Fight ants gently and naturally

the essentials in brief

• Baking soda only helps if it contains baking soda and is a very macabre product
• Falling beer is a magical attraction for ants
• Cucumbers, coffee and chalk can only help in the short term
• Essential oils have been shown to be helpful home remedies

The best home remedies for ants - and which ones you can safely forget

Old home remedies that are said to be particularly effective and quick to help against ants are circulating on the Internet and in various gardening magazines. In fact, many of these tips are practically useless as the remedies have little or no effect. In this section we have clearly shown which home remedies actually help and which you can safely forget.

Baking powder / yeast

The "insider tip" to fight ants with a mixture of baking powder and powdered sugar is not at all secret, but actually very old and probably comes from the 19th century. Century. Nowadays, however, the method no longer works, as modern raising agents usually no longer contain baking soda - this substance is actually the one that is actually effective. In fact, the soda-powdered sugar mixture is a very effective home remedy, but we still advise against its use. Soda kills the animals in an excruciating way by causing them to puff up.

beer

What works against snails can't be wrong against ants either. In fact, the animals wander purposefully into a set up beer trap, just like the voracious ones Nudibranchscatching two birds with one trap. However, the animals also die here and the cause of the ant infestation - the nest - is also still there.

vinegar

It is much more effective, however, to spray the ant trails and the ant nest - you can find this by simply following the road - with a mixture of vinegar and water. If you like to repeat this process more often and at short intervals, the crawling animals will quickly find a new, less disruptive home.

cucumber

This “home remedy” can be referred to the realm of fairy tales, as cucumber slices in the middle of the ant road may irritate the little animals for a moment, but in no way prevent them from doing their thing.

coffee

Coffee powder scattered on the ant road also only bothered the little animals for a short time and they soon looked for a new path.

Chalk / baby powder

Chalk and baby resp. Talcum powder also only helps in the short term to disrupt an ant trail or to keep an outdoor picnic area free of hungry crawlers. Scattered powder or a chalk line will keep ants away from the coffee table on the patio table for a short time, but they are not suitable for effective control of a plague.

copper

The same applies to laid out copper coins or wires that only briefly disrupt ant trails. However, the animals are quickly looking for new ways.

Strong fragrances

The situation is different with strongly smelling plants, which - planted in beds that are heavily frequented by ants - effectively keep the animals away. In the house, however, you can use essential oils or hang bunches of herbs in the kitchen. However, keep in mind that all of these scents are also quite intense for humans and you have to like them permanently in the house. For short-term use, for example to drive ants away on their way into the house, you can also apply liquid drop by drop or wipe the floor with a citrus-based agent.

• garlic: works not only against ants, but also against many other pests
• lavender: Dried or fresh lavender is not particularly popular with ants
• marjoram: perfect for planting in the garden
• peppermint: a large peppermint bush on the balcony or terrace keeps ants away
• Tea tree oil: Spread on window sills and door frames, the product is quite effective, but not for everyone due to its penetrating smell
• thyme: can be cultivated in pots and protects balconies and terraces
• cinammon: a bowl of cinnamon bark on the windowsill smells pleasant for people and keeps crawling animals away
• lemon: Due to the pleasant smell, it is perfect for use in the house, especially fresh juice and grated peel

vacuum cleaner

If the crawling is too much for you, you can also use the vacuum cleaner and just vacuum the ants away. The method actually helps, but only for a short time. After vacuuming, remove the bag through the household rubbish immediately, otherwise the ants will crawl out again and simply make themselves comfortable in another corner of the room. Bagless vacuum cleaners, on the other hand, should be carefully cleaned immediately after use.

Why grandma's home remedies do not help in the long term

All of the home remedies listed here have one glaring flaw: They usually work, but only for a very short time. As a rule, the ants are back in no time at all, because the essential oils and co. Only remove the symptoms, not the causes. To do this, it is necessary to remove any sources of food as well as popular nesting sites - and also to locate the ant nest. You can also easily move the animals without killing them.

Locate and remove ant nest

The ant nest can usually be found quite easily by following the path of the crawfish on the ant route. In most cases this is outside the home. Now you have different options:

• plant pot: Fill a flower pot with wood wool and pull it over the ant's nest with the open side down. Now wait a few days, the animals usually move there with their larvae and you can put the pot down again in a safe place.

• Water: If the relocation of the animals does not work as hoped, you can simply flood the nest with water. Pour water into it again and again, then the ants will move at some point. However, the disadvantage of this method is that you have no influence on the new nest location. In addition, many of the animals drown.

This is how you prevent an ant infestation

Ants have an extremely good sense of smell, which shows the animals the sweet food they are looking for from long distances. When they migrate, they react strongly to corresponding attractants, which is why you can counter an ant invasion in advance by means of easy-to-implement rules of conduct. Furthermore, when creating terraces and other structural conditions, it is important not to give the animals any incentives to build a nest.

Prevention is better than laboriously fighting.

Ants in the house and in the apartment

Have Ants in the house or have already laid out regular ant trails on the balcony, so you have found a worthwhile source of food here. The nest is not always on site; instead, the animals have found a loophole somewhere and can get in and out from there as they please. Now it is best to proceed as follows:

• Seal loopholes: Find openings in the wall and joints and seal them well with the help of suitable means. In particular, inspect door and window openings.
• cleanliness and tidiness: Ants are mainly attracted by open fruit, used pet food bowls and other sources. Do not store fruit and pet food openly and clean the bowls immediately after use. Also, do not leave used dishes, wash them off immediately. The same applies to leftover food that has fallen on the floor.
• Do not store food openly: It is also best to store food supplies in airtight containers. Incidentally, this also applies to food items stored in the refrigerator, since even refrigerator seals are not an obstacle for ants either.
• rubbish: Dispose of biological waste in particular in well-lockable containers and dispose of them outside every day - by the way, in lockable garbage cans.

Ants in the garden

Ant infestation in the garden, on the other hand, is difficult to prevent, after all, the animals find hiding places and food in abundance here: mature Fruit on trees and bushes, sweet strawberries in the garden bed, aphids on roses and other plants, loose paving slabs on a sandy surface Etc. - all of this offers perfect conditions for the little crawlers. However, you also have a few options here:

• Do not lay paving slabs on sand, but on coarse gravel
• Seal the joints well
• Store compost in a well-sealable container
• Close garbage cans so that they are odor-proof
• Immediately fight any infestation of leaf sap sucking pests
• At risk areas, smell-intensive herbs such as marjoram, chervil, lemon balm, peppermint etc. plants

What helps against ants and aphids?

A conspicuous ants infestation in the garden can often be traced back to aphids. Here you first have to eliminate the cause - namely the aphids - otherwise the ants keep coming back. The sweet honeydew is just too tempting for that. So fight the aphids by spraying the infested plants several times with a sauce of garlic, onions or nettles. Alternatively, concentrated black tea or a vinegar-water mixture with a splash of washing-up liquid can also work. Ladybugs and other beneficial insects, on the other hand, only work if you drive away the ants beforehand.

Ants in the lawn

The yellow ants in particular feel at home in the lawn, as they build small, hill-shaped nests here. These are mainly found on bare, little overgrown places in sunny locations and on sandy soil. An infestation can be prevented very well by carefully caring for the lawn and so on Sward keep it as tight as possible. Regular liming in particular is effective against ants.

Ants on the terrace

Terraces in the warm sun are particularly popular with ants because the rays shed the sun Heat up the surface covering quickly and the nest underneath is always nice and warm and ideal Provides breeding conditions. Here, however, an infestation that is difficult to control can already be prevented when building the terrace by using coarse gravel or high-grade gravel instead of sand for the subsurface. The animals cannot clear this material aside like sand and so have little incentive to build a nest.

Only use insecticides in exceptional cases

Insecticides or bait traps are available in drugstores and gardening shops to curb the ants plague. Avoid these toxic and polluting agents, especially if you have to use them around the house. Ant baits usually contain an attractant - for example spinosad - which the animals carry into the nest, feed their offspring with it and which ultimately perishes the whole colony. Flooding the nest is also quite brutal, but many animals still survive - and water is known not to be poisonous.

Useful helpers in the garden

In fact, ants are known to be bothersome, but useful animals. The little crawlers loosen the earth in the flower and vegetable patch through their digging activities and thus ensure that it does not solidify and that the oxygen exchange works. You do not have to worry that the roots of the plants will also be loosened and damaged. This is usually not the case.

Ants as pest fighters

In addition, the insects are among the effective pest fighters, which numerous herbivorous caterpillars, larvae, beetles, etc. have on their menu. A colony of the protected red wood ant (Formica rufa) exterminates up to 100,000 of these garden pests - every day. The garden ants, which are common in gardens, are also hard-working pest fighters.

In particular, the black or white ant, also known as the garden ant. The black and gray garden ant is a predator and prey on various other insect species.

When is an ant infestation problematic?

However, the same species is also problematic because it has practically perfected keeping aphids. In addition, the black garden ants not only feed on the honeydew of the aphids, they also take it also with other sap-sucking harmful insects such as scale insects, cicadas or leaf fleas prefer.

Ants and aphids

The black garden ant keeps these practically as pets, cherishes and cares for the respective colonies, defends them it against attacks and, if necessary, even relocates it to other plants - perhaps closer to the building around. In general, ants love everything sweet and like to go into houses and apartments to look for food - and sometimes even penetrate the fifth floor of an apartment building.

Ants as storage pests

An infestation of ants in the kitchen or another room is not only annoying, but also problematic from a hygienic point of view. The little animals not only pounce on open fruit bowls or unlocked supplies, but also transmit bacteria and other pathogens at the same time. For this reason, you should always dispose of contaminated food.

Other species, on the other hand, cause problems because they like to lay their ant nests under sunny terraces and over time hollow out the sandy foundation there. There is a risk that the terrace will eventually sag.

Common species in the garden

There are around 200 different species of ants in Europe, and of course not all of them can be found in the garden at home. Here it is mainly the yellow and black garden ant that feel comfortable in the beds and in the lawn. While the yellow garden ant is mostly mole-like - and often overgrown with grass - nesting mounds in lawns erected and otherwise hardly to be seen, the black garden ant creates veritable ant trails and shows itself properly active. The aforementioned red wood ant also occasionally gets lost in gardens. This is a protected species that must not be disturbed or killed.

Flying ants

Who the first time flying ants in the apartment is often frightened. Although the animals appear much larger than the normally rather small crawlers and also often appear in large schools, they are completely harmless. In fact, they are completely normal ants that are only on their wedding flight and are by no means making any move to conquer their home.

The animals willing to mate are usually out and about at dusk and are attracted by light sources. For this reason, the winged ants are suddenly in the living room in the evening. But you don't have to turn off the lights or close the windows in summer: install just a fine-meshed fly net in the window openings, which also other annoying insects keep away.

Should some wedding wings get lost with you, turn off the lights and open the windows completely. After a while, the animals find out all by themselves. If necessary, you can help a little with shooing movements.

frequently asked Questions

Why shouldn't it be better to use insecticides against ants?

Insecticides and other chemical pesticides are poisons that have no place in the house and garden. Even if the toxins used are not dangerous for humans, they are still harmful Environment - by getting into the groundwater, for example - and also not only affect the pests fatal. Biocides do not differentiate between pests and beneficial insects, they simply kill everything.

I have red ants in the garden, what kind are they?

If you live near the forest, it could be the red wood ant, a protected species that is also very useful in the garden. You should not bother them or kill them, the animals are threatened with extinction.

Can I also fight the ants with garden lime?

Pollinating the ant trails and the nest with Garden lime(€ 9.70 at Amazon *) or Algae lime has also proven useful in the fight against the crawly animals.