Ants living in my plant's pot.

[Slartibartfast]

When I water my plant, a gazillion ants start evacuating, carrying their eggs. They're just tiny pissants, otherwise known as picnic or sugar ants, so I hope they don't eat the roots or anything terrible like that. They don't travel up the stalk, thank goodness. I wouldn't want them sucking the resin out of my trichomes.

I know they will have eaten the earthworms I put in the soil back in May. I think I'm about 4 weeks from harvest now, so I don't want to try poison on the soil. I did try spraying the pot all over, under, and around it, and then flooding the pot with water so when the ants run away, they'll run into the poison. It didn't work as well as I hoped. Anyone here know of problems ants will cause? What can I do, if anything?

For all I know, maybe they help aerate the soil.

 

[Kupunakane]

Hey there Slartibartfast,

I think that your right about waiting. I mean if you have had them this long, and you are this close to harvest, I would treat everything as if they are not there, and hope for the best.
Good Luck, and do let us know what happens.

smoke in peace
Kingkahuuna

 

[time4tokin20s]

I've seen them living in the gravel at the bottom of pots without any noticed ill effects.

 

[3patas]

i dont think it wont hurt the plant but in my opinion i will keep them , actually it will help me to protect my plant from other bugs that might hurt my plant

 

[4u2sm0ke]

Im sorry..i read that ants are bad for plants. Are they crawling on the plant at all?..do you see them at the top?..Thanks for shareing with us..and do keep us in formed

 

[That crazy vancouver guy]

actually... the ants may form a symbiotic relationship with the plant, but I could be wrong... fer instance... the x-bioch used to have this plant in the front garden called a peonay (spelling?) that had this really sticky resin over the flower bulb... well, if ants didn't come and remove this resin off the bulb, the flower didn't fully bloom ... and this thing was huge... the size of a small red dodge ball... and the bud covered in the resin was the size of a golf ball... but it needed the ants to clean the resin off for the flower to be released... I watched them do this:hubba:

 

[4u2sm0ke]

I got this from " Ask Ed "...by Ed Rosenthal


The ants are making nests in the planting medium of the containers. This messes with the roots. they are aphid ranchers. Aphids suck the juices of the plants and concentrate the sugars in a "honeydew". the ants squeeze the aphids to harvest the honeydew. Ants protect aphids from predation by other creatures. Aphids harm plants in three ways: they suck vital juices from the plant, their "honeydew" promotes infections, and they are often vectors for desease, spreading bacterial and viral infections. Although it may seem as if the ants are everywhere, once you follow the trails, you will probably find that the ants are only colonizing a few containers or a few holes in the garden. The ants must be eliminated. there are many ways to do this without using poisons. Mixes of sugar, boric acid and diatomacious earth can be placed in the ant' path. the substances coat the ants' exoskeleton and puncture it so the creatures dehydrate. A sticky barrier can be placed on the stems of the plants so that ants cannot climb up. Nurseries selll Tanlefoot(r) made for this purpose. Ant colonies are exterminated professionally using a solution of pyrethrum poured into their holes. Ant bait is also very effective. Cinnamon is by far the most effective and killer/repellent. It is both repugnant and fatal to ants. As you sprinkle it or water into the soil, you will see the ants scurrying out of their nests. With a spoon, sprinkle ground cinnamon, the regular spice type that you can purchase at the grocery store, on the top of the planting medium. Then make a drench using 2 rounded tablespoons of grounded cinnamon per gallon of hot water. Let the water cool to room temperature then add a liquid pyrethrum insecticide into the solution as directed. A surfactant such as coco-wet(r) will make the solution more effective. Use the solution as a drench. Beneficial nemotodes should be added to the medium. These microscopic creatures atttck various insects including ants and help prevent their return. To keep the ants out, the perimeter should be lined with a inch-wide barrier of diatomaceous earth and cinnamon powder. If the ants have encouraged an aphid infestation, be sure to treat for aphids once the ants have been eliminated.


Hope this helps

 

[That crazy vancouver guy]

there ya go... do what he said ^

 

[papabeach1]

my grandpa showed me how to get rid of ants by cinnamon spices, just
dressing it around the soil surface before apply the watering...

pretty simple... ants don't like dried cinnamon and it don't affect plants/roots

 

[Hick]

Ant colonies are exterminated professionally using a solution of pyrethrum poured into their holes

... How do they hold their tiny little legs??..

 

[Waspfire]

another way we folks down in the south kill ants and have seen and herd many down here use it, Is to take a handful of grits yes i know u northern people are like what the hell is a grit but yes take some grits spread aorudn the ant pile or along there trail they will then take it back eat it and blow up lol. jm2cents grits expand when water hits them so when digested they blow up funny thing to watch

 

[Hick]

...."grit's 'n gravy"...

 

[Puffin Afatty]

one time while hunting I found an ant hill and cut a branch off an crabapple tree to poke it a bit, leaving the stick in the ant hill when I left these were red/black ants, when I returned the next fall, the branch was growing and the ants were still using the ant hill with their new crabapple tree growing out of the middle :rofl:

 

[Waspfire]

...."grit's 'n gravy"...

lol hick we love same foods it seems grits n gravy and fried spam lol

 

[Hick]

yea.. an' I'm a damn yankee

 

[Waspfire]

yea.. an' I'm a damn yankee

lol nobodys perfect

 

[4u2sm0ke]

... How do they hold their tiny little legs??..

and what hole is best?

 

[4u2sm0ke]

what are grits?...cereal?

 

[trillions of atoms]

^ Lol
i get my grits from the same person jack gets his majic beans - my cuz vinny

 

[Hick]

what are grits?...cereal?

yep.. a corn based mush