe the recommendations for use and read the instruction leaflet.

You can find out more about fighting ants in our special articles. Here we clarify why Ants in the house and apartment even show up which Home remedies for ants can be used and like that Control of ants succeed.