How to get rid of ants in my pot: Different methods

I recently found the soil in one of my pots a little lumpy and, surprise! Very hardworking ants had settled there. While it is true that these insects do not harm plants, they can be somewhat troublesome, especially if they end up getting inside the house. This is how I asked myself this question: How do I get ants out of my pot?

Luckily, there are plenty of quick and easy methods to accomplish this task. In case you are facing the same problem, I decided to list the different options that have worked for me many times.

How to remove ants from the soil?

As we have already mentioned before, ants generally do not harm plants. However, it is advisable to eliminate them, especially if the pot is near us and thus prevent them from entering. There are different methods that we can use for this. Below we will discuss some of the most effective ones.

Use insecticides and baits

We will first explain how we can apply insecticides and baits to eliminate ants from the pot. For this we will need the following:

• permethrin
• Diatomite (DE or diatomaceous earth)
• Specific bait for ants
• Mix two cups of water with one tablespoon of mint soap

Once we have acquired everything, we can follow the following steps to carry out the complete treatment and make sure that there are no ants hanging around our pot, or carry out only one of these methods. This will mainly depend on the extent of the infestation.

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1. Apply permethrin to the soil: Permethrin is a very powerful insecticide that paralyzes the nervous system of ants that come into contact with it, causing death. It should be noted that this product can also be very harmful to people and pets, so it is very important to use it correctly, following the instructions on the packaging.
2. Use bait: Ant baits are made from sugars, proteins and oils that contain insecticides. The workers carry this food to the colony, which causes direct damage to all of them: the other workers, the larvae and even the queen. This will gradually reduce the entire colony. It is important that the insecticide used is slow acting, so that the ants do not die before reaching the colony.
3. Cover the surface with diatomite: Diatomite is an organic insecticide composed of minerals. By spraying it on the surface of the soil, the ants will come into contact with it and die in about thirty minutes. It must be reapplied if the support is wet.
4. Spray the leaves with mint soap: Finally, it remains to sprinkle the leaves of the plant with a mixture of two cups of water and a tablespoon of mint soap.

Immerse the whole pot in water

Another method to eliminate ants from the pot is by immersing it in water mixed with an insecticide. What will we need for this task? Let’s see:

• Pipe
• clean bucket
• About 3.7 liters of water
• Pot or bucket large enough to hold the pot inside
• Clean spray bottle in a bottle
• A cup of dish soap or insecticidal soap

When we have gathered all these elements, we must follow the following steps:

1. Prepare the mixture: We need to fill a clean bucket with 3.7 liters of water and add a cup of detergent, dish soap or insecticidal soap.
2. Divide the mixture: Then you need to separate half of the prepared solution. We will use it to fill the big tub or the bucket. Then we have to fill a small bottle with the atomizer and some of the mixture. With it we can spray the ants that manage to escape. The rest of the solution should be poured into the soil in the pot and let stand for an hour. It is best to place the pot in a shady place.
3. Submerge the pot: The next step is to dip the jar into the large bucket that holds half the mixture. He must stay there for fifteen minutes. Probably the ants continue to escape, for them we must have the bottle ready.
4. Rinse the pot and the plant: Finally, we must rinse the pot and the plant with clean water. It is better to use a pipe for this. Before returning the vegetable to a sunny place, it is better to wait until it is completely dry.

Change or clean the pot

If we are not convinced by the first two processes to eliminate ants, we will always have the possibility of simply change the pot or disinfect it. In this case we will need the following:

• Pipe
• Atomizer in a bottle
• cloth or sponge
• New soil to fill the pot
• Mix bleach with water in a ratio of 1/10

If we already have everything, we have to find a place that is easy to clean and get to work. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Rinse the roots: When we remove the plant from the pot, we will have to get rid of the infested soil and rinse the roots well to remove the substrate and the remaining ants.
2. Clean the pan: Once empty, it’s time to sanitize the jar. For this we will use a sponge or a cloth. We will immerse it in a mixture of one part bleach to ten parts water and scrub the inside of the jar.
3. Place the plant: To relocate the plant, you can use a new pot or the same one, but previously disinfected. To do this, we must first fill it with new soil and place the vegetable inside. Don’t forget to water afterwards.

Apply homemade products

Finally, we have the possibility of apply natural household products to treat or prevent ant infestation in the pot. There are different methods we can use:

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• Spread ground coffee: Ants can’t stand coffee grounds, so sprinkle some on the potting soil to keep them away.
• Surround the plants with toxic products for ants: An effective way if you do not want to use insecticides is to surround the plants with a product that is toxic to ants or that scares them away. Besides ground coffee, we can also use pepper, cinnamon, baking soda, mint, and chili powder.

I hope these methods will help you fight ants in your pots!