Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I did a search on ant control and found a recipe using yeast and honey. Apparantly the yeast causes a 'wind problem' and since ants can't fart they die! Well i have been using this method for the past week and our ant population is not diminishing. Actually i am starting to wonder if i am providing them with a treat! I am wondering what do others use to control ants around AP systems and is Boron safe to use mixed with mollasses?

A few people actually stop the ants getting in by putting the growbed stand feet into a can of water (or something like that).

Chilli spray on the path that they use to get into the system has used in the past. Once they're in..... it's hard to get 'em out. I actually had them nesting in my beds.

The yeast and honey thing has worked well for me at time, but not always. I think it was Murray who suggested it originally. A couple of things to do to give yourself the best chance with this method, I have found from experience:

- make sure the yeast is fresh
- mix to a very thick consistency (say the consistency of playdough)
- make sure the yeast is really fine. I just use the sachet stuff you buy for breadmakers etc, but I grind it down further using mortar and pestle.

I've also used this method in the grow-beds one time and it seemed to help a lot.

As ants drink the AP water, IMHO no poison is safe.
Try flooding the bed to get them all out, and then putting the feet of your stands in shallow dishes that can be filled with oil or water.
This makes a great barrier.
Why exactly are the ants a problem? What are they doing? I've rarely felt the need to treat them, and a high flood has usually been enough to reduce their numbers back to my liking.

Tris,

For goodness sake don't use Boron!! it would be terribly expensive.
The chemical you are after is "Borax", and it is very effective.
The most economically important compound of boron is sodium tetraborate decahydrate Na2B4O7 · 10H2O, or borax, used for insulating fiberglass and sodium perborate bleach.

Read more: http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elemen ... z0e3ElBdnM

It's probably what you meant, but just to make sure.

Cheers ianK

Seems strange that ants would move into a place that floods so frequently. How long is a safe time to leave the beds flooded to try and get rid of them?

Mark

Talcum Powder around the legs and smeared on the GB stands will stop them getting in, have NFI on how to get them out though, I would expect that you would need to flood almost to the top of GB, this would mean putting a plug in the standpipe hole, it shouldn't take long for the ants to move, but I reckon if you left GB's flooded for an hour you shouldn't damage anything

They cart aphids onto the plants, prevent them from leaving and protect them from predators. I have seen aphids packed together hundreds to the inch, they kill plants in this number.

Yeah, flood the bed and you should upset them. Diatomaceous earth is possibly a good way to stop them getting into the beds, like with talcum powder, you sprinkle it around the legs of your growbed stand.

Thankyou for the comments. Putting the GB legs into water or oil is not possible due to the design of our systems. Also we are being invaded from all directions; ants are climbing along the igloo frame onto trellising and onto the climbing plants. They are more of a nuisance than actually causing any problems at the moment, so i just wanted to find out ways to control them before they become a big problem. I wasn't planning on using anything in the GB's, just in the area where they are.

I will try VB's method of making the yeast/honey mix, as the yeast i used was about 2 years old (has been stored in the fridge, but been a while since i made bread). Also the consistency i made was much thinner than playdough.



Ian, I just want to clarify your statement: Do you mean not to use Boron due to the expence or because it is too toxic? I did check out the link, but i'm not very 'chemically minded'.

DE powder can help against ants and if the pure food grade stuff, it should be safe for the fish and humans (though you shouldn't breath it or get it in your eyes as it is a very irritating powder that would be bad for the lungs and eyes.) However, DE powder isn't very effective against ants in a wet environment so might not help much. I have generally ignored the ants around my system as there really isn't much I can do to stop them getting to the grow beds.

'Tree Tanglefoot' has worked for me as a barrier.
1) You have to use it on every possible path the ants could use, this might be hard depending on the trellis setup.
2) It is wicked sticky. Put masking tape around the GB legs and apply to the tape - never directly to the structure.
3) It is really sticky stuff. Use a stick to apply it from the jar or tube it comes in.
4) Hard to overstate how wonderfully, horribly sticky it is.

Rick

Boric ACID plus sugar is an effective bait. But I would put it low on the list as plants are not going to react well to much boron getting dissolved into their water...

Yeah I know what they can do Novaris, but I've not found their aphid infestation to be too damaging, so long as I discourage them regularly. That's why I was asking him, to gauge the importance of their system

It would be good to know how to get rid of them. We have fire ants around here and if they made their way into a GB, it could be a real problem. To bad they can't be trained to go swimming in the FT.

Mark