How to get rid of ants in a greenhouse: best methods

Ants are an integral and very important part of the natural ecosystem. These beneficial insects live in any garden plot, but sometimes they can cause serious problems for gardeners. Especially in cases where anthills begin to appear and actively spread in the tomato beds. As a result, ants turn from natural “orderlies” of the site into a real disaster for the gardener. Various methods will come to the rescue to help drive insects away from tomato beds.

Where did they even come from?

If ants appear in a greenhouse, there may be three reasons:

The insects went their own way and turned into the greenhouse to investigate. The important thing here is to simply kick them out in time.
A new nest has appeared on your site, and pests go to the greenhouse to grow aphids there - it’s more convenient. Just get rid of the aphids and scatter the cut garlic cloves over the beds.
The nest appeared right inside the greenhouse, by digging from outside. It’s not so easy to find - you won’t see any anthill, it’s just a small hole, under which, however, a whole kingdom is already being built. Search and destroy.

First of all, figure out what kind of enemy wandered into your greenhouse. So, in Russia the following types of ants are most often found:

Black garden ones.
Red forest ones.
Brown meadows.

If your site is located near a forest, expect red insects to visit you, but they usually avoid the greenhouse. But closed, warm soil is more attractive to black garden ants, which brazenly build their nests right in the beds. And with our multiple passages underground, we disrupt the root system of everything that grows in the greenhouse, which is why we may not get a harvest. At the same time, black ants feed on plant seeds and seedlings.

But if you meet one of these comrades, proceed very carefully:

Prevention

Dry mustard repels ants with its specific smell.

There is a situation where at the very beginning there are no ants, but as soon as the seedlings are planted, they suddenly appear.

To avoid such a turn of events, it is necessary to treat the soil in the greenhouse before planting the seed.

Ground black pepper or mustard, which is generously sprinkled on the ground, is perfect for this. It is worth remembering that it is easier to prevent the appearance of pests than to fight them later.

"Old-fashioned" methods, time-tested

You can also work with ants using the “wedge by wedge” method. If you cannot drive out black ants, you can scare them away with large red ones. Red forest ants love to destroy the nests of black ones and steal eggs from there. If it so happens that your area with a greenhouse is located right next to a forest belt, then just find forest orderlies there, take some earth from the anthill and make a path like this all the way to the greenhouse. Soon you will see how a whole river runs, takes white eggs from your hearth of black ants, and back. Quite an effective solution. True, this method does not always help, and sometimes both red and black people peacefully coexist with each other.

There are also less risky “old-fashioned” methods of dealing with ants. The most effective is boric acid:

And these methods:

We take 10 liters of water into a container, pour in two glasses of vegetable oil and the cheapest shampoo, add a bottle of vinegar and mix well. In the place of the largest concentration of insects, we pierce a hole with a peg and pour this mixture into it with a spray bottle. Immediately cover with film for three days.
If you have enough patience, you can lure ants into a jar with leftover jam. In one visit, many comrades will gather there, although not the entire colony, naturally. But it’s worth it a couple of times – the number of pests will decrease while you look for the main effective method of control.
Another old-fashioned method is a mixture of brewer’s yeast and honey. Little sweet tooths will eat up, and the remnants of the survivors will go home.
Here's how to prepare meat bait for ants: mix 2 tablespoons of minced meat with 0.5 tsp. boric acid. Divide this mixture into many small balls and spread along visible ant paths. It is only important that this poison is not accidentally eaten by one of your pets, and therefore during these days always close the door to the greenhouse.
Ants also don’t like certain smells. Therefore, spread out the remains of coffee grounds, cinnamon, mint, elderberry and tansy leaves, and cut garlic arrows for them in the greenhouse beds.
Mechanical methods are also important in the fight against ants. Try to constantly loosen the soil in which there are insects.

Folk recipes

Folk remedies will help remove ants from the greenhouse. Boric acid is used successfully in the fight against insects. Various baits are prepared with it, which are used in a greenhouse with tomatoes and in a greenhouse with cucumbers:

Mix four spoons of minced meat with one spoon of powder. Roll the mixture into balls and place them near the anthill.
Dissolve 50 g of sugar in 50 ml of water. Add a teaspoon of boric acid to the syrup. Spread the sweet mixture onto flat saucers or lids.
Mix the boiled yolk with the same amount of boiled potatoes. Add a little butter, sugar and 1/3 pack of acid there. Make granules from the mixture and place them near the ant trails.

Boric acid against insects Dry powder, which in this case is a contact poison, can also destroy ants in a greenhouse.
Boric acid is poured into the anthill and in places where arthropods accumulate. You can use it on tomato and cucumber beds. Using mustard or cinnamon powder will help with ants. These products cause insect burns and prevent them from spreading aphids to plants. Cinnamon sticks are placed in the slot. This method is good not only in a wooden greenhouse, but also in a polycarbonate greenhouse.

Ready-made gels, traps and sprays

So, if traditional methods do not help, try modern means. There are special insecticides on sale that are available in the form of gels, pastes and powders. But use them with caution in greenhouses; after all, this is closed soil.

Dry ant bait is prepared as follows: mix equal amounts of sugar and boric acid, and sprinkle in places where ants accumulate. Just not on the beds themselves!
The most popular product is Absolut-gel. It is a box containing a syringe with the product drawn into it. Place a few drops on the anthill so that the ants, having tasted it, take this delicacy to the female. As soon as she eats the poison, she will die, and with it the anthill.
Ordinary “Mashenka” chalk, which is designed to fight cockroaches, will also help drive out ants. Simply place wooden planks on the floor of the greenhouse and paint stripes on them. The poison will stick to the paws of the ants, and they will carry it into the anthill.
You can also use a stronger insect repellent - there are a lot of these on sale now. Open the ampoule, mix the contents with water, and pour the solution little by little into all the entrance holes of the ants, and then cover it all with film.
One of the best industrial products is “Grom-2”. Place the granules where the insects live, and they will soon leave.
If you use the “Great Warrior” gel, you will see how ants will start running in flocks to eat it - like at a buffet table. But literally in a week the pests will disappear completely.
Interestingly, many special anti-ant products that work well at home are completely useless when fighting in the ground. And some of them are also toxic to plants if they get into the soil.
There is also a method - spraying the place where these insects gather most with Anteater. But this only affects the place itself, and on a global scale you cannot deal with uninvited guests this way.
An ultrasonic insect repeller is also effective for greenhouses. Impulses invisible to humans have a depressing effect on ants, which is why they are forced to leave such an area.

But remember that none of the methods can give a 100% guarantee - this issue can only be approached comprehensively.

Ways to control insects

A natural question arises - how to destroy ants in a greenhouse.
There are three methods: Let’s take a closer look at which remedy for ants in a greenhouse and method of control will be more effective.

Physical

Physical methods of controlling insects

Insects try to colonize greenhouses because there is a lot of food, comfortable temperature conditions and good protection from external enemies. Since they do not build anthills, but settle in the ground, forming tunnels, and on the leaves of plants, it is quite difficult to destroy pests in a greenhouse without damaging the roots and the plants themselves.

Ants prefer dark and damp places, rotten wood, remnants of roofing felt and slate lying on the ground. All these items must be removed in order for the fight against insects in the greenhouse to be successful. If they settled in the wooden frame of a greenhouse, then it will be quite difficult to exterminate the colony. This will require other, more serious measures.

Frequently loosening the soil around plants can also help reduce the number of ants or force them to change their place of residence, as the burrows and underground passages used for movement will be constantly destroyed. If during loosening it is possible to detect and destroy the queen ant, the colony will cease to exist.

It often happens that an anthill is located not far from the greenhouse. Insects simply come there for the next portion of food. In this case, it is necessary to move the anthill as far as possible from the greenhouse or destroy it. The physical method will help reduce the number of insects, but it will not be possible to completely get rid of them.

Chemical

This method is more radical. Preparations used to kill ants are divided into two types:

made on a natural basis;
chemical insecticides.

The choice of a remedy for ants in a greenhouse depends on the number of uninvited guests and on the person’s patience, since natural preparations act slowly, and modern chemistry copes with the problem quickly. The only thing you need to know when working with insecticides is that they are dangerous to human and animal health.

All natural products are safe to use. They basically consist of boric acid powder, sugar and water. This mixture is sprinkled on the paths along which ants move, or the solution is left in places where insects accumulate. This allows the worker ants to be incapacitated and the queen to be poisoned, which subsequently leads to the death of the colony.

A mixture of yeast and jam can also be used, which acts on working insects. Treatment of travel paths is possible with bleach, superphosphate, 20% carbolic acid or ammonium nitrate. If these measures do not produce tangible results, then it is necessary to use chemicals:

Grom-2, produced in the form of granules, destroys ants in 2-4 days;
chalk Mashenka - to repel insects;
a remedy against aphids and the Colorado potato beetle - a liquid solution that destroys the entire colony;
Absolute is a bait that completely gets rid of pests in 7-14 days;
Anteater - liquid that destroys the nest and colony
Ant.

When working with chemical insecticides, you need to remember that protecting the skin of your hands and face is a mandatory precaution. Pets and children should not be allowed into the treated area

Traditional methods

Traditional methods of fighting ants

Chemical products provide quick and effective results, but the components of the drugs are harmful to both humans and the environment. Therefore, it is preferable to try to get rid of unnecessary tenants using folk remedies. The following recipes are often used:

Place leaves of fragrant plants around the anthill, such as mint, wormwood, anise, elderberry, mustard, bay leaf. Ants do not like strong odors, so they leave the unpleasant place.
Fill the holes with sunflower oil to kill the working insects.
Chop garlic for ants, cover it with water, let it sit for a day and pour it onto the home or into the pests’ holes.
Water the soil with an infused mustard solution.
Fill the holes with millet or semolina.
Treat the soil with a mixture that consists of two components: soda and linseed oil.

To guarantee a good harvest on your site and in the greenhouse, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures and treat the greenhouse in the spring or autumn with a solution of copper sulfate, which will destroy not only weeds and remaining pests, but also their larvae. This simple method will save your strength and energy, which will be required during the spring and autumn work. Prevention also needs to be done in a polycarbonate greenhouse so that it can be used all year round and delight the gardener with the quality of the products grown.

Depriving ants of their “farm”

Ants build entire colonies of aphids and protect them, which is their greatest harm. Yes, aphids by themselves can appear in a greenhouse - even without ants. But, if they were the first guests, then soon you will see how these small workers themselves drag aphids onto your plants, plant them there, and then visit periodically. For ants, aphids are “cash cows” of their kind. The thing is that they need sugar to survive, and therefore hardworking ants create entire “farms” of aphids on your plants, and then go milk them.

By the way, you can get rid of aphids quite quickly by simply spraying them with the popular drinks Pepsi or Cola. There is no need to dilute anything, just put it in a spray bottle. With subsequent watering, the aphids will easily be washed off the leaves, and the ants will leave offended after them.

Get rid of aphids immediately - at least mechanically remove the infected leaves and treat the plants with this solution: 2 tsp. liquid soap to 2 cups of water. An infusion of garlic and tobacco will also help you get rid of aphids.

Preventive actions to prevent the occurrence of ants in a greenhouse

It is unlikely that it will be possible to eliminate pests in a greenhouse right away, since due to rapid reproduction one can observe the emergence of more and more new generations of ants.

Watch out for ants

Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with both the methods of eliminating insects and effective methods of preventing their occurrence.

For example, it is important to remove all remnants of old wood and roofing felt from the greenhouse; ants’ homes may be found in them and under them.

Cleaning the greenhouse from various debris

It should be taken into account that ants are able to equip their homes in the supports of the greenhouse, which over time have become dilapidated and began to rot.

Be sure to dig the soil deeply every year and add all kinds of fertilizers, which in significant accumulation can also have a detrimental effect on insects.

Hunting the Queen Ant

But why does it often happen that after serious chemical treatment, ants disappear for a while and then appear again? The fact is that any pesticides kill only adult insects, while the female continues to actively produce offspring.

The Queen always hides in the depths of the galleries; she cannot be found manually. Therefore, scientists today have developed a more cunning and sophisticated method: to make the ants themselves take the poison to their queen. If she dies, the anthill will also spread.

With fire, boiling water and poisons, we mainly destroy working ants, but they are replaced by new ones. You can only catch a queen and drones by surprise by accident, on a warm sunny day after a cool night, when this retinue comes out to warm up. Then you can pour boiling water over it.

If the poison that you left for the ants acts quickly, they will never carry it to their queen. But if the effect is weak, unnoticeable, the queen will be given such a delicacy, and over time it will kill her. To prepare such bait, make a regular sweet 1% boric acid solution, soak cotton wool in it and throw it into a jar. Cover it so that ants can get in. They will bite off pieces of cotton wool and bring it to the queen with the drones. Every two weeks, update the contents of the jar, gradually reducing the concentration of the solution to 0.5%. In just a month and a half, the anthill will be completely destroyed.

Here is one such method: mix honey with dry boric acid in a 2:1 ratio, add a couple of drops of water and bring the mixture to the consistency of sour cream. We place bait on the ant paths and wait for someone to deliver this “treat” to their queen. When boric acid gets inside an insect, it first causes severe itching and then kills it.

On such paths, you can additionally sprinkle the poison “Bazudina”, which comes in granules that look like pupae. The ants themselves bring it into their home.

How to get rid of ants in a greenhouse without harming the plants

Chemical compounds and aggressive methods must be used carefully, especially when vegetable crops have already been planted in closed ground. Ants in a greenhouse multiply especially actively in the warm season

Vegetable growers are forced to select gentle methods and preparations that are safe for plants. Industrial preparations are used that destroy the population and, accumulating in the roots and soil, protect crops from pests for a long time. Products containing diazonin and chlorpyrifos are considered particularly effective. They are safe for plants and effective in controlling pests.

The use of ash, plants, and various baits will not cause harm.

Particular attention should be paid to the composition of purchased insecticides and to study the consequences of their use during the growing season of plants.

In a greenhouse with cucumbers, ants can harm plants even in the early stages of development. To protect vegetables from chemical exposure, use soda water, with which you need to be extremely careful so as not to burn the young roots.

It is recommended to loosen the soil regularly. Black and red pepper repels insects, which must be added to the holes before planting. Spray with mustard solution, previously infused for three days. Process cucumbers without allowing aphids to appear.

Ants in a greenhouse with tomatoes are a rare occurrence. They can't stand the tomato smell. If the quantity is small, wood ash will help. An overgrown anthill can only be destroyed by chemical action. In a short period of time, damage to the root system, the appearance of aphids and, as a result, the death of vegetables are possible.

As a preventive measure, certain rules should be followed:

keep the greenhouse clean;
carry out regular weeding;
get rid of rotten boards, pieces of old roofing felt;
promptly remove plant remains outside and prevent them from rotting indoors;
use herbaceous plants with pungent, pungent odors.

It is advisable to get rid of insects in a greenhouse using traditional methods and avoid the use of chemicals as much as possible. Be sure to dig up the soil in the autumn, after harvesting. Do not leave weeds and plant debris over the winter. It is advisable to cultivate the soil before planting seedlings and check the condition of the soil for the presence of ant tracks.

If the population increases and control methods do not bring results, it is necessary to call specialists who will treat the area with strong and effective drugs. Professionals guarantee a lasting result, which will be noticeable after the initial treatment. Long-term independent pest control will be much more expensive than paying for the services of specialists.

It is worth considering that such radical measures are applied only before the period of flowering and fruit formation. Otherwise, the chemicals will penetrate into the plants and cause harm to health. If you are not confident in your strengths and abilities, entrust this process to specially trained people and get rid of harmful ants once and for all.

Getting rid of the anthill

If the anthill is located directly in the greenhouse, remove it immediately. There are many methods.

Fill with homemade compositions

There are two ways to fill an anthill:

With the first frost, remove the top layer of the anthill with a shovel and apply water under pressure to it.
In summer, fill the anthill with molasses and water with jam. This will immediately provoke the growth of soil yeast, which in turn will destroy the ants’ reserves for the winter. These smart insects usually retreat from such places.

If ants have settled in the beds in the greenhouse before planting the seedlings, do this:

Step 1. Prepare two buckets of boiling water.
Step 2. Using one spade bayonet, dig out the anthill.
Step 3. Pour boiling water and leave the greenhouse, leaving the door open.

It’s not the ants that die from boiling water, it’s their laid eggs. In this case, the insects grab what is still left and leave.

You can also water ant nests with sunflower oil, if you don’t mind it. Using vegetable oil is even easier: fry the pies, and pour the darkened hot remaining oil into the holes.

Fill with dry material

But the anthills are not only filled, but also dusted with: wood ash, slaked lime, ground pepper, ammonium nitrate and dry mustard.

You can also get rid of an anthill in this way: sprinkle millet directly on it. The ants mistake it for eggs and actively drag it into their house. Next, simply pour water over this “house”, the millet will quickly swell and block all entrances and exits. It will also smell unpleasant to the ants. And dissatisfied insects will soon move from such beds to another place.

Another simple method: loosen the nest you find and sprinkle it with tobacco dust or fluff lime.

We repel with a strong smell

You can drive away ants with scent this way: just place a piece of herring next to the anthill.

Weeds will also help in this matter. You can use wormwood like this: take 400 g of fresh wormwood or 40 g of dry wormwood, pour boiling water over it. Let the grass steep for a day in 10 liters of cold water, strain, and then spray the anthill and the entire surrounding area with a spray bottle.

Ants in a greenhouse: types of insects

At first glance, small, harmless representatives of the fauna are actually not very popular with farmers and summer residents. They spoil the harvest, take over greenhouses and greenhouses. The very presence of large colonies of ants can unbalance a summer resident, because they are so difficult to get rid of.

Ants live almost everywhere - in the forest, in the garden, in the house. Ants are mainly winged insects that live in large groups. Among them live both flying males and females, as well as wingless immature individuals. In the summer, flying ants fly away from the anthill, and after mating the male dies. The woman sheds her wings and begins to assemble a new nest.

There are 3 types of ants:

Black garden ants are the most common type of ant with wings that live in greenhouses and beds almost everywhere;
Brown meadows - they can be found in abandoned fields, in the steppe zone;
Red forest ants live in gardens that are located near forests; ants also live in plantings and forests.

Common black ants feed mainly on seeds planted in the ground or young shoots of seedlings. They often equip their houses directly on the beds in a greenhouse or in open ground. They reproduce quite quickly, and if they are not removed from the greenhouse in time, ants will colonize the covered greenhouse and disrupt the process of growing vegetables.

How to fight?

The most effective method of controlling ants is the use of chemicals.

There are several ways to get rid of such pests. The fight should begin immediately after their discovery. If this is not done, the ants will quickly multiply and spread throughout the greenhouse. Experts recommend using chemical, physical and folk methods to destroy them.

As for chemicals, they are very harmful, but the result is obvious. Physical methods are not so harmful, but their benefits are minimal. Therefore, each owner uses only those methods that he likes, having carefully analyzed the consequences.

Chemicals include:

"Korbafos";
"Dohloks";
"Raid";
"Clean house";
"Raptor".

Chemical preparations for ants.

These products must be used with extreme caution. In the greenhouse, crops grow that do not tolerate chemicals well, especially since toxic drugs, if they get on the crop, can end up in the human body and negatively affect it

Physical methods

digging up the soil;
moving the anthill outside the greenhouse;
watering places where parasites accumulate with boiling water and salt;
treating an anthill with ash. This method is not as effective, but can delay devouring the fruit for several weeks.

It's a good idea to try the bait. To do this you need a flat plate and a little sugar. Insects will come running to the sweets and when their number is significant, they will not be able to get out of there on their own; the plate with insects is taken outside the greenhouse and thrown away.

Traditional methods

If you don’t want to poison your household, then you should try traditional methods. We will tell you below how to remove ants from a greenhouse with tomatoes using these methods.

You can take boric acid, which can damage the ant's nervous system. But such acid without dilution may not attract pests, so it is mixed with flour and eggs. Gasoline, benzene, kerosene, and ammonia are considered to be excellent products. These drugs are simply poured onto the anthill and all the insects die. Ants are still afraid of serum.

Heads of garlic

You can also resort to decoctions, but this should be done very carefully. To avoid damaging the root system of cultivated plants

The simplest and most effective way to ward off pests is to plant garlic heads between tomato bushes. Even if you take a few cloves of garlic, this may be enough to expel ants from the greenhouse, because they cannot stand the pungent odor.

Planting garlic in a bed of tomatoes.

Wedge with wedge

Red ants do not like their black counterparts.

There is another old-fashioned method according to the principle: “they knock out a wedge with a wedge.” You can get rid of black ants by setting their red counterparts on them. Red pests can quickly destroy the nests of black relatives, carrying away their eggs from there. This is an excellent way to control pests, especially if your site is located near a forest. Then you need to bring some earth with red ants from there and make a thin path to the greenhouse itself. Quite quickly you can see how red workers carry the eggs of black ants into the forest. This is a fairly effective method, but it can sometimes fail. There are times when black and red insects together devour your future harvest.

You can resort to the help of specialists, but they, as a rule, work with very strong chemicals, and this is not always good. They can also tell you how to deal with ants. The first treatment can give results, but you will have to pay for the service. But if you fight on your own, the costs may be much higher. The danger of ants in a greenhouse can hardly be overestimated, so you should not put off exterminating them until later, otherwise you may be left without a harvest.

Ants: helpers or pests?

Everyone knows from school biology lessons that ants are real workers, forest orderlies who destroy various pests. But here’s a paradox: the appearance of ants in garden beds and greenhouses can be compared to a natural disaster:

they harm plant roots;
are carriers of aphids;
destroy young tomato seedlings in shelters;
spoil the fruits.

Black ants, which are most often found in garden beds, bite very painfully, and an allergic reaction often occurs.

Many gardeners are forced to wage endless battles with insects, trying to rid their plot of them.

To be fair, we note that ants, making long moves, loosen the soil and enrich the soil with nitrogen, which is important for plant growth. They also feed on spider mite larvae, which pose a danger to plants.

So is there more benefit or harm from them? Reality shows that because of ants you can lose good harvests, and therefore insect populations need to be destroyed.

Industrial chemicals

This method is not very acceptable for many gardeners. This is due to the fact that industrial chemicals are poisonous not only to insects in the greenhouse, but also to pets and people.

Therefore, when treating plants and soil against pests, it is important to use personal protective equipment (gloves, mask). The most popular drugs are Grom-2, Anteater, Ant

They contain an active element called Diazinon. In addition to these products, other pesticides are also used.

When choosing a method of pest control in a greenhouse, it is worth remembering that some of them may be unsafe for humans and pets. The abundance of toxic chemicals and frequent processing of plants can negatively affect the quality of the crop and the composition of the fruit. Each greenhouse owner chooses the most suitable option for pest control.

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Ants in a greenhouse: danger

Ants belong to the order of arthropods. They settle in colonies. These insects are characterized by a highly developed ability to build and organize their own life activities.

In dacha and garden areas of most regions of Russia, three types of ants are predominantly common:

black garden;
brown meadows;
red forest ones.

The first type listed is especially common in greenhouses and greenhouses. Gardeners sometimes make considerable efforts to eliminate the colony of hard-working insects on their site before they have time to do much harm.

Ants in a greenhouse

It is necessary to fight ants for the following reasons:

insects feed on seeds and sprouts of plants, including those that are actively cultivated in greenhouses (for example, cucumber, tomato, pepper, etc.);
due to the active construction of anthills and the laying of underground passages in them, the root system of crops is disrupted;
to extract sugar, ants graze colonies of aphids, which settle on greenhouse plants and cause additional damage to them (fruit bushes especially suffer from aphids);
ants are carriers of various diseases;
insects are very aggressive and in situations of danger they spray formic acid, which can cause an allergic reaction in people and their pets.

Interesting. Ants not only create “pastures” with aphids in their habitats, but also carry these pests to their nests for the winter. With the onset of spring and the appearance of leaves, they again send the aphids, which successfully survived the winter, to graze.

Long-term practice shows that if harmful insects are not removed in a timely manner, you can lose up to half of the total harvest.