Organic ant control – effective repellent plants and treatments

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Natural organic ant control is possible and effective. Here are a few tricks to fight against these tiny insects.

Although they aren’t directly pests for plants and for humans, ants quickly turn invasive when they decide to set up shop…

Since ants usually only bring on minimal damage, it is strongly recommended to use organic solutions to treat against them. No need to go for nature-damaging chemical products to get rid of these insects.

Ant repellent indoors

• Place lemon slices near the ant colony.
  The smell and the acidity that emanate from the fruit disturbs them and will make the ants leave.
• Press 1 or 2 lemons and pour the juice along their most traveled itinerary.
• Coffee grounds are also an effective barrier that they shun and won’t cross.
• Ants never cross a line marked along the ground with chalk, as long as water hasn’t washed it out.

Since ants tend to always follow the same paths in a house, it is recommended to attract them outside with products that they particularly like, such as honey, jam, etc.

How to control ants in the garden

Some plants directly repel ants, while others offer ant-repelling materials like fruit, flowers and more.

Plants to grow to repel and control ants in your garden

• Same as for the indoors, lemon is very effective.
  If they have invaded a tree, layer lemon slices around the tree in a circle to cut ant routes off. The fruit is effective but not necessarily the lemon tree itself.

• Plant mint in places where they repeatedly try to set up a colony.
  They hate the smell that the plant produces and tend to move further away.

• Also plant “tansy”, lavender or French marigolds.
  These plants have ant repellent properties.

• Lastly, if you must act fast, you can always find effective organic ant repellent products in horticulture stores.

Coffee grounds as an ant deterrent

Spread coffee grounds on an anthill to make it move out. Protect target plants by sprinkling a few spoonfuls of ground coffee on the ground around the stem. More on garden uses for ground coffee.

Attract ants to other spots of the garden

Some plants have the property of attracting ants. For example, they might produce nectar or sweet substances to attract them. Usually such plants have a symbiotic relationship with ants.

• An example is the Codonanthe plant. This tree-dwelling plant attracts ants with nutritious sap.
• The botanical term for such plants is “myrmecophyte” – meaning “ant-plant”.