Does Epsom salt help get rid of ants?

You will kill the grass/lawn if you put epsom salts on the lawn.

Epsom salts to MgSO4 (IIRC) which may benefit plans if they're lacking in such.

What you may be thinking of is boric acid which is fundamentally toxic to ants. 1 part bric acid to 50 parts sugar i more than enough to wipe out a colony. In place of boric acid, you can use Borax which is a salt of boric acid. 1 part Borax to 2 parts cat food (for protein and fat ants - Whiskas wet works well) or 1 part Borax to 3 parts sugar, wetted with just enough water to make a syrup - for sugar ants) is the formula I've used. You don't need very much. 1/4 tsp mixed with the above amounts is more than enough.

My mom's recipe is equal parts borax and icing sugar. Sprinkle the powder around the outside of the house. Do it on a dry day and don't let your pets near it. The ants will cross over the powder and take it back to their home and you will never see them again!

I have an ant mound in my lawn, Raid ant killer in a dropper bottle killed them off. A few drops goes a long way.

westcoastyvr wrote: ↑ My mom's recipe is equal parts borax and icing sugar. Sprinkle the powder around the outside of the house. Do it on a dry day and don't let your pets near it. The ants will cross over the powder and take it back to their home and you will never see them again!

Thanks. Assuming pets are to be kept away from the boric acid/sugar formula?

DaWi67 wrote: ↑ Thanks. Assuming pets are to be kept away from the boric acid/sugar formula?

westcoastyvr just answered my questions - thanks!

no

Vinegar works great vs ants

jdmfishingonly wrote: ↑ Vinegar works great vs ants

Vinegar will also kill your plants.

Ants don't like it over wet so maybe keep that area well watered and they will move on. They also don't like having their colony disturbed.

thriftshopper wrote: ↑ Epsom salts to MgSO4 (IIRC) which may benefit plans if they're lacking in such.

What you may be thinking of is boric acid which is fundamentally toxic to ants. 1 part bric acid to 50 parts sugar i more than enough to wipe out a colony. In place of boric acid, you can use Borax which is a salt of boric acid. 1 part Borax to 2 parts cat food (for protein and fat ants - Whiskas wet works well) or 1 part Borax to 3 parts sugar, wetted with just enough water to make a syrup - for sugar ants) is the formula I've used. You don't need very much. 1/4 tsp mixed with the above amounts is more than enough.

I have ants in my house for the first time in the 10 years I have lived here. They are very small - able to get through cracks thinner than a credit card. I'm pretty sure that they originally came in under my front door. They are now downstairs. I have put a few of the puck shaped baits out and they are definitely in them, but it's been about a week and they are still going back and forth although there do seem to be less than there originally were. I tried mixing some borax and honey with water and they have zero interest in that. I don't have any sugar, but I could get some if it will make any difference from the honey. I had left a sealed box of granola bars on my steps a few days ago and there were at least 100 swarming it when I got home from work.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

SizzleChest wrote: ↑ I have ants in my house for the first time in the 10 years I have lived here. They are very small - able to get through cracks thinner than a credit card. I'm pretty sure that they originally came in under my front door. They are now downstairs. I have put a few of the puck shaped baits out and they are definitely in them, but it's been about a week and they are still going back and forth although there do seem to be less than there originally were. I tried mixing some borax and honey with water and they have zero interest in that. I don't have any sugar, but I could get some if it will make any difference from the honey. I had left a sealed box of granola bars on my steps a few days ago and there were at least 100 swarming it when I got home from work.

Might be fat/protein ants. Try cat food or peanut butter.

thriftshopper wrote: ↑ Might be fat/protein ants. Try cat food or peanut butter.

I had put peanut butter and borax out beside the other puck trap that already in use and they didn't seem interested in the peanut butter either for the first few days however I just got back from being out of town for 48 hours and there are way more now than when I left. They are going for the peanut butter and the puck trap. It's tempting to introduce them to my vacuum but I have read that it's better to just leave them so that there are more of them to take the bait back to the nest.

no but Diatomaceous Earth does

Advion gel is the only thing that worked for me.

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 TBSP Borax
1 1/2 cups of warm water
Stir to dissolve the sugar then add about 25-30 cotton balls. Enough to soak up the liquid. We put about 3-4 on each ant hill and within a day or 2 they are gone.
We leave near the beach and pretty well built on sand so lots of ant hills popping up. Wait until you know your going to have a sunny dry day or 2 before doing it.

The real way to kill ants without using harsh chemicals is aerosol spray cooking oil. Not the low fat type ones like PAM but the regular greasy vegetable oil stuff. It covers them and immobilizes them similar to an oil spill and they can't breath and die. Im sure PAM will still work if you lay it on them really thick.