5 Ways to Deal With Fire Ants in Your Home and Garden

Have you noticed an increase in fire ants around your home and garden? If so, you may find yourself wondering what you can do to get rid of them. Over time, fire ants will eat at your plants or invade all parts of your home.

If it feels like you’ve tried everything to push them away with little success, don’t worry. Many professional and at-home remedies have yet to be discovered.

Want to learn more about the many methods to deal with fire ants? You’ve come to the right place. A list of top fire ant remedies is waiting below.

1. Boiling Water

If you need a quick way to get fire ants out of your garden without harming your plants, boiling water just might be the solution. Just be careful and remember to keep the water away from your body.

To use the boiling water method, take 2-3 gallons of water and boil it in a pot. While to water is coming to a boil, location the mound/mounds in your garden. A fire ant mount looks like a miniature hill of dirt with a small hole at its top.

Once the water has come to a boil, carefully remove the pot of water from the stove and pour it directly over the anthill. For best results, pour the hot water quickly, giving any little time to escape. Try repeating this process at least once a day for a week to make sure you scalded all the ants.

To make the water more potent, try boiling cayenne pepper with the water. This will create a mixture both annoying and fatal to fire ants.

2. Vinegar Concoction

Making a concoction with equal amounts of vinegar, baking soda, and water is another effective way to remove ants from both your home and garden. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle if the ants are in your home, and spray it on the insects when you see them.

If the ants are in your garden, it may be easier to leave the mixture in a bowl. Similar to the boiling water solution, pour the vinegar over/around the anthills in your garden. No, the vinegar solution will not kill the ants, but the smell will repel them.

After the ants have fled their colony, you can destroy them or arm them with ant poison to make sure they never return.

3. Dish Soap Concoction

If you want a concoction that will kill the ants in your area, try mixing dish soap and water together. Once you’re happy with the solution, pour it into a spray bottle and wait for ants to come around. When you see ants in or around your home, spray them with the concoction.

Dish soap contains certain chemicals that dissolve the exoskeleton of ants, making it impossible for them to live. In other words, the solution will kill them instantly. This is a great nontoxic way to rid your home of fire ants, especially if you have pets or young children to protect.

4. Boric Acid

Boric acid is a great fire ant solution for anyone struggling to get rid of more than just ants. Boric acid repels ants, cockroaches, termites, fleas, and more. It works by attaching itself to the insect’s body and killing them when they attempt to clean themselves.

The best part, boric acid is a natural substance, making it cheap and long-lasting.

All you need to do is sprinkle a generous amount of boric acid on the ants’ home, and wait for them to die. Don’t know where their home is? You can also sprinkle boric acid in the areas you often see the fire ants.

Chances are they’ll walk across it on their way to their home, killing them and any ants that contact them. You should also try mixing boric acid into syrup or molasses. The syrup will attract the ants while the boric acid poisons those who eat it.

5. Insecticides

One of the most common ways to rid your home of ants is through the use of insecticides. These will kill the ants almost instantly without all the hassle of making your own solutions. You can find insecticides at most grocery and hardware stores.

The best way to solve your ant problem through insecticides is by targeting the colony’s queen. Ant colonies cannot live long without their queen.

Just remember to use insecticides in locations they’re designed for. Some insecticides contain strong chemicals that can only be sprayed outside. To know which kind you have, check their bottles for labels.

You should also pay attention to where you spray the products if you have small children or pets in your home. The chemicals inside the insecticides are potent and can harm both children and animals if ingested. If this happens, call poison control and seek medical attention.

Seeking Professional Help for Fire Ants?

If you’ve tried all of the above solutions and more without success, it’s time to contact an exterminator. They will know exactly what to do to get rid of stubborn ant colonies for good. If you live in Columbia SC or its surrounding areas, consider our services at Cayce Exterminating.

With over fifty years of professional experience, we offer effective commercial and residential pest control services. Don’t believe us? Come and see for yourself.

Visit our website to learn more about our services, read customer testimonials, or contact us today. We hope to help you and your family soon!