Does Turfsolv Kill Ants?

So you’re wondering what can be done to deal with ants in your lawn.  You want to know if Turfsolv will help with Ants.

 

In short, from my own personal testing, yes Turfsolv can control Black ants to a degree but Red ants are harder to control.

Please note that there are no specific application guidelines for Turfsolv with ants.  Turfsolv is designed to aid grub reduction and improve plant health.  However, our own testing has seen results from use with some ants, sometimes.

In our lawn care business, we apply Turfsolv to customer lawns at their request whenever they mention an issue (such as Chafer Grubs, Leatherjacket Grubs or lawn disease).

What we have noticed is that when you start to see ant mounds on the lawn, you should look to apply Turfsolv as soon as possible.  Applying regularly as a preventative will help to minimise any ant mound breakouts.

You can order Turfsolv from us here.

Now, while Turfsolv has been a bit of a godsend for us since we started using it, it’s not a magic bullet.

In some lawns, customers fed back to us that the ant numbers reduced, and regular re-application gave the most consistent results.

In a very small number of lawns (2 to 3), when applied during Summer, something unexpected happened.  A part of the lawn became highly stressed very quickly.

My current personal thoughts are that as they move in colonies, this may have led to a mass movement to a new section of lawn.

The current advice for Turfsolv application is to mix 2ml of Turfsolv with 100ml of water, and apply this to 1 square metre of lawn.  Next, briefly water in, then re-apply after 3 days, then monthly.

In BOTH of the stressed lawns, I did NOT apply after 3 days.  It was a simple one-off application.

This is an issue when I am applying Turfsolv to lawns on behalf of customers.  With those 2 to 3 lawns, I struggled to return to their lawn for a few weeks due to work schedules, however, the fact that we now sell Turfsolv on our website means customers can re-apply themselves after 3 days then monthly. Secondly, some customers are not able or willing to pay for a second dose of Turfsolv (when applied by us).  This is when it makes so much more sense to make Turfsolv something you apply yourself and save yourself a huge percentage of the cost of having someone else apply for you.

Ironically I actually gave one customer a bottle of Turfsolv for free as she was unwilling to pay for the required number of re-applications.  She applied it the initial one time, but then never applied it again, so she continued to get ant mounds within her lawn.

Her next-door neighbour actually paid for us to apply regular, although this was only carried out every 2 weeks (the frequency at which we visit the property to carry out mowing).  Her lawn did so much better with the ant control, apart from one time when the ants moved to a new section of the lawn and stressed it out.

So over the next season, I will make sure that the application guidelines are followed strictly.

I believe that a second dose after 3 days would have helped to control more of the remaining ants, and reduce the chances of stressed sections taking over when ants are quickly trying to rebuild their colonies.

Further thoughts, for ant treatments, are to increase the dosage frequency until controlled.  For example, it may mean that we have to treat the lawn every 3 days for perhaps 1 to 2 weeks and then see how things go.

Red ants and Black ants and Turfsolv

 

So far we have seen some reduction in ant issues when treating Black ants.  However, a customer who mentioned Red ant issues said they saw no reduction in issues around red ants.  At the same time, it is noted that again they only carried out a single application of Turfsolv.

My current thinking is that Black ants will likely need the initial 2 applications and perhaps a third (so on days 1,3 and day 6), while Red ants may well require additional applications as they are generally noted to be more aggressive)

 

Advice moving forward in the treatment of ants with Turfsolv

 

To definitively test the properties of Turfsolv when used for ants (even though no ant control is claimed by the manufacturer), it seems it is VITAL to re-apply a second dose after 3 days as per the instructions on the bottle.

Then, I suggest you consider re-application a further few times every 2 to 3 days and re-assess after a total timeframe of 1 to 2 weeks has passed.

If you would like to order Turfsolv for ant control (noting it is not claimed to work on ants), then please do follow the guidance I have laid out in this article.

We are carrying out the application as per the manufacturers’ instructions.  We are not altering the dosage ratio (which is not recommended anyway as it makes it less effective).

So pick the right time to apply.  It should be when the ants are within the root and upper areas of the lawn.

• Briefly wet the lawn.
• Measure the lawn (let’s say 100 square metres).
• Mix 2ml of Turfsolv per square metre (so 200 ml Turfsolv),
• With 100 ml water per square metre (so 10 litres water)
• Then apply.  (A watering can with a fine rose is recommended unless you own a sprayer).
• After, a brief wetting of the lawn to wash the product into the root zone is required.

 

Final thoughts on Turfsolv and its use for Ant control

 

Let me start out by pointing out again that nowhere does it say that Turfsolv controls ants.  It is not designed for this purpose.  It was a chance conversation with the Uk importer, that led to the discovery of an unexpected side effect of some form of ant control in the lawn.

Ants are generally a warm-weather problem.  During late Spring, Summer and late Summer are the times when you can expect to see Ant problems forming.  More so in sandy soils.

Turfsolv works by Physical action – i.e. it physically smothers them reducing their ability to breathe, so you need to apply when they are near the surface.  Ants by nature are fast-moving, and as there are millions under the soil, you cannot expect a single application to kill ants.  Many will move away from the mixture and move fast to a new area of the lawn (in my opinion).

I believe that specific ant issues may well be controlled with repeated applications of Turfsolv every couple of days and then review.  I have personally seen good control of Black ants with a single application, but I do believe this is nowhere near enough and strongly urge a second and likely a third dose.

If you’d like to order Turfsolv we do sell it within our online shop.

Thanks