Anthills are a common problem that infest many gardens. Ants can make it difficult to keep a healthy and well maintained garden, as well as infiltrate a home and infest kitchens, larders and food preparation areas.
Traditional solutions aimed at exterminating unwanted ants from a property involve the use of highly toxic chemical insecticides that present a very serious health risk to your family, pets, and local wildlife.
Diatomaceous earth offers an organic, chemical free, and natural alternative to traditional chemical ant insecticides. Working to quickly eliminate ants with a purely physical mechanism, diatomaceous earth uses no poisons or toxins to destroy an ant hive.
When ants encounter diatomaceous earth, the finely ground chalk-like powder binds to their exoskeleton. Diatomaceous earth consists of over 85% silica, which draws the lip oils and moisture from the body of an ant, fatally dehydrating it in a matter of hours.
Diatomaceous earth is completely safe to use around small children, pets, and local wildlife, and can even be used in food crop gardens or vegetable patches.
In this guide we’ll provide a breakdown of the basic steps required to treat your home and property for ants with diatomaceous earth.
What You Need to Get Started
Before treating your property with diatomaceous earth, you’ll need to gather the following:
- Pest Control Grade diatomaceous earth
- A diatomaceous earth applicator
- Broom handle, stick, or length of wood
- A shovel or spade
- Safety gear
While diatomaceous earth is non toxic and entirely safe, it’s important to use appropriate safety gear while handling it.
Diatomaceous earth is composed of very fine silica particles that can irritate the lungs, throat, nose and eyes if inhaled. Be sure to wear gloves, a dust mask and safety goggles while distributing diatomaceous earth.
Step 1: Locate & Eliminate the Queen
Your first step in removing an ant presence from your property should be systematically identifying and destroying every ant hill you can find.
Once you’ve found an ant hill, break the top open with your shovel or spade then proceed to stir the soil with a broom handle, stick, or length of wood. This will destroy the tunnel network and reveal the queen.
Step 2: Seed Ant Mounds With Diatomaceous Earth
Once you’ve identified and broken open all of the ant hills on your property, proceed to add large quantities of diatomaceous earth to the broken soil and stir thoroughly.
One half pound of diatomaceous earth per ant hill should suffice. Be sure to coat the topsoil of the ant hill once you’ve finished stirring the contents with diatomaceous earth.
Step 3: Remain Vigilant
Once you’ve destroyed the tunnel and mound network on your property and eliminated the queen, the ant presence should dissipate. Be sure to keep an eye on your garden for any new signs of ant behavior, following ant trails back to new mounts to destroy them.
If you’re experiencing an ant infestation in your home, be sure to check out our article on how to treat the interior of your home for ants.
Diatomaceous Earth Information Guide:
We have a wide variety of food grade diatomaceous earth resources for you look through to make your life a little easier and chemical-free. Please check out the other valuable resources and versatile application uses for silica-rich diatomaceous earth below:
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Please reach out regarding any information above. In the future, more share-worthy useful enhancements, experiences and effects of diatomaceous earth will be added as the benefits continue to pile up. Always welcome for more insight and awareness, click the button to see the most recommended beautifully blended product that combines both high quality food grade diatomaceous earth powder and pure organic silica together in one formula.