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ants

chilehead70301

chilehead70301

Does anyone have a problem with ants in their soil? I have a tabasco and habanero planted in pots and I noticed ants this morning. Does anyone have any remedies on how to keep them away? I sprayed a soap solution on the soil this morning, however I am not sure if that is the recommended solution. I do have an insecticide spray, but I didn't notice ant's being one of the pests it kills.
 
Is it just in your soil? If you have ants on your plants then have a good look for aphids. Ants will "farm" aphids for their honeydew
 
I have ants in my raised bed and on my plants, but no aphids. The guy at a local gardening center told me that the ants are attracted by, in my case, spider mites. So I am treating to get rid of the spider mites and hopefully the ants will go away. I guess we'll see.
 
I checked for aphids and there are none. I check my plants every day. I don't see any kind of bugs other than the ants. I'll spray the insecticide soap I have on the soil this evening and hopefully it will get rid of the ants or anything else that I cannot see. I just don't want the ants to build a colony and it kills my plants.

I am considering re-potting with fresh soil. Not sure if that will help or if it's the right thing to do.
 
Ants, without aphids, can be beneficial. The first time they brought aphids and I sprayed and got rid of them. The next time no aphids, but they did pollinate the flowers; I had a hell of a flower to fruit ratio. Ants can be good.
 
i get ants in some of my pots, right now i got some in my Hungarian Charry plant, which i got INSIDE so i dunno where they came from.. am thinking of replant it to get ridd of them. Cuse i know they will be brining aphids sooner or later. :/
 
You could always try just raking the soil around the plants, ants are very chemical and drop very tiny beads of "bread crumbs" that allow other ants to follow. Break up this communication network and the ants will start a new travel path - that is if you don't want to RAID them. I rake my lawn when I see an ant colony and this usually encourages them to move on.
 
I will check my plants this afternoon to see if they are still there or if they moved on. if they are still around, i'll try and use the insecticide soap I have and hopefully that will eliminate them. I don't want them to bring back the aphids.
 
When I get ants in a pot I lay down a solid circle of DE, set the pot in the center and dust the top layer of medium in the pot as well. In a few days they are gone. If the DE gets wet you'll need to reapply.
 
What is DE? I recall reading that someplace but can't remember the name. can you get that at Lowes or HD? or would I need to get that from a feed store?
 
My construction of the last year. Against ant and snails.

antc1hn.jpg


:cheers:
 
chilehead70301 said:
What is DE? I recall reading that someplace but can't remember the name. can you get that at Lowes or HD? or would I need to get that from a feed store?
Click to expand...

DE = diatomaceous earth

Cheapest I've found is on ebay for a 50LB bag of Perma-Guard Food Grade DE for $55 including shipping. Smaller quantities can be found, but at higher relative pricing.
 
When I got home from work, I checked the soil and there they were. So I sprayed the soil with the insecticide soap I have and it looks like it took care of the problem. At least for the moment. I checked the leaves again and I see no signs of aphids. I am hoping they do not return tomorrow.
 
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