Whiteflies are best controlled by beneficial insects, light oil sprays, naturally occurring fungi and pruning. Natural predators of whitefly include damsel bugs, spiders, lacewings, mirid bugs, hover-flies, ground beetles and small birds. The adults and larvae of some ladybirds also feed on whiteflies. Whiteflies are strongly attracted to the yellow color of sticky traps so hang these above or close to the top of the plants. You can also handpick and destroy older leaves to remove young whitefly stages.

Friendly orange-red fungi parasitizes immature whiteflies, so don’t be alarmed when you see these ‘good guys’ on the bottom leaf surface. Pruning to open the tree canopy and allow wind ventilation can also help.  

Home Gardening

startup materials and taking the time to nurture plants. While gardening does come naturally to some people just as a musician can make a piano sing or an artist can fill a painting with emotion, raising a robust garden is a skill that can be developed and perfected.

Preparation of any endeavor is as important as the act itself and home gardening is no different. If you have the space, a 10′x10′ patch will produce more vegetables than you can handle. Larger gardens can quickly get over run with weeds, insects and become overwhelming with all of the work involved. Keep the space small and get to know your plants.

The Importance Of Soil

Plants need six to eight hours of full sunlight per day in order to receive nutrition. They also need lots of water and well-draining soil. If you have a low-lying area in your yard that always seems to fill with water, this would not be a good spot for a home garden. Roots can rot when waterlogged and prevent growth. If you have a shady yard that cannot offer the amount of sunshine needed, leafy vegetables like lettuce and spinach grow well without as much sun.

Testing your soil can give you a good idea of what type of base you have to work with. Choose an area that is sunny and mark off a 2′ x 2′ square. Saturate this area with water and allow it to rest for 24 hours. Next, dig up a good sampling of the dirt and form into a ball with your hands. The soil should not be soppy or dry and crumbly. If you find either of these conditions, the soil needs work.

Compost is an excellent way to prepare inadequate soil for home gardening. In addition to adding nutrients, compost adds fertility to the ground for stronger activity. If you want to know the actual balance of your soil, purchase a home test kit that will present readings for the pH balance of your soil. Once you find out the nature and quality of your soil, it can be balanced with potash, ashes or wood chips, depending on the acidity.

Gardening Alternatives

Another idea for starting with good soil is a raised bed. Raised beds have gained attention for first time gardeners because the soil is in perfect shape for gardening. Proper drainage, no packed down dirt to work up, the soil warms quicker in the spring and plants are easier to tend to. Raised beds also add to the charm of a garden with defined wood lines that hold your garden in a conformed style. There are now kits that can be assembled easily so building your own is not the only way to have a raised bed.

Potted gardens are becoming popular when the luxury of a large back yard is not available and can work just as well as a plot of ground. 5-gallon buckets are the perfect way to raise tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and other hardy plants. They provide depth and cages can be fitted around the top so the vines have somewhere to travel. This is an excellent way to get the feel of certain types of vegetables, fruits and flowers that can be placed on a patio during the growing season.

What To Plant?

First year gardening should begin with vegetables that are suited for your area of the country. The most popular assortment of vegetables are beans, asparagus, peas, beets, brussel sprouts, beets, lettuce, radishes, carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes and corn. These plants perform very well in sunny areas with fertile soil. Other types of specialized vegetables can be planted as you become more familiar with what grows best in your region.

Laying The Groundwork

Laying out your garden begins with the direction of the rows. Running rows north and south gives the best air circulation plus provides good exposure by the sun. When rows are planted east and west, the shadow of the sun’s rising and falling tend to shadow one row after another, creating a domino affect of shade. Taller plants should be positioned on the northern end so there is never a shadow over the lower growing vegetables. Place medium sized plants in the middle and the root varieties on the far southern end.

Why Spacing Is Important

Seeds are tiny and it is hard to imagine that they can burst into growth and expand but they do. Careful positioning of each seed can save you from having to thin out plants that have grown too closely to one another. Each gardening variety has a specific placement, depth and spacing that should be adhered to. For example, cauliflower seeds need to be spaced 18″ to 24″ apart while radishes and peas only require 2″. You will see why alignment and spacing is so important as your vegetables rise and demand room.

Predators

One of the worst sights that a newly invested gardener can have is to discover that a garden has been ransacked during the night. Predators like rabbits, deer and raccoons love fresh vegetables. Know what type of predators you have lurking in your neighborhood and be ready before it is too late. Rabbits do not like cats so sprinkling used kitty litter around the edges of the garden is helpful in keeping rabbits out without harming them. Deer are a beautiful species but let them rip your corn stalks in half and suddenly they do not seem so sweet. There are deer deterrents that can be purchased so a fence is not necessary.

Home gardening can provide lots of fresh food, a feeling of calmness and teaching one to be patient in creating and molding natural beauty. By planning for the upcoming spring, preparing the ground and selecting the right types of vegetables for your area, your first try at gardening can be a complete success. You will find hours flying by once you begin tending to weeds, watering and enjoying the artistic array that you have helped nature create.

Here are 17 simple and effective remedies to deter ants in the garden and at home:

1. Vinegar
   Vinegar is a natural ant repellent. Ants leave pheromones wherever they go and that is what the ants follow to go on their business day in and day out. By using vinegar spray, we can erase these pheromone trails and at the same time repel the ants in our garden. In a spray bottle, mix equal amounts of white vinegar (you can also use apple cider) and water then spray the solution on the ants’ trails, on the leaves of your plants, and on the ant hills. You may also use this solution at home to avoid ants getting in, look out for the ants’ entry paths and spray this solution.

Ants don’t like the smell of vinegar, so they will surely avoid the places where you sprayed with vinegar.

2. Citrus Peels
   You can also use the peels of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, and grapefruits to drive off ants and discourage them from going to your garden and entering your home. Citrus peels are rich in D-limonene that acts as an odorant to ants.

Get some citrus peels and let them dry for a day or two and then turn them into a fine powder with the use of food processor. Scatter the powder on the ants’ tracks at any entry point in your house.

Another way is to blend citrus peels and water in a blender and spray the mixture directly to ants.

3. Cinnamon
   Scatter cinnamon powder on ants’ tracks or at any areas at home where ants usually enter. Ants hate the smell of cinnamon so they will surely avoid those places where you scatter cinnamon.   

4. Dish Soap
This process is simple but it is 100% effective. Just mix liquid dish soap and water in a spray bottle and spray the solution all over your garden. This solution will kill the ants by destroying their exoskeletons and it will also erase the pheromone trails that the ants left.

To get rid of ants at home, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of dish soap in a bowl of water. Spread the mixture on the areas where the ants usually enter, you may also spray this solution on the ants’ trails.

5. Baby Powder
   Ants can really destroy your garden if you don’t get rid of them they can also encourage other pests and could kill beneficial insects. Ants don’t like baby powder, so scatter baby powder in your garden or at home to get rid of ants.
   
6. Strawberry Preserves
   Add ¼ cup of strawberry preserves with a cup of instant grits and mix it very well. Scoop one teaspoon of the mixture and place it on top of each ant hill. The ants will eat and carry the mixture back into their queen/s and it will kill the ants.

The instant grits will expand into the ants’ stomachs and it will kill them quickly. Do the same process until your get rid of the ants in the garden.

7. Coffee Grounds  
   Ants and other insect pests such as slugs hate coffee grounds. The smell of caffeine that is in the coffee grounds is the main reason why ants avoid anything that has to do with coffee grounds. By sprinkling your garden with coffee grounds, the ants will surely avoid going to your garden.
   
8. Cayenne Pepper
   Ants use signals to communicate with each other, these signals are also important to ants so they would know the way going back to their nests. Without any appropriate signals, the ants will not be able to find their way back home and they will not be able to survive.

Cayenne pepper has a strong odor which is helpful in destroying the signals that ants use to communicate. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on the ants’ tracks or exposed areas to confuse them and to drive them away. You may also add equal parts of cayenne pepper and turmeric powder to make a more powerful ant repellent.

9. Boiling Water
   One of the easiest ways of getting rid of ants in the garden is to pour boiling water on top of the ant hill. Repeat the same process 2 to 3 times to get rid of Fire Ants.

10. Cornmeal
Cornmeal acts as a double edge sword for ants. They love it so much that it is a food to die for. When the ants bring cornmeal into their nests and then feast on it, the result is death. Since ants cannot digest cornmeal, their stomachs will expand and in due time it will burst, killing the ants instantly. This may be a gruesome and brutal way for these insects to die, but if it helps you to get rid of ants in the garden and at home, then, it is a good method to consider.

11. Catnip
    Add catnip into water and bring it to boil until you have a strong catnip solution, to make a catnip tea. Spray the solution in the path of ants coming in your house. If you see any small entrances where ants can enter, seal them with expanding foam.
    
12. Cucumber Peels
    Ants don’t like the taste of cucumber, so scatter cucumber peels in areas of your garden where you usually see the ants. Make sure to replace the peels every alternate date. Do this until the ants have disappeared.

13. Salt
    An ordinary salt can also be used in repelling ants. Sprinkle salt in the garden or at home where you see the ants. When ants consume the salt, they will lose water in their body and they will die of dehydration.
14. Chili Powder
    Red chili powder acts as a toxin to ants making it a very effective ant deterrent. Scatter red chili powder on ants’ tracks and once the ants consume it they will choke and suffocate, they will lose focus on their surroundings and will eventually die. You may also mix chili powder with borax and scatter this to places where the ants pass from.

15. Lemon Juice
Best used in making delicious lemonades, lemon juice can also be used as a very effective ant deterrent. Spray lemon juice around the garden, on your plants, and in the nest of the ants. The smell of the lemon juice will mess up the ants’ sense.

To deter ants inside your home, get some cotton balls and soak them in lemon essential oil. Place the cotton balls where ants are usually found such as windowsill, cabinets, and thresholds.

16. Diatomaceous Earth
    Diatomaceous Earth is a natural ant repellent. You can use this without harming your ornamental and edible plants. Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth on your plants and anthills to get rid of ants.
    
17. Borax and Sugar
    Another way of getting rid of ants is by making an ant bait. Here’s what you need:

• 4 tablespoons of Borax
• 4 tablespoons of Sugar
• 1 cup of water
• Container

Add all the ingredients on a container or jar and place the lid tightly. Shake it very well, so that the ingredients will mix up very well.

The next thing you have to do is bait the Fire Ants into your ant killing solution and let them take it back to their queen/s and in their nest.

One way of doing this is by mixing up your borax solution with a wet cat food in a container. Shake the container very well.

Cat food contains proteins which Fire Ants love. So you will surely get rid of the ants in your garden using this mixture.

Scoop a spoonful of this mixture and place it on top of each Fire Ant mound. The Fire Ants will eat the mixture immediately and they will carry some of it back to their queen/s and in their nest.

Repeat the same process a few times until you are sure that you have killed all the Fire Ants. If you have pets at home, make sure that they don’t eat the poisoned cat food you put on your garden. Watch your pets closely or lock them up until the mixture is carried away by the ants.

To kill any types of ants in your yard, add cat food and a half cup of strawberry preserves to your borax mixture. Apply the same process.

Ants can be very annoying and are hard to control. They can invade your kitchen and your garden which may encourage other pests from entering your garden. However, once you know the proper ways and the right things to get rid of ants, these annoying insects will surely avoid going to your garden and entering your home.