How to Get Rid of Ants in Vegetable Gardens with Natural Solutions

If you love the ants as a species, you’ll certainly hate them when they attack your garden. They are amazing creatures, capable of ruining your entire garden in a short period of time. When gardening in summer, ant convoys are ready to take over. They will live under the trees, just like the other gray characters in your garden.

However, ants are so clever that they spread everywhere. You can’t help but want to eliminate them. Getting rid of ants in your vegetable garden can be a daunting task. Ants pose a significant threat to your vegetable garden, with the potential to completely destroy it. 

This article will explain the worst ants and how to get rid of them.

Types of Ants in a Vegetable Garden

If you closely examine the invader ants in your garden, you’ll discover a variety of ant species. Here are the most common ants in your garden. They could damage your vegetable garden.

Nuisance Ants

Nuisance ants frequently build their nests and colonies hidden under the soil near your home. They can be found in both outdoor and indoor gardens, either in the soil or under any object. They will create a trail that remains hidden under the soil. These invisible trails guide the ants to their primary sources of water and food. They’re very capable of contaminating and infesting your vegetables.

Mound-building Ants

These ants tend not to build mounds in your home, but they may for food. Their nests and trails are simple to see. You can often find them along sidewalks, decks, and other visible areas. Controlling them won’t be as challenging as the nuisance ants, as you can spot them clearly and earlier.

Carpenter Ants

The carpenter ants make their nests on walls, rotten wood, attics, and other narrow places. In a garden, you will commonly find them in tree trunks, soffits, and abandoned gutters. They won’t consume the trees, but they will certainly weaken them. trees in your garden. They also bite you if you try to remove them barehanded; however, their bites aren’t that painful.

Fire Ants

Fire ants are the most annoying kind of ants that have venom in their abdomen. They are red and will bite you if you try to remove them barehanded. They will bite you if you disturb their home. Their bites are painful because they inject venom. Too much of their bite even lead you to medical attention if you don’t take precautions before getting rid of them.

Are Ants Bad For A Vegetable Garden?

Ants are usually not harmful. They help keep the garden safe from harmful caterpillars. But, if there are too many, they become a problem. However, if you end up getting too many ants in your garden, they will certainly become a problem. Especially if you see ants in your garden, there might also be aphids somewhere to which ants are attracted.

Be sure there are no ant colonies in the garden to ensure the number of ants is minimal. Stay aware of the carpenter ants and the red fire ants to keep your garden safe. Carpenter ants will damage the wooden structure to hold the trees, and the fire ants will damage the whole garden.

How To Get Rid Of Ants In Vegetable Garden?

If the ants are too many, you must get rid of them to protect your corps and newly harvested seeds. Here are some of the most effective ways of how to get rid of ants in the vegetable garden and keep them in the best shape:

1. Boiling water

The easiest way to get rid of the ants in your garden is to use boiling water and apply them to the nest. You will both drown them to death and push them away with the heat at the same time. Regular water will flood the nest, but won’t make them leave the area, so boil some water and pour it all over. You may need to apply several times to kill them entirely and make them leave your garden or die.

2. Make use of citrus peeling

If you notice ants are coming and building their home in your garden, try this method. Citrus peelings like lemon or orange can keep the ant out of the premises as they don’t like the smell. Take the extra from the oranges and the lemons from your home and put them on the affected area.

3. Use a citrus mixture

You can also use a mixture of lemon juice and water and spray around to keep the ant out. Lemon, orange, vinegar, and any other sour and citrus element will work fine in the application. Take the lemon juice and water in 50/50 amounts, mix them well, and pour the solution into a sprayer. Spray the mixture on the nest and the ant trails they are using as their food passage.

4. Borax and cornmeal mixture

Using borax is a very effective way to fight the ants and kill them in your vegetable garden. You can use the pure borax mixture to kill the ants, use an equal quantity of sugar and borax in the mixture with water. Spray the mixture on the affected area in an adequate amount to kill them quickly. 

You can also use a combination of borax with cornmeal, an inexpensive item to go with. Plus, it’s completely safe for the vegetable corps and effective for killing ants too.

5. Liquid dishwasher and oil

You can make use of the dishwashing liquid you already have in your home, combining it with oil to kill ants. The mixture will soak into the exoskeletons of the ants and make them suffocate and die quickly. Take half a tablespoon of liquid dish soap and oil in the same amount; canola and olive oil work well. Combine them with a quart of water and pour into a sprayer. Spray the mixture directly into the nest and take care of the ants outside the nest beforehand.

Final Thought

Ants are quite helpful. They pollinate plants and kill harmful caterpillars. Although ants could come in handy to keep your garden’s betterment, they will ruin it if in great numbers. You could apply Pesticides on them to eliminate them, but the toxicity may start to harm the corps as well. Use the non-toxic ways I’ve mentioned in this article to get rid of the ants in your vegetable garden. Now, as you know how to get rid of ants in the vegetable gardens, you should apply them only if the ants are too many.

FAQs

The most common vegetable garden ant questions and solutions are here. You should also know about them to keep yourself knowledgeable about them.