Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: Help! My neighbors and I are being invaded by ants… What do you recommend to control and get rid of them?.. So far inside I'm cleaning up food scraps and going after the “scouts” with soapy water spray. What else should I be doing to eliminate them in the future?
MGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for calling the UC Master Gardeners Help Desk today. It was a pleasure talking with you about your ant problems, and as promised, I am sending a link to the UC Pest Note on Ant Management.
Prevention is the preferred method. You will see scrolling down the Pest Note to 'outdoor insecticide treatment' that barrier sprays are not an effective long-term solution, and that regular sprays can have negative environmental effects.
You might also find informative the video by UCANR with detailed instructions for managing the common Argentine ants in the home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOLJbtRSCIA
I hope this will help you and your neighbors to deal with this issue. You are very welcome to contact Master Gardeners again if you have any further questions.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SMW)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925)646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
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