13 Home remedies to get rid of ants in your home and garden
Although most ants are harmless and can even be beneficial to the environment, they easily become pests, since they reproduce quickly and have very few predators in urban areas. They usually invade homes in search of food and shelter, so the very first step in eliminating ants in the home is to keep it free of crumbs and debris.
Clean every room in your home thoroughly, but especially the kitchen (particularly its floors and shelves), since this place is where dust and food crumbs gather the most. Also, leave foods that can spoil easily, like fruits and vegetables, inside the fridge.
After cleaning everything very well, you can use the following home remedies to get rid of your ant problem and live happily ever after:
- Cayenne/red pepper: sprinkle the pepper over all affected areas, especially anthills. Repeat this process regularly.
- Garlic: prepare a mixture of garlic and water. Put several cloves of garlic inside a pot filled with water, and let them rest inside for a day. The next day, simmer the mixture for 15 minutes and, once it’s done, apply it to all affected areas. Repeat this process regularly.
- Aromatic herbs: ants dislike the scent of many common aromatic herbs, so it’d be a great idea to plant some of these in your garden to keep ants at bay. Give lavender, mint, spearmint and thyme a try.
- Lavender: you can also prepare a lavender infusion with 10.5 oz of fresh lavender leaves in 1 quart of water and spray it over all affected areas.
- Lemon juice: spray pure lemon juice over all affected areas. You can also use it to protect your plants by rubbing their stems with it.
- Baking soda: you can protect your plants by putting baking soda on the earth around them. Sodium bicarbonate is a natural repellent for all kinds of pests.
- Boiling water: pour boiling water directly over any anthill you see, and repeat the process until the ants are no more. Also, make sure to destroy them.
- Soap: prepare a mixture of water and soap (detergent will also work) and spray it over the ants.
- Vinegar: vinegar is toxic to ants, yet harmless to plants if applied in small doses. Prepare a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar and spray the entirety of your garden with this solution.
- Rice: this is a perfect ant repellent if one lets it rot enough so that it produces mold. Leave a small handful of rice over a spot where you know ants gather often. The ants will leave what they’re carrying to pick up the rice and take it back to their nest. Once there, the heat inside the nest will cause the rice to rot and grow mold, which will repel any ants living around it.
- Orange peels: most people throw orange peels away without knowing how useful they can be. Not only can they be used in cooking and have many health benefits, but also secrete a substance that is toxic to ants. So, to take advantage of this, cut up orange peels until you have a handful of small pieces, and sprinkle them over the places where ants usually gather. The ants will leave what they’re carrying to take the orange peels back to their nest, where they will die, due to the actions of this toxic substance.
- Yeast: ants are very attracted to yeast, although it is usually lethal to them if they ingest it. To use it to get rid of ants, mix 3.5 oz of yeast with 1 quart of water and 3.5 oz of sugar. Put this mixture in small containers and then place these containers around your home, in places where the ants gather the most.
- White pepper: ants are repelled by the naturally-occurring compounds in pepper. Mix equal parts ground white pepper and water, then spray the mixture on the stems of affected plants and other places where ants tend to gather.
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