Coca cola roach and ant killer, online article

[symbolipoint]

TL;DR

bad advice from an online article in my opinion

I just found and am reading the online article, https://itsthevibe.com/everyday-object-life-hacks/26/ . Just before I reached this article, I was guessing that it was going to discuss diet drink of coca cola containing either some artificial sweetener or aspartame, but NO! The article discussed the use of normal type of coca cola containing sugar. Maybe my opinion needs an expert to help me adjust it, but from my own experience, coca cola containing sugar will ATTRACT ants, a small field's worth of them. This seems to be how to create a concentrated problem.

 

[BillTre]

What they are saying is that if you put sugery stuff out in a field somewhere, you will end up with now ants there which will eat the roach larvae. Its a biological warfare approach.
Similarly, I once worked in a biology building where roaches were constantly present.
"Why not poison them?" you might ask. Because, its in a biology building with all kinds of research going on with animals. Don't want to mess around with poisons there.
During construction one year, the concrete envelope of the building was compromised and rats got in.
It was noticed that the pesky roaches had disappeared for some, at then unknown reason.
It turned ou the rats were eating the roaches quite efficiently.
This was nice for a while, but then rats started dropping out of the suspended ceilings on to people's heads or showing up in a secretary's desk drawer, eating her sandwich.
Eventually, it was decided that rats had to go.
A guy came in and set rat traps (like the classic wood and wire mouse traps, but bigger) in all the likely places.
The rats were all killed in a week or two, and then the roaches came back.

 

[Rive]

I can accept that it would work as (indirect) pesticide, bringing up the ants to the leaves of the plants.
But for this to work you need to have ants first. Sugar won't create the ants.

The article is about your garden. What kind of garden? Lawn has ants, but no leaves what would require their tending. A vegetable garden would require such tending, but (by my experience) has insufficient amount of ants.

A really interesting idea, but I feel skeptics. Would like to see proof (relevant experience) first.

 

[symbolipoint]

I may need to reread the article. My experience was, other than finding ants making their trail to congregate around soft drink beverage items left out, was having seen thousands of ants collected on a cement porch leading to a room where coca cola or pepsi cola had been sitting for a few hours. The beverage was the kind containing sugar, since artificial sweeteners in such beverages were not yet popular at the time back then.

 

[sysprog]

Ants seem to me to like high fructose corn syrup (soda pop sweetener) as much as they like cane sugar -- I prefer pure cane sugar -- perhaps some ants are less fussy than I am.

 

[symbolipoint]

Something's wrong with that article. Titling indicates a way to use Coka Cola to kill ants and roaches (in the garden). The sugary cola attracts the ants (so this does not say it kills them), which find and eat pest larvae (roaches?), so this leads to less pest larvae or roaches so killed by being eaten by the ants. Article then said nothing about any what controls the ants. Article is become somewhat interesting so I am interested in being more sharply aware of the full process.

 

[Rive]

Several sources can be found for the story, like this or this
The common point seems like spraying of sugar solution (coca cola being only a replacement), and presence of red- or fire ants (addicted to sugar and being at least part predatory, aggressive) to be baited.

Now, fire ants are not something you want to invite into your garden. I think I'll pass on this.

 

[berkeman]

A guy came in a set rat traps

Did anybody suggest bringing in cats first to see if a balance could be achieved? Titrate the number of cats to keep both the rat and roach populations in check...

 

[pinball1970]

Did anybody suggest bringing in cats first to see if a balance could be achieved? Titrate the number of cats to keep both the rat and roach populations in check...

Then if the cats get out of hand...

 

[sysprog]

. . . and please be gentle when keeping the cat off your keyboard . . .

 

[berkeman]

Then if the cats get out of hand...

Hmm, good point. Hopefully the titration would start on the conservative side, and build up the number of cats as needed. If they are over-hunting, you could send a couple home with employees for a week or two to swing the balance the other way...

 

[Keith_McClary]

rats were eating the roaches quite efficiently

The way I heard it, if your roaches disappear you have mice, and if your mice disappear you have rats.

 

[BillTre]

The way I heard it, if your roaches disappear you have mice, and if your mice disappear you have rats.

Rats are pretty prevalent in the wilds of the LA area.
Mice seemed less common.

 

[chenopo]

Then if the cats get out of hand...

Remembering the old woman who swallowed a fly...