Ant problem starting with cactus

I've got a catus, which in the last few weeks has grown this huge stalk up it's center, from out of no where, and it looks like it's got buds coming off if. Very exciting and all.
So last week I noticed a few ants on the pot. The plant sits in a sill in my kitchen, the only place for plants in my apartment. So I killed them. Then the next day, more ants. And again, and again... they aren't reaching a frightening amount, just frequency. And they're all centered around this cactus, always around it or on the pot. I finally noticed today some in the dirt, so I flooded it (I know, I'll probably end up killing the cactus this way) and realised they are in/under the dirt, making a damned home?!
I just can't have this. I've got too much food and food trash in my kitchen, and if the ants know this, I'll be screwed in short order.

Are there any natural ant relepents I can put in/around the pot and window sill to drive them away permanently? I'd really hate to throw away or give away this cactus, my gf talks about how much personality it has and all, and I agree.
Any tips,tricks, or advise is desperatly needed and appreciated.

I have heard that some people use grits to kill fire ants. They say that the ants eat the grits and the grits expand in their gut and kills them.
If this works with fire ants then I would assume it would work for any ants.

I have no idea if the above is an urban legend or not, just something I have read or heard.

Put out some ant bait. They will take the bait back and the colony will die.

have ya uncle to stop bathing

Where are the ants coming from? Best thing would be to find the source and close that off (e.g., a gap in your window sill or around your baseboards), otherwise getting rid of the cactus may simply result in the ants seeking out other "goodies" in your house (unfortunately, I speak from experience). For local ant control, I've had good luck with citrus cleaners (e.g., "orange" cleaners that use orange oil as the main cleaning ingredient). I've tried spraying a perimeter of white vinegar at ingress points, which seems to be hit or miss. Someone told me that ants won't cross a cinnamon-scented barrier, but I haven't tried that yet.

Basically, I haven't found any natural solution that entirely gets rid of ants, so I'm also interested if anyone has highly recommended approaches.

put the cactus pot in a dish, put the dish in a shallow tray of water with a couple drops of dish soap added (to break the surface tension).

to chase ants off the plant dr bronners soap solution diluted a bit works well.

the ants are probably 'herding' aphids on your cactus. the aphids suck the plant juice and secrete a sweet 'sweat' that the ants harvest off of the aphid's backs, and eat.. they usually don't kill the plant though -- that wouldn't be in their (ants or aphids) best interest..

I don't really mind ants in the house; they are clean, don't poop, and actually leave the place cleaner than they found it..they don't get along with termites, or other more annoying insects -- they even carry off their dead...course I don't leave out food for them intentionaklly, but sometimes they just troop in looking for a little water during a dry spell, or just for a look around..then eventually leave...

even so, I built my kitchen shelves hanging on threaded rod from the cieling without any contact with the walls -- the ants haven't figured out how to get to them yet! but if they do it'll be easy to put some sticky stuff on the (6) rods and stop them..

They don't carry off their dead when you poison them!!!

yeah they do, if you give them time..I used an arsenic-based poison for ants once (Grants) and the ones that died on or near the bait (some eat right away-some carry it back to the nest) were gone after a while.. if you did even a cursory google-check of the facts you'd find alot of posts like this:

from:

http://www.sdreader.com/php/ma_show.php?id=211

"...Two things to keep in mind -- (1) about 90 percent of all communication in antdom involves chemical signals, and (2) ants are very tidy. An ant that's wounded in the line of duty exudes alarm chemicals that incite the other ants to rally to its aid. If they arrive on the scene and brother ant isn't moving, they don't have to nudge him with their toes or feel for a pulse. They know he's dead because he smells dead. That's a whole different set of chemicals that starts accumulating as soon as the ant bites it. Death pheromones stimulate the other ants to pick up the body and lug it back to the nest. Actually, it goes to the trash heap near the nest. Each colony has its own landfill area full of debris from their tunnels and the corpses of former members. Why are ants so tidy? Science is working on an answer, I'm sure.

Science guys tested ants' response to death chemicals by putting some on pieces of paper. Dutifully, the ants carried the paper away to their garbage dump. Weirdest of all, when they put the smell on a healthy ant, it played dead, his friends carried him off, and once they left, he licked all the smell off him and went on about his anty business as if nothing had happened..."

So, just using "soap" and water doesn't totally stop the ants, as I've heard on the radio then?

Ever shower with Dr Bronner's peppermint soap? It really tingles the axillaries if ya know what I mean..this is the soap recommended for ant repulsion -- evidently they don't like to tingle, no axillary hair I guess, poor things..you could try it (for your ants, and your shower both )..give it at least a few days of daily spritzing..maybe even a week or two..and then try it on the ants..har har.

there are other (non-poisonous) things to try involving boric acid and sugar water, my friend Jeff plants little bowls of this stuff around gardens for a living -- I'll get the exact recipe and post it here.. I'm certain a googsearch could find it though..

I'm wondering if using beer will do the trick as it's claimed to effectively keep snails at bay? :thinking:

There is an aerosol product called Pure Citrus that has become popular enough to be in many store's air freshener departments. It's a pure citrus form from citrus oils. It comes in a few fragrances, like lemon, and orange. If you spray it a bit in the air above the cactus to where a few drops from the mist fall around the cactus area it will discourage the ants. Actually, it's fatal to the ants if they become too exposed.

There is also an effective non-poisonous product from Victor that is quite effective. I think it's available at True Value Hardware stores and a few others. It's poisonous, but the toxicity is quite targeted toward ants rather than people and pets.

I looked at some natural solutions before work, and I'm considering the cinnamon-line, mint or cloves leaves-line/scattering, baby powder, and now this Pure Citrus. That's the first I've heard of it, thanks.
I don't have any spiders yet. I could bring one from another house, keep him to the kitchen?

The traditional way to keep ants from climbing on trees is a band of sticky pitch, like the Tanglefoot brand product. Making the edges of the pot's saucer sticky should prevent them from getting any farther, and require no dangerous chemicals in your kitchen.

I heard the smell from bay leaves may repeal ants. Try putting some bay leaves on the counter in that area. See if you can get fresh ones vs dried ones since the scent is more potent from fresh leaves.

Coffee grounds were spread yesterday, only found one ant this morning on the window. I've moved the cactus back to the sill this morning, and I'll check throughout the day to see if any more come back.
I'm going to get lots of fresh mint at my parents Monday, and I'll spread that and cinnamon, before trying Pure Citrus and baby powder.

OK I spoke to Jeff who lays ant traps for the Invisible Gardener -- lots of anti-antics:

http://www.invisiblegardener.com/gardening_center/natural_ant_control.html


and he said the formula for the ant poison is just 2% boric acid mixed into sugar water. as much sugar as will disolve..Maple syrup water is even better.

Says coca-cola will kill them with no boric acid -- the carbonation pops them
for the first day or two before it goes flat...so; be a good host and put out coke and acid for the lil fellers! :santa:

Soap lowers the surface tension of water and that allows it to actually drown the ants. Better soaps do a better job. The stuff they sell to clean vegtables FIT is *great* for this.
Something to consider is that you may have brought the ants in with the catcus. Not too many years ago a plant in a New York office yielded a newly described species. The office was a biology lab that worked on <drum roll> ants.

Google "cactus ants". The plant may need the ants and as long as your aunt doesn't ... never mind.