The majority of home gardeners do their best to treat their garden organically. They spend time and money avoiding chemical weed killers and insecticides. However, their attitude changes on the morning they wake up and find their kitchen and/or bathroom covered with ants. At this point they are willing to
nuke the neighborhood.
In the early 90's my home would get invaded over and over. We sprayed chemicals behind the cabinets, under the appliances, in cracks in the wall. I applied sprays and granules in the garden. We'd have to repeat several times per year. Very frustrating!
Some homeowners think that ants are simply a nuisance and not a pest. Unfortunately the most common ant, the Argentine ant, herd sucking insects. They move and protect Aphids, Mealybugs, Scale, and Whiteflies because all these plant pests excrete honeydew, a major part of the ant's diet. With the ant's help these bugs cause many shrubs and trees to have sticky, yellowing, distorted growth. Without these ant caretakers, just about all sucking insect pests would be controlled by their natural predators.
The only good thing about California being invaded by the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA) in the late 1990's was that the best ant controls since Chlordane was banned were now available locally. (Chlordane was discontinued in the 1980's. One treatment lasted over a year.) RIFA had invaded the Southern States well before they arrived on the West Coast and pest control companies had developed many treatments.
The best strategy, that involves the least amount of toxic chemicals, are the current ant baits. Most brands use a granulated corn meal soaked with a vegetable oil. This is as yummy to ants as Fritos are to people. This bait has protein, carbs and fats. The baits contains a small amount (usually less than 1%) of a
slow-acting poison. This gives the worker ants time to eat the bait as well as carry back a fatal dose to their colonies. Less than a tablespoon can kill the biggest ant colony you will encounter. While not perfectly safe, this is about as safe as you can get. Even if your neighborhood is built on an anthill, 1-3 applications per year will keep you ant free.
I remember the first time I used it. At our former store's parking lot one evening there was an area of about 50 square feet or more that was literally black with ants. I pulled one of the new ant baits off our shelf and scattered about an ounce over the horde. A few days later I couldn't find any ants! Prior to that I was treating the entire nursery with Dursban and/or Diazinon which not only made me feel ill, the insecticides only lasted 2 weeks with no reduction in ant numbers.
At my own home we haven't had any ants in our home since 1999! We attribute this success to the following product that we have been recommending for years.
Grants Kills Ants 12oz. $14 (includes tax)
This 12 oz. container will easily treat up to 15,000 square feet when broadcast. It will kill most species of ants.
Currently Citrus trees are getting infested by the Citrus Leaf Miner. This caterpillar will destroy all the new growth on trees during summer and fall. Mature trees tolerate the damage, but young trees should be treated. We have the effective organic product, Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew, available in concentrate and ready-to-use.
The window for those of you wanting to grow warm season annuals and perennials will be closing soon. Generally our warm growing season lasts until night temperatures drop below 50 degrees F. This may happen as early as mid-September or not happen until late October.
Generally you can plant tomatoes for about 2-3 more weeks. Champion, a medium size, tasty red tomato is in stock.
With warm season color you can plant for at least another month. Even though growth slows dramatically after September, flowering will continue through October and most of November.