Kyloe on 26/7/2010 at 07:59
Try this with ants: Put a black plastic flower pot upside down over one of the ant holes, preferably one that is not in the shadows. Cover the hole in the pot, so that the light is blocked out.
This pot will soon be the warmest place in the ant nest and they will carry their eggs there. After a few days, sweep up the contents of the pot and get rid of the eggs. Repeat this a few times and the ants will soon be extinct.
jtr7 on 26/7/2010 at 08:35
I remember a local evening news segment on simple, non-toxic methods for dealing with ants, and it called for blending oranges, peel and all, with just enough water to make it blend and pour well, and dumping it on the anthill(s). I never tried it, but looking it up online just now, the focus is on the peels, specifically the oil in the peels, but the peels are the simplest resource for the common home, and other than marmalade and garnishes, it's potentially another good thing to use the peels for.
ilweran on 3/8/2010 at 11:10
I tried pouring boiling water on the ants nest in my garden, but failed to kill them all and they started tidying up their nest and lining up all the little bodies on the wall and I felt too bad to try again. I know, that's pathetic, but as long as they don't come into the house I decided to live and let live.
I also get a lot of slow worms and lizards - mainly brought into the house by my two charming cats. Our neighbour saw one of them with a grass snake last year - and he was hoping they'd help reduce the local rat population :rolleyes: I did warn him that was unlikely. They have caught 3 rats between them in 18mths, usually in the most annoying way possible - one was brought in through the bedroom window at 3am, another was dropped on the kitchen worktop.
The worst potential infestation we have is Japanese Knotweed. Not much compared to the killer invertebrates some of you have, but really bad for property values. I'll be spraying any of it that comes near my property four times a year for as long as we live here or until some biological control is released more widely.
st.patrick on 3/8/2010 at 17:25
We've got an invasion of Giant Hogweed throughout the west of the country. Fortunately, it grows mostly along damp troughs outside of towns but it spreads like motherfucker and it's virtually indestructible - unless you burn it down and dig up the roots, it regrows the next year.
Plus there's the extreme phototoxicity of its secretions, so if you touch it you're lucky if you get just some blisters that itch terribly. Folks who are sensitive to allergens usually end up with severe respiratory problems. And let's not even mention what would happen if some of that shit got into your eyes.
What's even more unsettling is that the name is rather accurate, as the plant can grow up to 5 m (15 ft). I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they tore out their roots one day and it's the bloody triffid invasion all over again.
Inline Image:
http://dreamingarm.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/hogweedgiant201web1.jpgCCCToad on 3/8/2010 at 22:45
It sounds like a poisonous version of kudzu.
SubJeff on 3/8/2010 at 23:48
Looks nice though.
ilweran on 4/8/2010 at 11:40
Quote Posted by st.patrick
We've got an invasion of Giant Hogweed throughout the west of the country. Fortunately, it grows mostly along damp troughs outside of towns but it spreads like motherfucker and it's virtually indestructible - unless you burn it down and dig up the roots, it regrows the next year.
Read about that when looking up how to deal with the knotweed. Fortunately the knotweed isn't poisonous, and the young shoots are edible - if you like rhubarb :eww:
On the downside digging it up is likely to result in more of it growing, it doesn't mind being burned and if you cut it down the council won't take the stems away as they're likely to grow into new plants, so you need to store them to dry them out then burn them. Spraying it 4 times a year for 4 or 5 years may kill it, but even then it may grow again if the roots are disturbed. I've read you can really weaken the plants by repeatedly cutting off all the new growth early in the year, but as it's not growing in my garden I'd really prefer not to bring any of it in and I don't want to cause it to spread by leaving the cuttings in the back lane.
Ulukai on 4/8/2010 at 16:14
Quote Posted by jtr7
blending oranges, peel and all, with just enough water to make it blend and pour well, and dumping it on the anthill(s).
One of my anthills has come back, I'm going to try this as the powder seems annoyingly effective at killing some of my plants as a side effect.
Hesche on 10/8/2010 at 11:40
We too have had ants in our flat. They broke the security perimeter via the balcony door and the roller shutter box. Strange thing is we live on the top floor of our appartement building. These little suckers had to crawl up 2 stories to get into our flat. Dedicated little creatures indeed.
They even created a diversion by first invading the book shelf in the living room. When we called pest control to take care of the problem they were gone, of course, with only a few stragglers crawling around leaving the guy no visible trail to follow in order to find their headquarter which is the only way to ultimate victory: destroy their base of operation.
A few days later they went for their primary objective: the kitchen. We answered their attack with successive utilization of biochemical warfare, for example by setting up barriers of baking powder (which actually worked pretty good even though the pest control guy said baking powder has no effect at all). We then successfully destroyed their pathfinding system by the application of chrysanthemum seed powder. Also smashing the invaders and leaving their horribly crippled bodies for their followers to see seemed to do the trick. The final step to preliminary victory was mixing regular bakers yeast with sugar and leave it to the invaders to feed their hell spawn offspring. I wonder what actually happens to them when they digest bakers yeast. Maybe something involving explosions? A cruel measure, but it helped to control the situation.
Every now and then we find single scouts roaming the kitchen. Funny detail: you almost always find one under the electric kettle where the electric connector is. I wonder if they have sadomasochistic parties in there giving themselves electric shocks or something and we find the poor guy that talked big and got the overdose.
We drew chalk lines to keep them out of the appartement and on the balcony, which we basically accepted as their territory now. That actually works pretty good. My explanation is that ants are organized hard-working creatures with strict rules to sustain their society. And one of those rules is: don´t cross the fucking chalk line. Maybe the effect is even more pronounced in German ants :cheeky:
Bluegrime on 11/8/2010 at 05:09
You can find them under your appliance because ants love the smell of electricity and are attracted to wiring. Try taking off the socket cover in your kitchen and see if any of them are in the wall.
