Many people have used Jeyes fluid for sanitizing drains, dustbins, driveways, patios, and many other surfaces, but a few of you know about the use of this household product to kill insects like ants.
Can Jeyes Fluid Kill Ants? Jeyes fluid can kill ants as it is a strong and toxic disinfectant. It can efficiently remove black garden ants, carpenter ants, fire ants, leafcutter, and honeypot ants, in addition to a few other species. You have to dilute it in water (1:1) before pouring it over the mounds or trails. It requires great care during use due to its high toxicity for pets, children, and plants.
Jeyes fluid can help remove nuisance pests from outdoors that are causing damage to garden plants and house foundations. It takes only a few minutes to kill by drowning the whole colony.
Why would you use Jeyes fluid to kill ants?
Many people prefer to use home remedies to deal with problems like ant infestations indoors or in the garden due to their cost-effectiveness and availability.
Jeyes fluid is a highly effective disinfectant commonly used by gardeners to clean outdoor areas like patios, drains, greenhouses, and weeds.
It helps clean the ground surfaces by removing contaminating agents like bacteria, algae, and fungi. You can also use it to deal with insects or garden pests that are causing damage to plants.
Moreover, it is a highly toxic product that acts on the tiny bodies of insects after coming in direct contact with them and destroys their protective exoskeleton.
It can be an effective solution against ants if you use it in the right concentration; otherwise, the highly toxic nature of this disinfectant can create problems as it requires careful handling.
In addition, it is better to use it only for outdoor species because its powerful smell can irritate you when you pour it into the wall voids or other narrow spaces to remove these insects.
You can control their rapidly increasing population by dealing with their underground nests that are usually found outdoors. They prefer to live in gardens or backyards close to plants.
However, you should be careful while using it around plants as its toxicity can cause significant harm to plants through discoloration.
How do you use Jeyes fluid to kill ants?
Knowing the correct method and amount of the Jeyes fluid for killing ants is better before using it. Incorrect concentration can cause more harm than good and affects the plants.
Ants do not need a highly toxic solution as they have smaller and soft bodies, so you can dilute them in water to reduce their toxicity to some extent.
In addition, the dilution rate depends on the species of insects invading the garden, patios, driveways, or other outdoor areas.
You can mix 3 to 5 spoons of Jeyes fluid 1-gallon water and spray it to kill the contaminating microbes and disinfect the surfaces, but it needs lesser dilution to get rid of the bigger insects.
Accordingly, mix 1 part of disinfectant in 1 part of water (50:50) to prepare a suitable solution for killing ants. Apply the solution to infested areas by scrubbing the surface with a brush.
In addition, you can pour toxic fluid inside their mounds or hills after diluting it in water in equal concentration. It leads to the death of the whole colony, as their bodies cannot resist the damage.
I was frustrated with a colony of pavement ants because these nuisance pests get inside the home to get food. So, I poured this fluid on the colony hidden under concrete slabs of the driveways.
Furthermore, one of my friends also used diluted fluid to remove the common garden pests as they were living in the garden bed and causing damage to plants.
Furthermore, you can get desired results with this liquid by using it at the correct place, as killing the whole colony is better than dealing with a few of these insects moving around plants.
How much Jeyes fluid is required to kill ants?
The amount of Jeyes fluid used to kill insects varies according to the size and location of the infestation. Removing ants from pavements and patios requires lesser liquid to clean hard surfaces.
However, you need more solution to get rid of garden pests because soil beds or mulch absorbs more water than harder surfaces.
Moreover, you can prepare an almost 1-gallon Jeyes fluid solution by mixing it in an equal amount of water to deal with a large colony living inside bigger mounds.
It is essential that the solution reaches deep into the mound to kill the reproductive members of the nest because queens and eggs are usually present deeper into the mounds.
However, 0.3 to 0.6 gallons or 1 to 2-liter solution is enough to remove smaller colonies containing only a few hundred to a thousand members.
Furthermore, you can change the total volume according to your requirement but keep dilutions in a ratio of 1:1 to get better results.
Is it safe to use Jeyes fluid to kill ants?
Jeyes fluid requires careful handling because it is a highly toxic fluid that can lead to undesired situations if not used properly. The manufacturers mention its toxicity on the label.
It is not considered good for the environment because it can affect aquatic life after disposal. They cannot survive after consuming the toxic chemicals of this product.
Moreover, it harms plants and wildlife as it is strongly acidic by nature, leading to leaf discoloration and severe health issues after direct contact or swallowing.
It can also put the life of your pet at risk if its chemical constituents are ingested accidentally. It contains coal acid, and its active ingredients are 4-chloro-m-cresol and tar acid.
In addition, the manufacturer informs the users about the safety issues through its label and asks them to avoid visiting the areas after pouring the liquid until it gets dried.
It contains carcinogenic chemicals that can become a part of your bloodstream even if they come in direct contact with the body or skin.
It is better to wear gloves, a mask, and full clothes covering your body properly while dealing with this product to avoid the contact of chemicals with your skin.
These chemicals affect the health of pets and can be responsible for their death if consumed in high quantities. So, you should read the precautionary measures carefully and follow the guidelines.
It can help avoid serious circumstances affecting the health of pets or children because these chemicals can reach the bloodstream with mere skin exposure.
What type of ants can be killed using Jeyes fluid?
Jeyes fluid can effectively kill a wide range of insects found in the garden, including bees involved in pollination and other beneficial insects.
Moreover, it can kill other scale insects, aphids, mealy bugs, and ants that can cause potential harm to plants by infesting the leaves, stems, and even soil beds.
One of the common garden pests is black ants that are involved in aeration and protection from herbivores but disturb the root system of plants.
In addition, the leafcutter and honeypot ants create holes in leaves by chewing and sucking nectar from the flowers, affecting the plant’s growth.
Fire ants also create problems for gardeners by building mounds in the garden and causing damage to crops. So, it can effectively remove all these common garden pests.
However, you have to use it properly to reap the benefits because it harms plants if not diluted or sprayed properly.
So, it can have a good impact on the garden by killing the garden pests, but sometimes, it leaves adverse effects by removing the beneficial insects from the garden and causing harm to plants.
Related Articles:
