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So I just put the finishing touches on my garden this week. I have a really bad ant problem on my backyard patio (the vegetable beds surround the patio like a border) so I decided to spray some standard ant-killer stuff on the bigger culprit hills, maybe 8-10 of them. Fast forward three hours later, I see it is about to torrential rain so I sweep up the dead ant hills so it doesn't spread everywhere but of course the residue is still going to be in the cracks and such. Anyway, do any fellow gardeners/chemists/WebMD enthusiasts have any insight on what I should do? It seems like it might be overkill to take out all my plants/veggies and resoil everything (the pesticide had dried at this point). On the other hand, the stuff is extremely toxic..the way it makes insects shrivel up and die instantly doesn't speak well for integrating with my food!
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May 27, 2015 02:28
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 02:14 |
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You're dead already.
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May 27, 2015 04:01
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If you've still got the container of ant killer around, check the ingredients. If it's boric acid-based, the toxicity to humans is low. It could potentially harm your plants, but hopefully the rain will have diluted it enough that it'll be okay.
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May 27, 2015 05:23
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It's an insect killer, not RoundUp. The garden should not be affected. Check the label if you're curious - if it's for exterior use it will warn you if it shouldn't be used around ornamental plants or veggies. Most of your plants probably won't notice. That said, I would thoroughly wash anything you harvest that might have been close enough to your spraying to have wind-drifted particles land on it, and/or anything touching the soil in your garden. Ant killer is not something one should ingest.
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Jun 3, 2015 03:01
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