Ants In Greenhouse

[sarumite]

I have a large greenhouse with a concrete path through the middle. Every year without fail I'm inundated with ants which nest at the edge of the path. It becomes a real nuisance when they begin to emerge as flying ants and are often unable to find a way out!
I've tried ant spray, and ant powder and also boiling water which is perhaps more humane? I don't plant directly into the soil, but use (open at the bottom) pots and compost for my tomatoes and cucumber etc. I'm beginning to think it's insoluble. Any ideas?

[margarettom]

A few years ago I had a massive ant's nest in the garden. It looked like I had buried a pet dog. I used ant traps, because the ants take the poison back to the nest and destroy it. Every so often in late Spring, if I notice a lot of ant activity, I use the traps again. Have had no recurrence of the problem.

[sarumite]

Many thanks for your suggestion. Which brand have you used?

[alavahalf]

Now and again I get ants move into my Poly Tunnel. They will thrive in the hot dry conditions if you let them. What I do is feed them some Borax. A kilo of it is so cheap and will last for years.
When I see any sign of ants I get a pop bottle and cut a small hole in it. Put one tablespoon of Borax in the bottle and about 4 of sugar. Shake it to mix them together then add about a half of a cup of water and shake again. Put it down near the ants with the hole pointing up. The ants will find their way in, but they won't come out as readily again. Do the same again with another bottle with a dry mix and put that along side the bottle with the wet mix. It will certainly slow them down when they take it back to the nest.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BORAX-1KG-SAFE-TUB-Sodium-Tetraborate-Decahydrate-make-slime-/233126216803?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

[sarumite]

Thank you, I'll look into it.

[Atheist]

Do the ants cause any harm or problems?

[alavahalf]

In my case they tend to be red ants .. you must never have had the pleasure of meeting them, otherwise you wouldn't be asking. Yes they bite and they ruin any plants around the nest !

[jno]

when rain is on the way, Atheist, you betcha. They're like little sabre-tooth tigers.

[margarettom]

Sorry sarumite. Just realised you asked me yesterday what ant traps I used. The ones I used on the original nest I bought in a local shop called 'Bonkers' and they stopped stocking them. Since then I have used Wilko ones.