A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Ants in my containers

I do all raised beds or container gardening as I live on a rock. (no dirt deeper than 2") Ants have invaded my containers. I don't want to use poison as I garden for birds and butterflys also. Right now I can't plant, weed, or get anywhere near the beds or containers. Any ideas on how to get rid of the little critters without poisoning ever other thing as well? I have both fire ants and those little bitty ferocious biters.

hi leander i wanted you to know, i feel your pain on those nasty little ants... and i am moving your post to the plant pest section. you'll get better answers there! (and i'll be glad for them, got my own ant story going :rolleyes: )

I am a new member so probably can't help much but I used to have terrible ant problems when we had a mulberry tree which I assume was due to the syrup it produced. When it was cut down they disappeared - is there anything like that in your garden which might attract the little blighters ?

Love from Newcastle, UK xx

Seems that Texas has been overun with esp. fireants. There is a ton of stuff out there to poison them, but all the stuff is toxic to everything else. I don't have a thing around to attract them. Birdfeeders are not near the containers. Maybe beneficial nematodes will help. Don't know that they do much for ants tho.

hi leander! sorry to hear about your ant problem. i once lived in Texas, and i just hated those nasty buggers
good luck,
Renee'

Hey, thanks. I'll look it up. I'd been doing web searches too, but keep coming up with stuff that that is toxic, even the organic stuff like boric acid.

i used to live in DAllas and worked at a horse stable in Plano, so lots of fire ant hills. We would take a shovel, dig into one nest, put it on another nest and visa versa. The ants are very territorial and will kill the invaders. It worked for us.
Barb

I use to have the kind of ants that came into the house?I use to put speramint plants at the bottom of the entry door and it kept them out? I heard they do not like peppermint or spearmint smell?

This may sound smelly and gross, but then again most pesticides are smelly and gross, but this will work without harming any wildlife...not even the ants.

Most insects including ants HATE niccotine!
Make yourself some sun tea using ciggerette butts!
A pub would be a great place to collect them, if you don't know a smoker. Lets it steap util the water turns a nasty brown color, then water the area which you are trying to rid of ants.

If you have a deep colony you may need to concentrate the mix by boiling it down then soaking it is. I would do this outside on a Coleman stove as it STINKS!!! But it does work!

To get an idea how much ants hate the stuff just draw a circle around an ant on pavement with a lit ciggerette, the ant will not cross the circle!

Hope this helps


Mike

if you are just trying to get them out of your containers , you can drench plants with beneficial nematodes. in nursery production we found that when we drenched with the nematodes that the ants left. I don't think that the nematodes kill the ants but the ants don't like to be where the nematodes are.

research in this are is still being done.

are they fire ants? or something other species?

These guys are fire ants. I use nematodes for general bug control in the yard. Doesn't faze the mounds, but I've never tried drenching them. I don't get ants in the house or even on the decks. I am going to try the nicotine drench. It won't hurt the plants will it? Nematodes spray is on my to-do list for next week so I will give that a go. Thanks for all the good ideas. I WILL WIN!

do you know what nematode species you used in the past? you might try using Heterorhabditis indica. it was isolated in FL so it is for warmer soil types. Also have you checked the nematodes to see if they are alive before applying?

The nursery just calls them "beneficial nematodes". How can I tell if they are alive? I've always thought it was a leap of faith and hoped I wasn't being scammed.

look at the bottom of this page beneficial nematodes

Buglady, You are a wealth of information.! Thanks so much.

You might try grits. Sprinkle uncooked grits in your containers... They won't kill many ants, but they will kill enough that the ants will move. This won't work for ridding your entire yard of ants, but it should help in your containers. I take grits when I go camping in Texas, so I can clear my campsite of ants!

I'll have to check out beneficial nemotodes; that is a great site, Buglady!

Thanks for the post! But neither TX & M or University of Florida recommend grits for fire ants control. They have done research and found them ineffective.

here is one link Laboratory Assay of Effect of Instant Grits and Malt-O-Meal for Imported Fire Ant Control

I tried the nicotine tea. So far it hasn't helped at all. But who knows maybe I'll get lucky.