Fight and drive away ants successfully

Ants are not welcome guests in the house. However, they can also be fought effectively in a gentle manner and without poison.

In the warm summer months they become active again: The ants (Formicidae) are on the move looking for food, shelter and material for nest building. The interior of our houses and apartments often has a lot to offer them. If you have an ant plague, you can learn how to fight it successfully here. In the following you will learn when it makes sense to fight ants and how they can be safely fought with home remedies or ant remedies.

When does it make sense to fight ants?

Every day, ants perform a number of important tasks that we humans benefit from, unnoticed. Unfortunately, they also like to invade our habitat - although of course you can also look at it the other way around. If ants suddenly appear more frequently in the house or apartment - perhaps even in sensitive areas such as the kitchen or bedroom - then action must be taken. In this case, it makes sense from a hygienic and sometimes also a health point of view to take measures to combat or drive them away. All ants can cause a painful burning skin reaction with their bite. This is uncomfortable, but not dangerous. We introduce you to three ants that are interested in living with us humans.

lawn ants	road ants	pharaoh ants
Latin Surname	Tetramorium caespitum	genus Lasius	Monomorium pharaonis
description	Small native ant, red-brown	Group of different small black ants	Cultural successor spread worldwide
behave	Looking for leftovers, supplies, sweets in the house	Look for sweets in the house	With us only indoors; build nests in warm, moist areas
Can build nests indoors	Rarely build nests indoors, ant trails possible	Omnivores, proteins and sugars preferred
Are relatively aggressive and bite quickly	Little aggressive	Hygiene pest in hospitals, kitchens, private homes
Invade storage tanks	Diet: Mainly honeydew from aphids	Preference for narrow gaps: PC cases, catheters, bandages, storage containers
Why fight?	Presence unappetizing and unsanitary	Presence unappetizing and unsanitary	Hygiene pest, vector of diseases

Ants are much more common in the garden or on the balcony, but they usually don't bother us there. If they don't get in our way, they are actually a fascinating sight. However, if you are bothered by them too much on the terrace, you still have a few options to do something about it.

Notice: Many of our native ants are not only enormously useful, but also protected by the species protection law for the same reason. They should therefore really only be fought if they massively invade the human comfort zone.

Fighting ants: instructions in 4 steps

You can get rid of ants in the following steps:

1. Remove potential food sources; store food in sealed cans; Secure pantry and refrigerator with tape barriers.
2. Find the ants' entrances into the house and seal them with silicon, plaster or clay; remove any nests in the house – or get an expert to do this for you; However, nests in the house are quite rare.
3. Rooms where ants crawled must be wiped.; for this, the use of a strong-smelling cleaner is optimal; Vinegar essence or lemon vinegar cover the scent traces of the ant trails.
4. Then an ant remedy is applied: At the former entrances of the ants, at potential new entrances, on routes and around former or still existing food sources; we recommend our Plantura ant remedy, which may be used in living spaces.

Tip: To combat ants in damp places, e.g. plant pots, the use of specific nematodes, such as species Steinernema feltiae as done. For example, you can use our Plantura SF nematodes against fungus gnats, codling moths & ants use on terraces or in greenhouses.

In the house you can first try with a small infestation, Fighting ants with home remedies and get a grip on it. If you're wondering why the Ants in the house or apartment appeared, you will find it in this article. If the home remedies have failed, professional means or maybe even an exterminator are needed to defeat the ant plague.

Fight ants with home remedies

Once you have discovered the first scouts, its origin should be traced back immediately and the access sealed with silicone. In any case, you should prevent the intruders from returning home: if ants return to the nest, this leads to more and more visitors and the emergence of an ant trail. For example, they can place sticky barriers around their food source to collect the little critters efficiently and with little effort. Or you can suck up the animals running around with a vacuum cleaner and cover up the trail of scent with a strong-smelling cleaning agent, which you use to wipe the affected areas. Many strong-smelling herbs or spices also disturb the ants' olfactory orientation: lavender, marjoram, thyme, cinnamon, tea tree oil, or citrus peels can help in any form. Detailed tips for Drive away ants with home remedies we have compiled for you in this special article.

Note - Baking powder with powdered sugar against ants: Using baking soda and sugar against ants is relatively effective. It's not necessarily the most animal-friendly way to fight back, though. If ants ingest the mixture, it foams up in their stomachs and they die from internal injuries. The high pH value of the powder also burns the limbs of the insects on contact. But other animals also like to nibble on the sweet powder. Around bees as native butterflies and especially to protect your pets, you had better not use this remedy.

Get rid of ants effectively with InsectoSec®

InsectoSec® is a biocide that is suitable for use against pests in the home and garden. It is pure diatomaceous earth that can fight insects and arachnids alike. Its effect is not chemical, but purely mechanical: due to the large surface area of ​​the fine powder, the lipid layer on the chitinous armor of insects or arachnids is absorbed. Without the protective layer of fat, 95 to 100% of the dusted animals wither within four days. In addition to this effect, the very sharp-edged small particles damage the membranes between the segments the chitinous armor, clog the respiratory openings (tracheae) and damage the gastrointestinal tract when ingested will. Even with repeated use, resistance cannot develop. Other living beings are not harmed if used correctly. Because we are convinced of the effective control with InsectoSec®, ours exists Plantura ant remedy from this pure substance. You can use this not only against ants, but also against woodlice and silverfish Apply - the powder is particularly effective in dry places, such as in the house, in garages and sheds.

Fight ants with nematodes

If you have problems with ants in wetter places like the patio, lawn, greenhouse or in plant pots and balcony boxes, certain nematode species can be used to combat the ants at. Ours, for example, are well suited Plantura SF nematodes against fungus gnats, codling moths & ants. The tiny little nematodes of the genus Steinernema feltiae parasitize the larvae of the ants, causing the ants to move their nests farther away. In contrast to InsectoSec®, these are living organisms that are natural enemies of ants. This is also the reason for the difference between the two remedies in terms of the area of ​​application. Nematodes need a moist environment that is not too cold to survive. An advantage of nematodes over synthetic insecticides is that they are harmless to both humans and other animals and plants. So you don't have to worry about pets or small children. The exact application of our useful Nematodes against ants can be found in the enclosed leaflet.

Fighting ants in the garden

If ants become annoying or even aggressive in outdoor areas, we recommend some very practical measures first.

Measures against ants in the garden:

• Avoid creating sources of food.
• Clean the surfaces regularly.
• Grout paved surfaces with paving grout or grit; both cannot be penetrated by ants, so that no nests are formed on the surface.
• Ants should only be fought in the garden if they are causing massive disruption with their bites or by stealing food. Ants are not plant pests and therefore do not have to be fought on plants or in beds. Because it is rather humid in the garden, nematodes are like ours Plantura SF nematodes against ants, fungus gnats and codling moths.

Fight ants with poison

Chemically acting biocides against ants have many side effects that you should not expect of yourself or the environment. Below we list some products and give you information in keywords. Because we are very critical of the harmful effects of these poisons on the environment and people, we put them in the position we recommend Plantura ant remedy opposite to. Also with ours Plantura SF nematodes there are no harmful environmental effects.

Comparison of different biocides:

• The DFNT Anti Ant Spray is toxic to aquatic organisms - with long-term effects. It can also cause allergic reactions in humans.
• The agent Compo ants-free contains the substance tetramethrin, which is not only poisonous for all insects, but also for humans.
• Neudorff's Loxiran-S ant remedy contains pyrethrins from chrysanthemums, which, despite their natural origin, damage aquatic organisms and do not protect beneficial organisms either.
• The Celaflor ant remedy is very toxic to aquatic organisms - with long-term effects; it can cause allergic reactions in humans; the active ingredient fipronil is not harmful to beneficial organisms and (in relatively high doses) is also dangerous for mammals and thus also for humans.

Fighting ants: The exterminator

It's time to consult a professional if your home is infested with pharaoh ants, the nest simply cannot be found or you have small piles of ground up building material in your rooms discover. Such an "exterminator" is a better option than reaching for the poison bottle yourself. A responsible pest controller will determine the type of ants, deduce where the nest is located, and target or remove it. He can also better locate the origin of the insects.

If you have now decided to eliminate your ant plague with our Plantura ant remedy or ours Plantura SF nematodes to combat, you can find more information here.