Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
For ants, mix a 1 ½ pounds of sugar and 2.5 tablespoons of borax or
boricacid intoaquartofwater andplace itneartheopeningofanant's
nest on cotton pads placed in old coffee cups (or empty yogurt cup
that's been washed well) and the ants will take it back into the nest and
kill the queen. This solution must be replaced
every week
until ants
disappear. If that doesn't kill the nest, find the source of the ants and
pour boiling water down the hole to kill them.
Plant pennyroyal, spearmint or
tansy near your farm to discourage ants.
You can also use old-fashioned insect traps by filling a glass beverage
bottle (like a Coke bottle), half-full of vinegar hung in your farm. The
flies get in, drink the vinegar, but can't get out and drown.
Use Yellow Sticky Cards or Fly traps outside of vents or door to your greenhouse to deter
flying insects.
Insect and pest control is so simple but you must be vigilant to keep the insects out and
your farm away from your fish tanks, Grow Table, Clarified and plants to continue to grow
healthy food.
DIY Simple Recipe and Directions for Fish Friendly Insect Con-
trol Solution™ Concentrated Foliar Solution for Aquaponics
Systems and Outdoor Gardening
PFASLLC-CreatedbytheInventorsofPortableFarms®Aquapon-
ics Systems
This easy-to-make and concentrated Fish Friendly Insect Control
Solution uses a mild castile soap to control small, soft-bodied arthro-
pods in aquaponics and can also be used (with a modification in the
recipe) for outdoor gardens.
Colle and Phyllis Davis have used this simple technique in Portable Farms® Aquaponics
Systems for reducing and eliminating whiteflies, aphids and mealy bugs as well as discour-
aging ants from the farms. While this solution will
not
kill ants on contact, it does discour-
age them from reappearing after repeated use.
“How soaps and detergents kill insects is still poorly understood. In most cases, control
results from disruption of the cell membranes of the insect. Soaps and detergents may also
remove the protective waxes that cover the insect, causing death through excess loss of wa-
