EcoRenovator - View Single Post

wyatt · 10-15-09, 10:09 PM

I recently got ants in my car... I parked in the wrong spot at work when it was raining heavy, my car was good shelter... it was an invasion! They were all over in my trunk! I mashed them with the edge of a piece of bamboo flooring I had in my trunk. I crushed line after line of them, and wound up having to spray to get the last of them. Not exactly the best way to go, since I sprayed, and got my carpet all covered in ant residue... I told my wife about it, and she asked why I didn't just use the vacuum...

So, fast forward about a month...

My wife's car get's parked in the wrong spot when it's raining out... you guessed it, the trunk was teaming with ants! I used the vacuum to precisely extract them from the carpeting and follow their lines back to where they had called home. I wasn't able to get them all, but I did get a lot of them! I still kill one or two every time I use her car. I really don't want to spray chemicals in it since it is in so much better shape than mine.

I have never had this problem before...

In response to the boric acid, isn't it a salt? salts will kill the vegetation, and you will have to try to dilute it out before things will grow in it again. I tried the boiling water on a fire ant swarm out front of my house since I needed fairly immediate results with company coming over, and it killed everything in that ~1 square foot area (plants and ants), I was kind of bummed about it, but the grass is already growing back in, and the ants are not a problem. I think if I do it again, I will be more precise with my pouring, and I think I will stir up the pile to open it up, making it more like a crater, hopefully it will amplify the effect of the water, and reduce the plant killing.

10-15-09, 10:09 PM	#14
wyatt Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 75 Thanks: 3 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	I recently got ants in my car... I parked in the wrong spot at work when it was raining heavy, my car was good shelter... it was an invasion! They were all over in my trunk! I mashed them with the edge of a piece of bamboo flooring I had in my trunk. I crushed line after line of them, and wound up having to spray to get the last of them. Not exactly the best way to go, since I sprayed, and got my carpet all covered in ant residue... I told my wife about it, and she asked why I didn't just use the vacuum... So, fast forward about a month... My wife's car get's parked in the wrong spot when it's raining out... you guessed it, the trunk was teaming with ants! I used the vacuum to precisely extract them from the carpeting and follow their lines back to where they had called home. I wasn't able to get them all, but I did get a lot of them! I still kill one or two every time I use her car. I really don't want to spray chemicals in it since it is in so much better shape than mine. I have never had this problem before... In response to the boric acid, isn't it a salt? salts will kill the vegetation, and you will have to try to dilute it out before things will grow in it again. I tried the boiling water on a fire ant swarm out front of my house since I needed fairly immediate results with company coming over, and it killed everything in that ~1 square foot area (plants and ants), I was kind of bummed about it, but the grass is already growing back in, and the ants are not a problem. I think if I do it again, I will be more precise with my pouring, and I think I will stir up the pile to open it up, making it more like a crater, hopefully it will amplify the effect of the water, and reduce the plant killing.