Here in Montgomery County, Texas - we have tried everything , even taking a shovel from one red/ hot biting ant hill & take another shovel from the other red and hill & suppose to kill each hill , fighting , tried boiling water , as growing ORGANIC AS much as possible. We will give this a try . God bless you Mrs Josette Tharp MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS 🙏🏻 New subscriber also Thank you 😊
Since you are able to find the nests, instead of boiling water make up a big bucket of soapy water. Fill the bucket, mix in the soap, make sure that they water is soapy feeling....then take a shovel, turn over the next once and then pour the soapy water in. Soapy water suffocates the ants and the soap is not harmful to the environment. That's what i do when I can find the main nests. Right now, where I live, we've been colonized by invasive Argentine ants and its near impossible to find the main nest because they set up a lot of smaller satellite nests, so then something like the solution offered in this video would be the best way to go. Best of luck to you.
Thank you so much. I had nests all over Potted plants this past summer. Not to mention near my berry plants or just regular veggy beds. It was a horrible summer. One veggie bed had it bad, nothing grew very well. Will definitely be trying all 3 remedies. I'm hoping this would also help when it's fig season.
Very informative! I would like to add some EPA employees work(ed) for the same companies they're supposed to regulate. So I wouldn't count on everything they say being 100 percent honest
No, and I generally apply a fair bit of skepticism to regulators and government committees of all sorts. Good science and common sense are better guides - and it seems wrong-headed to leave the regulated neonicotinoids in other ant bait products on the market, but to ban the one natural option that has a long record of safe use.
My grandmother used this method 70 years ago for her prairie farm gardens. She taught my dad and he showed me. It’s a simple, inexpensive, and relatively safe compared to commercial ant kill products. That being said, like all pest control measures, you shouldn’t get carried away with it.
Yes - and I think that's where some of the warnings come in - for end-users who go and dust the baseboards and mattresses and garden beds preemptively and in large quantities. I feel pretty comfortable with an enclosed bait station that I won't be accidentally luring bees, or adding high boron levels to soil or living areas.
The Borax, sugar water, waffle method unfortunately didn't work for me either. I don't know if the infestation was too huge or what. I ended up having to go with a chemical granular product called Amdro Ant Block. I was very careful about using it. I put about one tablespoon directly over the ant hills. I only had to do this twice and had no more problems, no new ant hills, and I was able to just push the dirt back into the ant hills. I hate to resort to chemicals, and I'm pretty sure this one is not pet safe, but having no pets I decided to try it and it worked pretty well. Fortunately none of the ant hills were very close to my plants and I only had to do two applications and in very small amounts.
I'm with you: reluctant to go with the heavy chemical unless it becomes necessary. I'm glad you were able to eliminate them without having to use very much.
I live in the same valley as you. The ants i have are nicknamed sugar ants are in the house in a basement non living area with a door. There is a gap etween tne wall and floor in two tough to reach areas. I literally threw the box of borax at it while wearing a mask and itwas helpful until I get a handle on this. In the meantime it may have helped enough to stave off an extermination. They ran to the borax, a few hours later, theywere not apparent. Gping to make the sugar borax solution and use that as well.
I bought the borax that you can spray the dust in crevices some year ago. It worked pretty good. Now I have these little black ants around some bushes in the back yard in the planter. I see the privet has holes in it. I'm not sure if it's aphids or ants. Whatever it is the ants are highly annoying any time I water the plater, they come out in droves.
Thank you for a very good and informative page about roses, the tips fit very well in Sweden where we have a similar climate. Would like to add something that we use in my area against ants, it is juice with Aspartame in. It works well in my greenhouse. When Aspartame is broken down, neurotransmitters are formed that overactivate the nerve cells so that the ants die.
i place it in a small plastic bottle and only punch a small hole it it for the ants to enter and escape. they take it into their mounds and it does away with them
Yes, so long as they'll "take the bait". In the first video, I used a sugar syrup on part of a frozen waffle, and my ants snapped it up. I hear from other places that the ants are more focused on protein or carbs - so it make take a little experimentation to see which bait they'll go for.
We have boric powder easily available here in India...is that same/similar? I get ants in pots where I have added compost...could there be anything I can do to the compost to prevent ants?
Can the sugar/borax solution be sprayed on the lawn using a sprayer? I am concerned about my dogs who roll around int he grass and get it in their mouths. I don't see how it could, but want to be sure.
No, I wouldn't spray the solution. It's better and more effective in the bait trap as shown. The extra boron from the borax can build up harmfully when sprayed in larger amounts.
Jason, are you familiar with clematis? If so, can you plz share tips on combining roses and clematis? I saw you talked abt other rose companion plants b4.
Thanks Amy. I'm getting into them a little now - and we have a great local grower who specializes in clematis. I'll see if I can get a tour and some advice.
This is great news! Going to try this. I have a ton of ants in my yard. No exaggeration. I had them in my blueberry bushes that I have in pots. I used diatomaceous earth but once I watered it was no longer viable. This would be a better solution I think because I don’t want to harm beneficial insects. Would this work on roaches? I have those in my yard as well. I don’t like roaches and don’t want them in my yard if I can help it. Thanks for the videos and any help with that question.
Thank you for answering me..Do you know how to grow Okinawan purple yam? I was trying to grow these but have no success. I even bought some from a Asian store.. but I could not make it grow. Can you give me some help on this matter.
Not so much - they need a reason to feed on it and take it back into the colony. Also just spreading it around it less targeted, so it could be consumed by other insects, animals, pets.
No, it's better to mix with a bait in an enclosed trap. Excess boron can be absorbed by the plant throwing the nutrients out of balance and the ants won't consume it without the mix of sugar.
What I hear is that they love decaying organic matter. I wonder if some diced rotting fruit (apple) that releases a good amount of ethylene might attract them.
Thank you for an alternative to sugar. I have some ants in the garden that don't seem to be interested in the sugar. Will have to give it a try this season. When using borax and sugar mixture in the house I put the container in a suet feeder (holder) to keep my dogs and cats from getting to the mixture.
🌞🌹🌞 Jason! You're so wonderful, you're the first person I searched out for a easy fix. Interesting little note: ever since I put my kitties food near the sunny porch slider for him to bask in warmth and enjoy the view of his outdoor buddies, the ants are trailing directly to the food dish and nowhere else. Makes me realize how much sugar and carrots are being added to wet cat food-and this is the good quality food from a Vet. My kitty likes carbs Jason, we share a smidgen of a fortune cookie, or a croissant now and again. Would the Borax hurt him if he popped open the trap? (I feed him on a separate non-human-sharing cafe table now so his food isn't deluged with ants on the floor like your plant was.) Thank you angel, you're the best! 🌞🌹🌞
Hi D'Anna. Well it's obviously your intent to keep the borax away from your cat, and I'm sure you'd trouble-shoot the problem if he were going after it, but it's not acutely toxic to mammals so a one-time exposure shouldn't be a major health concern.
I'm going to try this for my feral cats feeding area. I'll try duct taping the lid on in case they try to get to it but if they knock it over and it leaks, I'm glad to hear it shouldn't hurt them. It goes on concrete so I don't think I can duct tape the bowl down but if they do topple it, I'll have to come up with something else. They are super bad this year (2023) because I think the colonies are growing and spreading. They go after both canned and dry food here. I have the tiny ants, the medium ants and I've been squashing some big ants in case their carpenter ants that go destroy wood too.
Ooops it took me a minute to figure out the joke about ants and uncles but where I am from we were required to pronounce it Aunts and in grammar school pronouncing aunts "ants" got you in trouble.
![Beginners: Press [mute] on Rose Experts as You Learn the Hobby](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kFaQwgqG61I/mqdefault.jpg)
You’re a prince to share your time and knowledge on this with us. Thank you. My neighborhood is crazy populated with ants.
Jason thanks for being so generous and helpful to your viewers. I would like to see how you maintain your traps.
Here in Montgomery County, Texas - we have tried everything , even taking a shovel from one red/ hot biting ant hill & take another shovel from the other red and hill & suppose to kill each hill , fighting , tried boiling water , as growing ORGANIC AS much as possible.
We will give this a try .
God bless you
Mrs Josette Tharp
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS 🙏🏻
New subscriber also
Thank you 😊
Since you are able to find the nests, instead of boiling water make up a big bucket of soapy water. Fill the bucket, mix in the soap, make sure that they water is soapy feeling....then take a shovel, turn over the next once and then pour the soapy water in. Soapy water suffocates the ants and the soap is not harmful to the environment. That's what i do when I can find the main nests. Right now, where I live, we've been colonized by invasive Argentine ants and its near impossible to find the main nest because they set up a lot of smaller satellite nests, so then something like the solution offered in this video would be the best way to go. Best of luck to you.
I'm in Porter and currently experiencing this. You get good results from this?
I’m going to have to try this. I have a huge ants nest that has started to attack people this last garden season.
Thank you so much. I had nests all over Potted plants this past summer. Not to mention near my berry plants or just regular veggy beds. It was a horrible summer. One veggie bed had it bad, nothing grew very well. Will definitely be trying all 3 remedies. I'm hoping this would also help when it's fig season.
You are very good at explaining. Thank you so much.
My pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Very informative! I would like to add some EPA employees work(ed) for the same companies they're supposed to regulate. So I wouldn't count on everything they say being 100 percent honest
No, and I generally apply a fair bit of skepticism to regulators and government committees of all sorts. Good science and common sense are better guides - and it seems wrong-headed to leave the regulated neonicotinoids in other ant bait products on the market, but to ban the one natural option that has a long record of safe use.
Trona, California! Home of 20-Mule Team Borax!
My grandmother used this method 70 years ago for her prairie farm gardens. She taught my dad and he showed me. It’s a simple, inexpensive, and relatively safe compared to commercial ant kill products. That being said, like all pest control measures, you shouldn’t get carried away with it.
Yes - and I think that's where some of the warnings come in - for end-users who go and dust the baseboards and mattresses and garden beds preemptively and in large quantities. I feel pretty comfortable with an enclosed bait station that I won't be accidentally luring bees, or adding high boron levels to soil or living areas.
Just when I noticed ants in my containers of rhododendrons! Thanks Jason!
The Borax, sugar water, waffle method unfortunately didn't work for me either. I don't know if the infestation was too huge or what. I ended up having to go with a chemical granular product called Amdro Ant Block. I was very careful about using it. I put about one tablespoon directly over the ant hills. I only had to do this twice and had no more problems, no new ant hills, and I was able to just push the dirt back into the ant hills. I hate to resort to chemicals, and I'm pretty sure this one is not pet safe, but having no pets I decided to try it and it worked pretty well. Fortunately none of the ant hills were very close to my plants and I only had to do two applications and in very small amounts.
I'm with you: reluctant to go with the heavy chemical unless it becomes necessary. I'm glad you were able to eliminate them without having to use very much.
This information is very likely, ants always disturb our plants and effect their growth habit. Thank you Jason sir for this kind information.
... and now to tackle North America's #2 most-pressing problem - what to do about daylily gall midges?
I live in the same valley as you. The ants i have are nicknamed sugar ants are in the house in a basement non living area with a door. There is a gap etween tne wall and floor in two tough to reach areas. I literally threw the box of borax at it while wearing a mask and itwas helpful until I get a handle on this. In the meantime it may have helped enough to stave off an extermination. They ran to the borax, a few hours later, theywere not apparent. Gping to make the sugar borax solution and use that as well.
I bought the borax that you can spray the dust in crevices some year ago. It worked pretty good. Now I have these little black ants around some bushes in the back yard in the planter. I see the privet has holes in it. I'm not sure if it's aphids or ants. Whatever it is the ants are highly annoying any time I water the plater, they come out in droves.
Great q&a follow up 👍
Thank you for a very good and informative page about roses, the tips fit very well in Sweden where we have a similar climate.
Would like to add something that we use in my area against ants, it is juice with Aspartame in. It works well in my greenhouse.
When Aspartame is broken down, neurotransmitters are formed that overactivate the nerve cells so that the ants die.
Thanks. I'd heard that about aspartame, but hadn't seen anyone confirm it until now.
Wow! THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge with us all, very helpful! 😊
I have large carpenter ants on my papaya tree and under some mulch in some of my garden area
i place it in a small plastic bottle and only punch a small hole it it for the ants to enter and escape. they take it into their mounds and it does away with them
Good call. Keep other critters away from the bait.
Hello,I've heard baking powder &sugar,what's your take on this one ?
Hi Dawn. No, baking powder is ineffective.
What is the waffle for? I use a similar mixture but just leave drops of it around where the ants are going.
It allows them to bring the borax back to the colony and share it with the queen.
I use borax for lots of things
Thank you 🙏🏼
Would this work on all kinds of ants, Jason?
Yes, so long as they'll "take the bait". In the first video, I used a sugar syrup on part of a frozen waffle, and my ants snapped it up. I hear from other places that the ants are more focused on protein or carbs - so it make take a little experimentation to see which bait they'll go for.
We have boric powder easily available here in India...is that same/similar? I get ants in pots where I have added compost...could there be anything I can do to the compost to prevent ants?
Hi Rewa. I'm not sure if it's the same - there are also boric acid products available that are more dangerous to handle.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm oh, thanks... I'll definitely research a little bit before using anything👍😊
Can the sugar/borax solution be sprayed on the lawn using a sprayer? I am concerned about my dogs who roll around int he grass and get it in their mouths. I don't see how it could, but want to be sure.
No, I wouldn't spray the solution. It's better and more effective in the bait trap as shown. The extra boron from the borax can build up harmfully when sprayed in larger amounts.
Jason, are you familiar with clematis? If so, can you plz share tips on combining roses and clematis? I saw you talked abt other rose companion plants b4.
Thanks Amy. I'm getting into them a little now - and we have a great local grower who specializes in clematis. I'll see if I can get a tour and some advice.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Awesome, thank you, very looking forward to it.
This is great news! Going to try this. I have a ton of ants in my yard. No exaggeration. I had them in my blueberry bushes that I have in pots. I used diatomaceous earth but once I watered it was no longer viable. This would be a better solution I think because I don’t want to harm beneficial insects. Would this work on roaches? I have those in my yard as well. I don’t like roaches and don’t want them in my yard if I can help it. Thanks for the videos and any help with that question.
How do you get rid of fire ants🐜 in your vegetable garden.
So long as they'll take the bait, I've had good results with the method posted in the video.
Thank you for answering me..Do you know how to grow Okinawan purple yam? I was trying to grow these but have no success. I even bought some from a Asian store.. but I could not make it grow. Can you give me some help on this matter.
i see there are blue stickers and yellow stickers for Thrips,but which color is better to kill them?
Seems both will attract thrips, but there may be a slight preference for blue
Does this work with fire ants?
If they take the bait, yes.
Thanks 💯💯
Would this work for earwigs too?
I think so, as long as you can find the right "bait". I hear they enjoy rotting fruit/veggies.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thanks! Might have to try it. 🙂
is baking soda a good alternative? (for borax)
No, I'm afraid it doesn't work against ants.
great video. also just watched your previous ant video
Will this work for Carpenter Ants?
Yes. They're generalist feeders, and should take the sugar syrup bait no problem.
Can I just pour boric powder all around instead of a solution
Not so much - they need a reason to feed on it and take it back into the colony. Also just spreading it around it less targeted, so it could be consumed by other insects, animals, pets.
Do u use granulated sugar
Yes. Brown or white or icing sugar - it shouldn't make a difference which one.
It looks like I'm growing an ant tree with giant ants stationed on all over the flowers. Sigh!
Ugh. Not good!
Hello Can I use any borax brand??
Yes. It's not the brand that matters, if the chemical is the same.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thanks 👍🙏
Can you just put Borax in the flower pot?
No, it's better to mix with a bait in an enclosed trap. Excess boron can be absorbed by the plant throwing the nutrients out of balance and the ants won't consume it without the mix of sugar.
Is there something that would make borax appealing to earwigs?
What I hear is that they love decaying organic matter. I wonder if some diced rotting fruit (apple) that releases a good amount of ethylene might attract them.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thank-you
Thank you for an alternative to sugar.
I have some ants in the garden that don't seem to be interested in the sugar.
Will have to give it a try this season.
When using borax and sugar mixture in the house I put the container in a suet feeder (holder) to keep my dogs and cats from getting to the mixture.
🌞🌹🌞
Jason!
You're so wonderful, you're the first person I searched out for a easy fix.
Interesting little note: ever since I put my kitties food near the sunny porch slider for him to bask in warmth and enjoy the view of his outdoor buddies, the ants are trailing directly to the food dish and nowhere else.
Makes me realize how much sugar and carrots are being added to wet cat food-and this is the good quality food from a Vet.
My kitty likes carbs Jason, we share a smidgen of a fortune cookie, or a croissant now and again. Would the Borax hurt him if he popped open the trap?
(I feed him on a separate non-human-sharing cafe table now so his food isn't deluged with ants on the floor like your plant was.)
Thank you angel, you're the best!
🌞🌹🌞
Hi D'Anna. Well it's obviously your intent to keep the borax away from your cat, and I'm sure you'd trouble-shoot the problem if he were going after it, but it's not acutely toxic to mammals so a one-time exposure shouldn't be a major health concern.
I'm going to try this for my feral cats feeding area. I'll try duct taping the lid on in case they try to get to it but if they knock it over and it leaks, I'm glad to hear it shouldn't hurt them. It goes on concrete so I don't think I can duct tape the bowl down but if they do topple it, I'll have to come up with something else. They are super bad this year (2023) because I think the colonies are growing and spreading. They go after both canned and dry food here. I have the tiny ants, the medium ants and I've been squashing some big ants in case their carpenter ants that go destroy wood too.
Ooops it took me a minute to figure out the joke about ants and uncles but where I am from we were required to pronounce it Aunts and in grammar school pronouncing aunts "ants" got you in trouble.
Lol. Thanks!
Ants carry aphids up to the plant shoot, so in my case i have to bid them bye bye