Possible causes of ant infestation
Before trying to get rid of uninvited guests, you should understand the reasons why insects visit residential premises. There are thief ants. Most often they enter houses in search of food and soon leave. Another thing is red ants; they appear for several reasons:
- their anthill is located in adjacent rooms;
- The house is rarely thoroughly cleaned, which creates ideal conditions for their reproduction;
- the pest was brought by owners or animals;
- they are looking for a place to live safely.
Anthill next door
In cases where the anthill is located in the neighborhood, one should expect that the parasites will stop by for a visit. Gradually, when the number of ants grows, they will need to look for new places to feed and live. Most likely, they will disperse into neighboring rooms to create new anthills.
Interesting! Ants prefer damp and poorly ventilated areas, such as basements. They are often attracted by garbage chutes that are equipped in multi-story buildings. In this case, they also end up in apartments nearby.
No general cleaning
In search of food, ants come to houses where they smell food and waste. Rare general cleaning, lack of disinfection in waste accumulation areas and damp rooms create ideal conditions for the life of parasites.
Brought by animals
Quite often, ants get into living quarters due to the carelessness of the owners and the fault of animals. The brought guest, having scouted out the conditions, will look for the way to the anthill. Moreover, if there is food for them in the house, then soon there will be a whole flock here. It's even worse if you bring a queen into the house. Then the room will become the new location of the anthill. Often, parasites enter a home during the moving process, when they hide in the cracks of furniture and other places.
Safe Habitat
When insects are poisoned in every possible way in their permanent habitats, they begin to look for a safe refuge. In such cases, all preventive measures should be used, preventing them from establishing themselves in their own premises.
How does ammonia affect the ant tribe?
When an apartment or cottage becomes a haven for ants, you don’t always want to use store-bought products. Especially because chemistry is harmful not only to insects, but also to other residents. Therefore, housewives prefer to fight pests using traditional methods. For example, the use of ammonia can repel insects.
Attention! Ammonia is used against ants by gardeners and gardeners because the pungent odor repels them.
To prepare the solution, you need to use a liter of water and a bottle of ammonia. The resulting mixture should be used to treat furniture, corners and other places where ant swarms live. The unpleasant, pungent smell of ammonia will disappear within an hour, but it will repel insects for a long time.
Ammonia for ants often helps to destroy them, because when they encounter it they experience:
- fright - strong aromas from ammonia vapors quickly disappear, but continue to be felt by parasites;
- swelling of the digestive system. Ammonia also paralyzes the digestive tract of insects;
- burns from toxic steam;
- complete paralysis, which soon kills them.
How to use it correctly?
Ammonia is a necessary aid in any area. This folk recipe helps remove insects with virtually no risk to plants and the human body.
An important condition for working with solutions is the use of protective equipment. You should remember to take precautions and use the solution only in well-ventilated areas, wearing gloves, goggles and a mask.
Attention! Do not mix chlorine with ammonia.
What will you need?
It must be remembered that ammonia concentrate can cause burns to the skin and mucous membranes. It is also dangerous to breathe in the fumes as they can cause lung problems. The first thing you need to do is acquire the protective equipment required for safe use. Skin, eyes and respiratory tract should be protected.
Depending on the scale of processing, you need to prepare:
- gauze bandage;
- gloves;
- spray bottle (watering can or bucket);
- water;
- soap base.
Spray
As a rule, it is needed when there is a fight not only against ants, but also against aphids, which they actively spread. With its help you can poison insects on the foliage and trunks of tall trees and medium-sized plants.
Gauze bandage
When using an ammonia-based product, the first step is to protect your respiratory tract. A gauze bandage can prevent steam from entering the body.
Gloves
Also a mandatory element of protection are latex or cotton gloves with rubberized palms and fingers. It is best that their height is maximum.
Bucket
It is best to use plastic containers to prevent ammonia from interacting with metals. The use of buckets will be needed when fighting parasites that destroy the root system of plants.
Soap
Typically, soap is intended to help the product stick to foliage and other surfaces. The use of “adhesive” allows you to protect the garden and other areas from uninvited guests for a long time. Any soap, shampoo or dish detergent can be used as “adhesives”.
Water
If you plan to add more than just homemade ammonia to the solutions, you should use boiled water. In this case, ammonia will not give any extraneous reactions.
Cooking methods
In the fight against ants, ammonia must be diluted immediately before processing. This is due to the rapid evaporation of ammonia vapor, which insects are afraid of. First of all, all the ingredients are mixed in water; the proportions are always different. When the mixture is ready for use, you can pour in ammonia. The destruction of uninvited guests is carried out using an aqueous solution of ammonia, which can be bought at a pharmacy.
Against ants
The following proportions help rid the area of pests:
For 8 liters of boiled water you will need 1 tbsp. spoon of ammonia. This solution should be left to sit for 15-20 minutes. When the mixture becomes uniform, it can be used to treat areas with insects. Such a weak remedy can be used during the flowering and fruiting period, since it does not harm the plants.
Against aphids
To save plants from aphid attacks, it is also recommended to treat them with an aqueous solution of ammonia. The following recipe is used:
- Mix 2 tablespoons of alcohol, 2 tablespoons of tar soap shavings and 10 liters of water. Soap can replace fairy or shampoo. At the same time, gardeners say that tar soap enhances the effectiveness of the solution.
- All components dissolve well in water. All affected plants are treated with a spray bottle. Healthy trees can be treated for prevention.
- During the spraying process, you need to especially carefully treat the lower part of the foliage, where the parasite lives most.
Attention! Treatment is carried out in the absence of sun during the day or in the evening after sunset. To continuously protect the crop from aphids, spraying is carried out once every two weeks. Ornamental plants can also be protected with a similar solution.
Sugar solution
The soap in the spray can be replaced with a sugar solution. To treat plants you will need 3 tablespoons of alcohol, 5 tablespoons of sugar and a bucket of water. Mix everything well and spray using a spray bottle.
Prevention
You can use ammonia against ants in the garden for preventive purposes. To do this, you need to prepare the following mixture: dilute 10 ml of alcohol in a bucket of water and water the plants with this solution weekly. This way you can not only get rid of pests, but also scare them away forever.
Spraying
Spraying with ammonia helps fertilize plants and fight parasites. To do this, it is enough to use a weak solution - 1 spoon of alcohol per 8 liters of water.
Soap
Ants in the house: how to get rid of ants at home using soap. It is difficult to cope with ants, since the pests remain undetected for a long time, but at the same time they multiply quickly and actively damage plants and crops, but tar soap is an excellent helper. Usage algorithm:
- Pour 2 liters of pre-boiled and cooled water into a container.
- Add 25 g of crushed tar soap and mix.
- Add 25 g of soda, stir.
- Pour the prepared solution into the anthill.
get rid of ants
There are several cooking methods, but this is the most effective. It delivers a double whammy: baking soda and soap.
Features of application
Ammonia itself can be harmful to human health. But when used correctly, ammonia not only gets rid of annoying parasites, but also helps enrich the soil with nitrogen. Such measures will help protect vegetation and increase yields. An indication for action is the formation of a large number of holes in the ground, around which ants are sure to roam.
In the garden
Ants are considered frequent guests in gardens and garden beds. When holes appear in the ground, this is a clear signal for the need to use ammonia. In this case, disposal is carried out through watering the beds. For this use:
- 10 liters of water;
- 10 ml of ammonia.
All components are mixed and watered the root system of the plants. Also, if you add a few spoons of sugar, which attracts insects, when treating trees you will be able to remove more of them.
At home
Ants often appear in houses and apartments, where they easily find food in the form of food. In this case, the ammonia solution will also be effective. You can repel insects in an apartment or house with the following means:
- 1 liter of water;
- a bottle of ammonia.
The prepared solution is used for wiping floors, kitchen work surfaces, furniture and other parts where parasites occur. You can open the window and ventilate the room to remove the pungent odor. At the same time, the insects will feel it for a long time, which will force them to leave.
In the greenhouse
Creeping parasites can also often be found in greenhouses and greenhouses, since it is warm, high humidity and there is something to eat. A greenhouse with plants attracts ordinary ants, which not only destroy the root system, but also bring aphids. In this case, it will not be possible to avoid large crop losses. To effectively combat parasites without harming plants, ammonia is used in a more concentrated form. For preparation use:
- 5 liters of water;
- 2 tablespoons of alcohol.
Everything is mixed and the resulting mixture is used to water the beds in the greenhouse. Particular care must be taken to treat the places where goosebumps accumulate and the path along which they penetrate inside.
Fighting anthills
In cases where the ants' home is in the access zone, it can also be treated with ammonia. To do this, you need to dissolve a bottle of ammonia in 1 liter of boiled warm water. The resulting mixture is poured into the tubercle so that it gets as deep as possible. If necessary, you can dig it up or remove some earth from above. You can soak a piece of cloth that covers the anthill with an ammonia solution. To preserve the smell, cover the nest with a film on top of the fabric.
Ammonia - a little chemistry
Ammonia is one of the most important products of the chemical industry; it is used in various areas of human activity.
It is also used to obtain ammonia. The fundamental difference between these products is that ammonia is a gaseous substance that liquefies at -33°C. Ammonia gas or “alkaline air” was obtained in 1774 by the English scientist J. Priestley. The chemical composition of the new substance was determined in 1785, at which time it received its name. There are several assumptions about where this name came from. One of them is associated with the name of the ancient Egyptian god Amon. During ritual ceremonies, believers sniffed ammonia, a white crystalline substance that releases ammonia when heated. The second version is the existence of the Ammon oasis in North Africa, located at the intersection of busy caravan routes. The constant presence of a large number of pack animals on its territory led to the accumulation of their waste products. Under the influence of high temperature, urea emits a pungent ammonia odor.
Ammonia Ammonia is an aqueous solution of ammonia, or rather ammonium hydroxide. In appearance it is a colorless transparent liquid with a pungent odor.
On a note!
In addition to its medical purposes, the product is often used by summer residents while working in the garden. This is explained by the fact that plants need nitrogen to actively grow green mass, set buds and form fruits. In ammonia, its mass reaches 82% of the total composition of the drug.
The high concentration of the alcohol solution, low price and cost-effectiveness of use are the factors that explain the high demand for the pharmaceutical product, as confirmed by consumer reviews.
Prevention from insects
To prevent the appearance of creeping pests, the room and area can be treated with various products with a smell that repels them:
- ammonia helps drive away ants and feed plants. For this purpose, stir 1 tbsp. a spoonful of ammonia in a bucket of water. Plants are watered with this solution no more than once every 14 days;
- tobacco - ants cannot tolerate it. To repel them, it is enough to sprinkle tobacco dust on the insects’ habitats;
- citrus fruits - their aroma repels ants and aphids. In places where they are concentrated, it is enough to spread out fresh zest;
- garlic. To protect the area, you can cut off the garlic arrows and place them in different places;
- mint, wormwood, tansy - if you plant these plants on your site and periodically cut off their flowers, you can repel insects for a long time. Inflorescences are best placed under plants and trees. This is also a good method for rodent control.
It must be remembered that chemicals are not always necessary to control insects. Sometimes using home remedies such as ammonia is enough.
Industrial control methods
There are many drugs that help get rid of unwanted guests. There are several types: aerosols, powders, gels and more. Let's look at the best ways to get rid of house ants forever:
- “Raptor” is an excellent spray that works effectively not only against ants, but also perfectly helps in the fight against cockroaches, various bedbugs and fleas. The advantage of the drug is its immediate effect and the additional protection it provides. One Raptor cylinder is enough for fifty square meters of territory.
- Dr Klaus aerosol is designed for as much as 20 acres, it contains 600 ml. The shape is very convenient; with the help of a bottle and a sprayer you can get into the most inaccessible places and get rid of pests. You need to find places where ants accumulate and that’s it.
- The insecticidal product “Global” is available in gel form. The drug is designed to combat ants and cockroaches. This is a paste-like substance with the active component chlorpyrifos, which causes the death of the insect.
- “Clean Home” gel is used once a month and applied to areas from which it can be easily wiped off. Advantages include ease of use, affordable price and easy removal from the surface.
The list contains the most effective and safe means that help with the question of how to get rid of ants at home.