Hi Bluegirl: Thanks for that info., I'll pass that on to my sister in Texas. I have 8 older sisters ... they are all over the country. I used Encap sulfur on my acid-loving roses: Excellenz von Schubert and Annie L. McDowell ... they love that stuff, since these roses have tough stems that require more calcium. The below is taken from Encap garden sulfur website. It's a pelletized sulfur, but it's dusty & caustic to my eyes when the wind blew backwards.

Encap® Fast ActingTM Sulfur

GUARANTEED ANALYSISCalcium (Ca) at 11 % and 49% Sulfur (S)

Derived from elemental sulfur and gypsum

**** From StrawChicago: Garden sulfur here is pricey, $6 for a tiny bag. But I can get a huge 25 lbs. bag of lime for $4 at Menards. I hope to deter ants from my house. Someone posted on using agriculture lime to get rid of pests:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1375077/hydrated-lime-vs-agricultural-lime?n=20

bighornedelk_hotmail_com

bcra5006 I lived down south one year and rented a home with a large yard. You could not walk through the yard without the fleas and mosquitos destroying your feet and legs. When the high humidity of summer kicked in they infested the house and moved in underneath the house so my foggers that i had using for WEEKS did not work.

At the end of my wits I went to a bug removal expert who casually pointed out lime repels insects. I bought a 40 lb bag of Agricultural lime and crawled under the house and laced it completely with lime then moved on to the yard. Having hardwood floors I lightly dusted the inside of the house, then vacated it for a coulple days. When I came back there were no more fleas, mosquitos, or red ants in the yard, not a flea to be found in the home and to my surprise dozens of cockroaches lying dead everywhere on the hardwood floors. The Lime attacks their bodies orifices drying and burning them to death. It's a hard clean-up inside but it was worth it, and cutting the grass spreading it around and removed the white powder on the grass. I hope this helps someone! Posted on March 2009 by bighornedelk_Hotmail_com

Some info. I posted years ago, see below. Amazon sells sulfur for $12 for 5 lbs. People reported it useful in the garden to lower soil pH, plus keeping snakes & chiggers off, plus treating acne on the skin.

http://www.amazon.com/Pounds-Organic-Greenway-Biotech-Inc/dp/B00HAR7EIC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

U of CA Extension chart in the below link listed 1 ton of gypsum as equivalent to 5.38 ton of sulfur. It also listed 1.09 ton of Ferric Sulfate as equivalent to 5.85 ton of sulfur. See link below:

http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/Soil/ChangingpHinSoil.pdf

If your soil is acidic, hold off the gypsum. That stuff is great in California, where the soil & water is alkaline ... but there are better sources of Calcium for acidic soil, according to the info. from EarthCo. booklet.

Gypsum provides 22% calcium, 17% sulfur, with salt index of 8.1, used to de-salt sodic soil, also to neutralize bicarbonates in alkaline tap water.

Dolomitic Limestone provides 25% calcium and 10% magnesium, salt index 0.8, sandy soil lacks magnesium

Calcitic limestone provides 36% calcium when the rain water (pH 5.6) breaks it down, low salt index 4.7

Colloidal rock phosphate provides 19% calcium and 18% phosphate. Best for acidic soil, cannot be utilized at pH over 7.

Hard rock phosphate provides 48% calcium and 30% phosphate, cannot be utilized at pH over 7.

Bone meal has 11% phosphorus and 24% calcium. Bone meal cannot be utilized if the pH is over 7.

Superphosphate provides 20% calcium, 12% sulfur, and 20% phosphorus, low salt index 7.8

Wood ashes provides 20% calcium, 2% phosphorus, 7% potassium, magnesium, and all trace elements. CAUTION: Wood ash is very alkaline, pH over 10, will burn roots if applied directly to plants.

I checked on ant control, below are a few methods from organic gardening forum:

mcpeg(5a)

Baking soda and sugar. Ants can't fart - they explode. I've covered hills with this stuff and put it around my home.

humboldt101(7b)

My 9 year old told me to use ground cinnamon to get rid of the ants trying to come in our front door. I sprinkled it along the entryway and they stopped.

johntommybob

The easy solution to ants is dish soap (Dawn, lemon Joy, etc,) Mix a table spoon to a gallon of water and pour it slowly over the ant hill, and it will kill them. I figured this out after reading an article on how to control mosquitoes. It said take a shallow dish, put some water in it, and add a few drips of lemon Joy. They said it would attract mosquitoes and kill them. Well it did along with bees and wasps. I also used that in a ant moat on top of a humming bird feeder and it worked there.

Kelly Andrews

Ants are not actually that difficult to repel. Pretty much any fine powder will keep them away. However, no one wants powder all over their home. If they are coming in under your kitchen sink or hidden location, you can use any household find powder (baby powder, ajax, etc.). If you need complete protection around the house, use peppermint oil. Just apply it to baseboards, around windows and along ant trails with a cotton ball. The trick is to apply it just before ant season in the spring. However, it will also help to get rid of them if they are already inside.