Cayenne chillis as an ant deterrent

[Beverly]

With some members growing super hot chili peppers, the idea of using them as an ant deterrent has come up a few times. We are in our rainy season now (rains average 3 hours most days) and the bounty of ants we have all become super active. There are ants of every size and color. From tiny ants to the dreaded leaf-cutter ants which can strip a tree bare of vegetation over night. During the dry season i use DE, but it becomes ineffective if it gets wet. So i thought i would finely grind up some dried Cayenne chili peppers to encircle an Ixora i planted today, thinking it might deter the ants during the rainy season. Cayenne is not super hot (a couple notches down from Habanero), but i thought it might be hot enough to keep the ants at bay. There was a lovely circle of red around (but not touching) the trunk of the bush. I lightly sprayed it with water so it wouldn't fly around in case a wind came up.

Another lesson in "don't believe everything you think". When i returned to see how the newly transplanted shrub was doing i found armies of tiny black ants joyfully carrying bits and pieces of Cayenne back to the colony. I didn't take into consideration that these Mexican ants have probably been eating these chillies since the beginning of time. Back to the drawing board, rats! I do have the bush surrounded by a copper rectangular barrier covered with copious amounts of Neem oil that the ants are hesitant to cross but i need to find something else for the base of the bush.

 

[BigC]

There are some good deterrent recipes on Google for you to try @Beverly

 

[Beverly]

I decided to give powdered cinnamon a try. I think i've used it before but cannot remember the results. I do use cinnamon and clove oils with liquid dish detergent for the ants when they are on walls, tiles, other non vegetation and that works well.

So i circled the bush an inch or two from the trunk with powdered cinnamon (smells so good) and i have yet to find an ant on the bush. Maybe this will be a good option for me during the rainy season.

Just because the cayenne did not work for me, possibly because of the location, doesn't mean it won't work for people in other locations like UK, Australia, and northern climates in general. Let me know if you try it