How to quickly get rid of ants in a greenhouse with cucumbers, what to do?

Ants are insects that contribute to the spread of aphids, which destroy plantings. Therefore, when a large number of these insects appear, many gardeners ask the question: how to remove ants from a greenhouse with cucumbers? This desire to get rid of such insects is also due to the fact that they acidify the soil and gnaw young shoots and flowering stems. The fight against ants in a greenhouse can be carried out in various ways: folk, chemical or mechanical. Each of them has its own characteristics.

How to deal with ants in a greenhouse mechanically?

If ants appear in a greenhouse, you need to find their nest. Next, you can remove ants from the garden bed by following the instructions for implementing the following mechanical influence on them:

1. If the anthill is small, it must be picked up with a shovel and taken to a remote place.
2. If the nest has reached a large size, it needs to be covered with some material that does not allow sunlight to pass through. After this, heat will stop flowing into the anthill, and the insects will quickly leave it. A positive result should be expected within a few days.
3. Regular loosening will create an unfavorable environment for these insects to live, and they will soon leave their home.
4. The discovered anthill is filled with kerosene or boiling water. Then the nest is destroyed and the procedure is repeated again. This mechanical technique makes it possible to deprive insects of a home, which is why they leave the area.

To prevent ants from destroying cucumber seedlings, the soil around their home must be watered with a decoction made from tomato leaves, sprinkled with soda ash, millet or ash.

If a summer resident wants to eliminate the risk of planted crops being damaged by ants, he needs to dig a trench around the greenhouse. Then the recess is covered with cellophane, reinforced with stones and filled with water. Such a barrier protects the greenhouse from insect attacks.

Eliminating ants using chemicals

If ants appear, cucumbers can be treated with chemicals. These products will repel pests and eliminate the risk of them damaging plants. Most often, substances that include diazinon, an organophosphorus compound that acts on the nervous system of insects, paralyzing them, are used for these purposes.The most popular of them are the following drugs:

• Thunder.
• Ant-eater.
• Bazudin.
• Muratsid.

There are also other effective drugs that have a targeted effect against ants. These include Absolut-gel, Dachnik, Get, Raptor, Karbofos.

If ants in a greenhouse begin to destroy plants, they can be controlled with formaldehyde. To do this, the substance is diluted with water to obtain a 10% solution. The resulting solution is used to treat all cracks in the greenhouse as thoroughly as possible. Also, by treating places where insects accumulate, you can significantly speed up the process of their retreat. You need to spray the product very carefully so that it does not end up on the cucumber bed or on the leaves of the plant. To completely get rid of pests, it is necessary to re-treat after a few days.

Folk recipes

Many gardeners do not want to use various chemicals to get rid of pests, fearing that their substances will accumulate in the fruits of the plant. In such situations, folk remedies will come to the rescue.

1. In order to protect cucumbers from attack by ants in a greenhouse, it is necessary to organize a bed on which onions, parsley or mustard will grow. You can also plant these plants if there are already ants in the greenhouse. The specific smell of these crops will repel pests.
2. If cucumbers planted in a barrel, you need to place bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, garlic, elderberry or mint around it. The smell of these plants will repel insects.
3. You need to pour a small amount of vegetable oil into the anthill using a syringe. After 2–3 days, the insects will leave the greenhouse.
4. You can lure ants out of greenhouse structures by spreading a mass made from honey and boric acid along pest paths and in places where they accumulate. If the ants have eaten the bait, their vital activity will actively fade away, since such a mixture is harmful to their body. It is worth considering that such a product should not be laid out if children and pets who can eat the product have free access to the summer cottage. Otherwise, its particles may be dangerous to their health.
5. Similar to the previous method, you can use other baits. They should be prepared from minced meat, eggs, a mixture of yeast and borax with jam, sugar, and honey.
6. Cucumbers and potatoes, garlic, and tobacco are saved from pests. To ensure that pests leave the greenhouse as soon as possible, cucumbers can be treated with garlic, potato or tobacco infusion. To do this, each bush is sprayed with liquid, and then it is poured into the holes. And near the nests you need to put fresh or dried tops and sprinkle them with mustard seeds.
7. Getting rid of pests with rhubarb. To do this, you need to grind its stem to juice. The resulting pulp is laid out in those places where ants accumulate. After a few days, the pests leave their nest. Wormwood spread on the beds has a similar effect. If the insects appear again, the procedure is repeated.

All of the above remedies will help you quickly get rid of annoying pests and preserve your cucumbers. If one of the remedies turns out to be ineffective, you need to try another.

Boric acid

If ants suddenly appear in cucumbers, they can be removed using a prepared boric acid solution.To prepare the composition you will need:

• 10 grams of boric acid;
• 0.5 glasses of water;
• 5 dessert spoons of sugar.

How to get rid of ants in a greenhouse with cucumbers using this remedy:

1. The first step is to prepare a remedy for insects that harm and attack seedlings and adult plants. Sugar dissolves in water. The liquid is cooled and mixed with boric acid.
2. The resulting liquid is infused for 5 hours and then mixed well.
3. Then the cotton pad is moistened in the resulting product and placed in a dirty tin can.
4. The container is lightly covered with a lid so that the liquid evaporates more slowly and access is provided.
5. The container is placed close to the nest.

If the ants in the cucumbers have already strengthened their positions, you need to make several of these jars. Pieces of bread soaked in the prepared solution are laid out in the ant passages. With this approach, the ants will leave gradually. After a month of regularly placing baits, they will begin to leave the house and will completely retreat after another 2 weeks.

Black soap

What to do if the ants do not leave the greenhouse after all the described remedies? In this case, a solution of black soap will help remove the pests.

1. 1 bucket of water is mixed with 400 grams of black soap.
2. To the resulting liquid add 2 tablespoons of carbolic acid and 10 tablespoons of kerosene.
3. The liquid is mixed until smooth.
4. The entire garden is treated with this liquid, watering the ants’ nests.

After 2-3 sprayings the ants retreat.

Most often, ants appear in greenhouses, moving from trees infected with these pests. If any trees on the site are infested with ants and aphids, they must be eliminated as soon as possible.To do this, the trunks are coated with tar or peat. You should get rid of insects using this treatment as soon as possible, before their colony grows too much.

To prevent ants and aphids from eating the grown crops and cucumber seeds, it is necessary to begin processing the greenhouse as soon as possible. The first thing you need to pay attention to is mechanical methods of eliminating pests. If mechanical methods do not help, fight insects using traditional methods.

Most often, it will take more than one day or a week to completely get rid of pests, but if you watered and treated the nests and planted plants correctly, the pests will gradually recede.

If ants attack suddenly, it is best to use chemical agents. Also, these remedies are good when folk recipes are ineffective, when ants feel at home on cucumbers, despite all the methods tried by the summer resident. In order to prevent pests from appearing in the garden again, after getting rid of them, it is necessary to carry out prevention by caring for the planting and the greenhouse.