table of contents
- Ants
- baking powder
- Mode of action
- Environmental impact
- More home remedies
- Relocate
- Ant plague
When asked about a natural ant remedy, most people answer baking soda. But how effective is the raising agent really and what alternatives are there?
Ants
Ants are one of the pests that almost everyone has been affected by. A common misconception is that ants produce formic acid, but that's nonsense! There are only red ants that can sting, but these are less common. Even if it is often assumed that ants are not the result of poor hygiene. The small insects are well adapted to humans and mainly find their food in their vicinity.
baking powder
How is baking powder used against the garden ant?
If you want to combat the typical, black garden ant, all you need is sugar and baking soda. The two substances are mixed together and placed on a plate. Now all you have to do is wait until the insects have absorbed the weather and eat the dessert with the deadly powder.
This method is also used to destroy a complete ant nest, as the animals excrete the goiter contents into their surroundings. So you can fight underground ant burrows by having only a few of the animals eat the baking soda mixture.
Mode of action
How baking soda works in combating the plague of ants
Baking soda works mainly because of the sodium it contains. Pure baking soda can therefore be seen as an alternative. If the powder is mixed with sugar, ants will be attracted to it and will eat the powder. Baking soda, the raising agent, swells in the ant's body and reduces the pH value. The ant is injured from the inside, its circulation sinks into the cellar and it perishes. Animal lovers are therefore against the use of baking soda when fighting ants.
Environmental impact
What is the impact of baking soda on the environment?
Baking soda is a natural product that does not harm the environment. Baking soda evaporates by itself, the soil is not poisoned. However, the agent is harmful to the insects and also to predators that feed on the ant carcass. Here, too, baking soda can be transferred and damage the animal.
More home remedies
Eight more tips against ants
If the ant is a simple garden ant, there are numerous, natural methods of control that result in a nicer death than that caused by baking soda.
The following eight tips have proven effective:
- Adhesive tape on an ant trail
- Spread out chalk
- vinegar
- Yeast & honey
- Tea tree oil
- vacuum cleaner
- Relocation of the anthill
- Water glass
Adhesive tape to fight ants
An ant road cannot be overlooked and is the ideal transport route for the small insects. There they transport their prey and food and use scents (pheromones) to orient themselves. If a strip of adhesive tape is stuck in the ant road, the little animals will be confused. They lose their orientation, the ant route interrupts and the insects spread around the area.
It has a similar effect if you have one Fragrances spray on the ant road. Since the animals orient themselves to the pheromones of their predecessors, the orientation is interrupted and the road is ended.
Chalk used to fight the garden ant
If you only move the ant from a specific location, such as a B. if you want to keep it away from the terrace, it is sufficient to border the area with a thick line of chalk. Ants are irritated by the smell of the chalk and do not cross the line. This method is not particularly long-lasting, however, as the chalk fades within a few days and then has to be redrawn.
Vinegar as a natural repellant
Vinegar is good against dirt, has an intense smell and reliably and gently drives away ants. Either commercial vinegar or vinegar essence is used, which can even be used pure. However, it is better to dilute the vinegar essence with water and apply it with the help of a spray bottle. Due to the strong smell of the vinegar, the animals lose their orientation and the ant trail dissolves.
In your own four walls, however, the use of vinegar is only moderately popular. The strong inherent odor of the substance also burdens the human nose. In addition, the smell dissipates relatively quickly, so that several applications are necessary until the ants' plague is completely banished.
Chase away the ants with yeast and honey
Yeast has a similar effect on the ant as baking soda. A yeast cube is crumbled and mixed with honey. This paste is now applied to the ant route. Of the honey attracts the insects, they eat it together with the yeast. As this swells up in the ant's body, it dies from internal injuries. There more and more yeast is made without sodium hydrogen carbonate, this home remedy is not always effective. Apart from that, this is also a very brutal way of death for the small insect states.
Tea tree oil used against ants plagues
The strong smelling tea tree oil is an effective remedy against an ant trail, but the smell is too intense even for many people. Since the animals are bothered by the pungent smell, they will stay away from the areas treated with tea tree oil.
Fight the insects with the vacuum cleaner
Hysterical people sucking spiders from the ceiling with a vacuum cleaner are often a foolish image. In fact, the vacuum cleaner can be helpful in the fight against the plague of ants. However, it is important that the vacuum cleaner bag is emptied immediately after vacuuming. If this does not happen, the insects at the location of the vacuum cleaner will free themselves from the bag again and the problem is not eliminated, but relocated.
Relocate
Relocate the anthill
An anthill is annoying, but the small insects are still beneficials. Instead of destroying the heap with chemicals, it is possible to relocate it and let the animals die.
All that is required for this is:
- a flower pot
- Wood wool or straw
The flower pot is thickly filled with straw or wood wool and then placed on the anthill with the opening facing down. It takes a few days for the entire ant colony to move inside the flower pot. Now the anthill can be moved to another location.
Tip: Usually it is pointless to move the ants only a few meters away, as they can find their way back to their old place. It can sometimes be necessary to bring the animals into the forest by car.
Ant plague
Fight the plague of ants on the garden table with water
First of all, water doesn't sound like a helpful way of fighting vermin. However, if a plague of ants keeps settling on the garden table, four glasses of water can help. However, this only makes sense if the table is made of plastic or weather-resistant material. If the four table legs are each placed in a glass with water, this represents an insurmountable barrier for the little crawling animals.
