HOW TO GET RID OF ANTS IN THE GREENHOUSE, THE BEST WAYS TO COMBAT INSECTS

Hardworking ants like to settle not only in the forest, but also in the garden, and in the greenhouse, as they can find a lot of food near home plantings. However, this does not always benefit summer residents, therefore, below we will study the question of how to get rid of ants in a greenhouse.

Ant: description and life cycle of the pest

Ants are insects that live in large groups, while organizing huge houses, anthills. In one anthill is usually present only one queen, which carries out the process of laying eggs. All other ants are busy collecting "building material" for their anthill, as well as food. It is in the second question that these insects pose a particular danger to gardeners, because they like to eat juicy and sweet berries, vegetables and root vegetables. New generations of ants appear very quickly - almost every 2 months. To do this, the queen first lays eggs, which for 35 days creep in the aisle passages, after which the larvae appear from them. Their life cycle is also short, only 7 days, after which the larvae are wrapped with their own secret and turn into pupae. Only in the fourth stage small ants appear from the pupae, which grow rapidly and immediately start to fulfill certain obligations.

Did you know? Ants are able to mark for themselves the distance traveled with the help of special smells, thanks to which they always return to the anthill without fail and, if necessary, can again find a place where they saw a lot of "prey". To block the path of pests, in the greenhouse it is important to spread the pungent smell of garlic, mustard, mint.

It is worth noting that among the ants there are many varieties, but often in gardens and in greenhouses there are only:

red forest (most often found in cottages, which are located near the forest);
black garden, which can often be found in greenhouses and which greatly damage young plant seedlings;
brown meadows (less common in greenhouses).

What are the benefits of ants

Despite the fact that the title of our article is devoted to the question of how to get rid of ants in a greenhouse, one should not bypass the benefits of these small insects. After all, if they appeared in your greenhouse, it will allow:

Get rid of a number of pests of garden plants, such as caterpillars, fly larvae, slugs and spider mites, as these pests are food for ants.
Improve soil fertility, as numerous ant moves will make its structure as loose and airy as possible. Unlike earthworms, ants are able to go deep into the soil not by 20 cm, but by 1.5 m.
To improve the nutritional value of the soil, since the content of potassium substances in it increases by 2 times with the appearance of ants, and that of phosphorus increases by about 10 times. Also in the process of life of ants in the soil humus and nitrogen appear. It is very important that all of these substances under the influence of ants become soluble form necessary for plant nutrition.

Important! The rapid reproduction of ants in a greenhouse is due to the fact that even at subzero temperatures outside the film, a favorable temperature and a sufficient amount of moisture will always remain under the film. Therefore, after the autumn harvest, it is important to open the greenhouse and allow the first frost to freeze the top layer of soil in which the eggs of the ants can be stored.

What are dangerous greenhouse ants

Ants in a greenhouse are useful only if their colonies are not yet numerous. However, if the ants in the greenhouse multiply incredibly quickly, the question of how to get rid of them becomes urgent. What can be dangerous these insects?

Ants are able to secrete a kind of acid, which can rapidly increase the acidity of the soil. As you know, not all garden plants like these soils, which to get a good crop have to lime.
The basic diet of ants is not only the larvae of various pests, but also young shoots of garden plants, as well as their sweet fruits. Therefore, with a significant reproduction of the ant family, the greenhouse may be seriously harmed and not yield a crop.
Adult ants are very fond of sugar, which is important for their normal life, so they can independently breed entire colonies of aphids. This pest can, in turn, multiply and feed on garden plants, thereby bringing irreparable damage to the crop, and sometimes even the complete destruction of the plants.
Ants can organize their anthills directly among the rows of greenhouse plants, thereby preventing them from growing normally.
Since the habitat of ants is not limited to just a greenhouse, they can bring weed seeds into their backyard plots, which, under favorable conditions, quickly germinate and overwhelm garden plants.

But, besides harm, for the greenhouse itself and the plants growing in it, ants can also be dangerous for humans. After all, with the mass distribution of ants, it will be very difficult to avoid their bites, during which insects release a specific acid secret. Besides the fact that such a bite is quite painful, in some people it can cause an allergic reaction.

Important! Ants feel bad where there is a lot of moisture. Therefore, if high humidity is maintained in the greenhouse and the plants are often watered, the activity of the ants can be stopped.

How to deal with ants in the greenhouse

Considering that the harm from ants in a greenhouse is many times more than good, it is still rational to fight these insects, rather than to encourage their further reproduction. Below are a few effective methods that will tell you how to deal with ants in a greenhouse.

Mechanical actions against ants

So, if ants appeared in the greenhouse and you do not know what to do, then first of all it is worth trying the mechanical ways of catching them. First, every year it is important to thoroughly dig up the soil in order to destroy the anthills and damage the laying of their eggs. Secondly, to annoy these pests even more, after each digging, sprinkle the soil with wood ash. Ants also dislike lime and baking soda, which force them to leave their habitat.

If you didn’t manage to defeat ants last season, soak the whole soil with a solution of baking soda and flaxseed oil before planting another plant in a greenhouse (5 g of soda and 30 g of oil are required per 1 liter of water). Usually, after such treatment, insects leave the greenhouse for a long time.

Did you know? There are special ultrasonic devices that are supposedly able to neutralize ants. In fact, such devices can only destroy mosquitoes and bees that have auditory organs. But for ants they are completely harmless, since their main organ of orientation in space is the scent.

How to deal with ants chemical means

It is about creating various baits, reacting to which the ants will expose themselves to mortal danger. One of the variants of such baits is boric acid, which in the amount of 1 teaspoon is diluted in a glass of water along with 4 teaspoons of sugar and the same amount of fermented jam. Putting such a bait in places where you can see most ants, by the evening it will be possible to pick up a full glass of drowned insects. For this reason, changing the glass with the bait will have daily.

This method allows you to catch even the queen of ants. For this purpose it is necessary to take a large flat container, such as a metal or plastic tray, and cover it with a piece of dark fabric. Saturated fabric with sugar syrup, you will force the ants together with the uterus to move to the tray, after which you can simply throw them away in another place as remote as possible from the greenhouse.

Getting rid of ants folk remedies

In order not to resort to the use of chemistry and not to even more feed the ants with sugar, it is important to know how to remove ants from the greenhouse with folk remedies. It must be remembered that ants do not tolerate the harsh odors that wormwood, garlic, mustard, anise and even laurel leaves emit. Therefore, if you decompose all these herbs in a greenhouse, you will soon be able to notice how the number of ants is rapidly decreasing.

But the most effective folk remedy for ants in the greenhouse is garlic, which is recommended to crush and insist in water for a day. With such tincture it is necessary to water the places of the mass accumulation of ants, from where they will run away in all possible directions and will not soon decide to return.

What plants scare away ants

Some plants that spread a specific smell help to fight the ants. It is clear that to scare away insects you will not grow wormwood or garlic in the greenhouse, but you can plant several seedlings together with tomatoes or cucumbers:

mint;
lavender;
marigolds;
lemon balm;
nasturtiums;
catnip;
rosemary;
parsley;
fennel

Important! To destroy the ants in the greenhouse, it is important to eliminate the main root of the problem - their queen. For this, it is necessary not only to dig up the soil, but also to examine it carefully in search of the largest ant that lays eggs.

Extreme measures: ant disposal by industrial chemicals

Fighting ants in the greenhouse with folk remedies and scaring them off with plants with a specific odor does not always give the desired effect, so the summer residents have to resort to using more efficient chemicals. Given the fact that they can harm not only the ants, but also the plants in the greenhouse, it is worth resorting to this measure only if insects can really destroy the entire crop.

As these drugs are recommended to use:

Thunder-2;
"Muracid";
"Ant-eater";
"Ant";
"Delicia";
"Expel".

If you are offered drugs with other names, check if they contain diazinon, which is lethal to ants. However, when using any chemical means to combat ants, do not forget that they can be dangerous for you.

How to prevent ants from entering the greenhouse, prevention

The destruction of ants in the greenhouse rarely occurs at one time, because of the rapid reproduction process, more and more new generations of these insects may appear. In this regard, it is necessary to know not only the methods of extermination of ants, but also effective methods of prevention. In particular, it is very important to remove from the greenhouse all remnants of old boards and pieces of roofing material, inside and under which ants can live and multiply. Consider that they can even settle in the supports of the greenhouse, which from time had already become decrepit and began to rot. Do not forget to annually make deep digging of the soil and apply various fertilizers in them, which in high concentrations can also have a detrimental effect on ants.

Important! If none of the above methods of combating ants suits you or helps, you can also contact a special insect control service for help. Experts will not only help to effectively get rid of adult ants, but also tell you where they come from to your site and to the greenhouse.

The question of how to deal with garden ants in the greenhouse, we have completely exhausted, so next season you can forget what kind of annoying insects that spoil the crop. However, getting rid of them, do not forget about the means of prevention, as ants can look at your greenhouse from the neighboring garden.