How to Safely Kill Ants in a Vegetable Garden

You can kill ants in your vegetable garden using safe methods. Any toxic chemicals you spray on or around the plants may end up on your dinner plate and, subsequently, in your bloodstream. However, you should resist killing every ant you see. Focus on eliminating large infestations that are destroying your garden or have the potential to destroy it. Ants can be beneficial bugs, pollinating plants, aerating the soil, and keeping certain insect populations from exploding by feeding on them.

Diatomaceous earth
Commercial organic insecticide
Boiling water

Instructions

- 1
  Sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the mulch around the plants or on the soil. Diatomaceous earth, widely available where garden supplies are sold, is made of sedimentary rock crushed to a fine powder. The sharp particles wound the ants, causing dehydration and death. It isn't necessary to dust the ants directly with the powder. Next time the ants come around, the diatomaceous earth will stick to their bodies. Reapply the powder after irrigation and rain.
- 2
  Select a commercially available organic insecticide for use in gardens. Products with pyrethrin and diatomaceous earth are for killing fire ant colonies, for example. Prepare the solution at the rates listed on the manufacturer's label. Pour the solution into the anthill.
- 3
  Pour 1 to 2 gallons of boiling water into an anthill that fire ants have just built. You might have to flood the anthill again with boiling water if ant activity resumes. This method is 100 percent successful when the hot water manages to reach the queen. Do not use this option if the colony is next to vegetable plants. The hot water also kills roots.

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