Winter Green Pest Control – Ants, Organic Pesticides
Posted by easy eco blog
Winter time brings on the bugs. The ants in our area seem to love to visit our kitchen when the first heavy rains hit. Almost everyone has to deal with pests. Whether indoor or outdoors, we need to think about eco friendly, green alternatives to toxic pesticides.
We try to first watch where the ants are coming from, then plug the holes with caulk. Unfortunately these pests came come through holes slightly larger than a pin size, so that strategy works up to a point.
Keeping food in sealed containers, the tables and counters free of any crumbs, and the kitchen immaculate also helps.
Be sure to check plants for insects. They love the moisture in the soil. You may need to mix the soil with the insecticide to prevent ants growing in your plants.
We also use Orange Guard, which is d-Limonene (orange peel extract) based to keep ants away. Spray and leave it on for a while to soak in and deter other ants from coming back. This spray helps remove the pheromone trails that ants leave.
Safer Ant & Crawling Insect Killer is another product we use. It contains diatomaceous earth (77.69%). Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. OMRI-listed and compliant for use in organic gardening. We dust the cracks where ants may come out of with this stuff. It also works on Cockroaches, Ants, Earwigs, Silverfish, Crickets, Millipedes & Centipedes. Avoid inhaling this stuff.
You can make your own ant traps by combining 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon of borax. Sprinkle it in ant infested areas. Ants will take this mix back to the nest and slowly eradicate it.
EcoPCO ACU contact insecticide is another eco-friendly insecticide. It is made from plant essential oils.
This website has a good list of eco-friendly insecticides. Others have suggested using coffee grounds, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, laundry detergent, cornstarch, or vaseline.
Related posts:
- Green Pest Control
- Chinese Insecticide Chalk
- Green Eco Friendly Pest Control
- Orange Oil Termite Pest Control – XT-2000 Orange Oil
- Water Saving Tips Continued
- Cleaning Showerheads and Tile the Green Way
- Reducing a Lawn, Grass, Garden’s Water Use
- Termites? Green Termite Control – Orange Oil
Filed under: Easy, Eco Friendly, Effort, Environment, Food, Green, Home, Kitchen, Money, Shopping | Tags: Ants, d-Limonene, Diatomaceous earth, Green Pest Control, Orange peel extract, Organic Pesticides, Pest control, Pesticide
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed.
5 Responses to “Winter Green Pest Control – Ants, Organic Pesticides”
Leave a Reply
Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name.
January 6th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Hi,
Neem is the king of the organic pesticides. You can simple emulsify neem oil and spray to plants. Neem is proved to control around 200 species of insects. Soil application of neem cake repelles nematodes.
You can also buy water soluble neem oil directly from the Indian manufacturers like Nature Neem.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
[...] out our green pest control article. Eco friendly pesticide alternatives include Diatomaceous Earth – Info, Baking soda, vinegar, [...]
April 30th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Very interesting article. I am from Malaysia and I was graduated from Leeds England in Landscape Architecture. Here in Malaysia there
a lot of plants that are naturally repels insect, may be we can share ideas on how to make it be easily used by people. My blog agrobiosolution just tells what are those plants,
May 28th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Being natural, does not mean without risk. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) for example works effectively as a desiccant and it is a natural product made up of tiny Jurassic crustations called diatoms. These microscopic guys are like small pieces of glass, when applied appropriately, and in “small” amounts, insects walk over the DE an as they groom themselves the small little “razor blades” cut into the soft appendages between the exoskeleton of the head, thorax and abdomen.
That said, inappropriate use of this fine powder like substance can create an airborne disaster to the lungs if ingested. Now you will have the same desiccant effect in your pulumary system. Read directions, more is not better, and always wear eye protection and resperator.
August 19th, 2010 at 8:25 am
[...] other articles cover green termite pest control and green indoor pest control. [...]