Ants are insects that normally do not cause damage to plants but sometimes we will have to keep their population under control, especially if we have had or are having problems with aphids.
For this we can use both homemade products and insecticides bought in a nursery or garden store. But, How to eliminate ants quickly and effectively?
Home remedies to eliminate ants
Provided that the pest has not spread too much and the plants are not yet showing very weak, it is highly advisable to use home remedies. These products are things that, as the name suggests, we have at home and, in addition, they will not harm the environment.
Before going directly to insecticides, it is advisable to first try the following remedies:
- Lemon:
- We will cut one in half and run it through the trunks of the plants.
- We will squeeze it to extract its juice and we will fill a sprayer with it to spray it where there are ants.
- Cinnamon: either in powder or in oil. It is applied where the insects are, it can even be sprinkled on the surface of the substrate.
- Diatomaceous earth: or diatomine, as it is also known, is composed of fossilized algae that are used as fertilizer. But it has also proven to be very effective in repelling ants, and you just have to spread it where you don't want them to go.
- Vinegar: it is combined with water and used to clean the floor. Do not use on plants.
Insecticides to kill the plague
When the plague of ants is great we can use any universal insecticide. It is convenient read the labels well since there are products that can be applied on plants and there are others that cannot. The latter are the ones sold in supermarkets (yes, also the Home and Garden) and can cause a lot of damage to the leaves and flowers.
In addition, it is convenient to observe the plant and see if it has any other pests. As we mentioned at the beginning, ants usually appear when aphids are damaging plants. If we want to eliminate them, it is convenient to first kill the aphids with the remedies that we suggest here.
So we can have our plants free of these insects.