Ideas on ant control in the backyard??

**HeatherB** · 05-10-2007, 04:50 PM

Does anyone know how to keep ants out of the compost bin? We just set one up, and I've noticed a few in there. I want to keep them under control before they set up house, and overrun the backyard!

**freyadog** · 05-10-2007, 06:17 PM

HeatherB I have no advice. We are running into the same problem here in sw Va. Gonna do some research and see what I can find out. If anything comes up of interest I will add here.

Barbara

**Neeley** · 05-10-2007, 06:27 PM

I am not familiar at all with compost bins or anything like them. However, I did read an article last week that said cucumber peel is very poisonous to ant and roaches. I peeled a cucumber, cut up the peel and put it on and around an ant bed and it worked.

**OzFreeBird** · 05-10-2007, 07:32 PM

I can't see why ants are the issue. Ants only "visit" your bin when it isn't hot enough. No ant likes 120F temperatures, which is the minimum you require to create compost in your bin. Any temperatures which are cooler will not only encourage ants to your bin, but also flies and rats. You'll have a bin full of maggots and slimy veg peelings rather than a bin full of lovely crumbly brown compost.

Get some dried mowed grass clippings, newspaper, human hair, anything which has a high degree of carbon. Upend your bin, mix the carbon materials with your veggie scraps in the ratio of 5:1 in favour of carbon. Get a few handfuls of dolomite or lime (from your local garden nursery) and mix it in well. Put it all back in the bin and water ONCE thoroughly. Within 24 hours the bin will heat up. Within 48 hours it should be too hot to put your hand inside the composting material. You won't have any ants.

Once the bin starts to cool down (in a week or so), you can turnover the compost a few more times. Most of the scraps would have decomposed to the point where ants have no interest in them. Nor any other critters except for earthworms, which will only enrich your compost further.

Compost bins in my opinion suck. Far better to grab some old bits of wood, and create a compost "bay", 1 metre x 1 metre x 1 metre (if you can create 2 or 3 next to each other in your backyard, all the better!!). This way you can turn the compost over readily with a fork and encourage fast decomposition.

Compost bins just don't work, IMHO.

Hope this helps