Phillybonker
Well-Known Member
Ants have taken up residency in some of my outdoor grow sites. I know they can cause havoc with the root system so I'd like to know if there is anyway to kill the ants without harming the soil microbes?
Ant colony in the soil
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Hey PhiI, just my 2 cents. I have heard concerns about ants too. I have tried adding cinnamon powder at one suggestion but after trying several times over a couple of years I decided that it didn't seem to do much. If I watched the surface soil for a while I'd usually spot an ant or two, but I never saw a massive numbers of them. Eventually I felt that they were not causing any problem and I decided to not concern myself with them as long as the plants look happy which I feel is the main thing.
You could try some Diatomaceous Earth which is a dry powdered form of fossilised silica diatoms, not good to breath in, but deadly to hard shelled insects. I have some, but I have not used it yet and probably won't, it is the caterpillars that concern me the most.
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Phillybonker
Well-Known Member
Cinnamon will apparently only work if the ants are harvesting fungi. If they are doing something else then cinnamon won't work.
I'll look into Diatomaceous Earth, Thanks.
Ants in the garden are a double edged sword. Overall they are beneficial, aerating, fertilizing and turning over the soil, however, if they take up residence in the roots, then you can have issues with portions of the roots drying out. Diatomaceous earth should work. Heck,, mix it with cinnamon!
Hey @Phillybonker hope your having a good day.
Diatomaceous earth,cinnamon or cayenne pepper will displace your ants
Add it to water with a little safers soap and soak them.
Stay safe
Bill
Take a few minutes and do a search using the keywords:
do ant eat roots
Most of the answers are "no, ants do not eat roots" but if they are in the root zone it is often a sign that the soil is drier than it should be for a healthy plant and that is often a sign of not enough organic material. The occasional ant wandering around is just doing his job of looking for dead insects or other foods to take back to the nest.
Ants going up and down the stem is an interesting situation. They might be there because they have found a group of aphids and they are using those aphids as a source of sugars. The solution is not to kill the ants but to kill the aphids and the ants will leave.
do ant eat roots
Most of the answers are "no, ants do not eat roots" but if they are in the root zone it is often a sign that the soil is drier than it should be for a healthy plant and that is often a sign of not enough organic material. The occasional ant wandering around is just doing his job of looking for dead insects or other foods to take back to the nest.
Ants going up and down the stem is an interesting situation. They might be there because they have found a group of aphids and they are using those aphids as a source of sugars. The solution is not to kill the ants but to kill the aphids and the ants will leave.
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Phillybonker
Well-Known Member
I can see the ants are coming out of tunnels in the ground carrying their young. I suspect they have set up a colony in the ground. They are not near the plant roots....yet.
Sueet
Well-Known Member
If you see them carrying their young, it means they are moving, either out, or in, depending - in general they keep their brood in a protected rh controlled chamber. I would just give that area some extra water (give it a good deep soaking) and watch for a few days, see if they just decide to find a better place.
greenjeans
Well-Known Member
I would think a darn good soaking would have them relocate.
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Phillybonker
Well-Known Member
They might be moving out, I removed lots of weeds that were growing around the plant and disturbing the soil as I uprooted the weeds in the same area the ants were running around in. If they are moving out they made that decision quite quickly. I'll see next weekend if they have vacated the grow site.
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Phillybonker
Well-Known Member
If they ain't gone by the weekend they are going for a swim.
Sugar water & 10% Borax by volume use hot water to dissolve the sugar don't add too much borax or ant will not eat it . put it in pop tops or small containers, near the ant nests They take it back to the nest to feed the young. It will dry them out from the inside in 7-10 days That's what's in those little metal cans or plastic now they sell for ants
Also works great on wasps , I always put some out before my raspberries become ripe & the lazy greedy buggers will go for that before the berries ,most times
Also works great on wasps , I always put some out before my raspberries become ripe & the lazy greedy buggers will go for that before the berries ,most times
GreauxFast
420 Member
Pour a half cup of raw dried grits on top. They will eat it, the starch will swell them and kill them.
As SmokingWings said, the ants could be there for the sugars from the aphids. The ants will help and colonize the aphids if allowed.
greenjeans
Well-Known Member
Same thing happens to me!!!
I was looking for a video I took of a plant that had been harvested.
I was in the same spot .. couldn't see any damage ... must be ok.
The harvest was very light. We only got about 1 lb per 1000 watt light, and I usually get 2.5 lbs per light.
While cleaning out the pots I ran across a full blown ranch. It was a HORROR show. The soil was literally moving. All the aphids, all lined up ... just like cows in a milking barn. And ants all over the place.
I gotta find that video.
I almost threw up when I saw it the first time.
I was in the same spot .. couldn't see any damage ... must be ok.
The harvest was very light. We only got about 1 lb per 1000 watt light, and I usually get 2.5 lbs per light.
While cleaning out the pots I ran across a full blown ranch. It was a HORROR show. The soil was literally moving. All the aphids, all lined up ... just like cows in a milking barn. And ants all over the place.
I gotta find that video.
I almost threw up when I saw it the first time.
That does explain @Phillybonker's comment "I can see the ants are coming out of tunnels in the ground carrying their young." in his earlier msg.
Makes me shivver just thinking about it. Ugh.
That's my Canna-OCD.
Disgusting.
Now I'm gonna have to go check the pots to make sure no ants/aphids.
I'll prolly have nightmares tonite.
That's my Canna-OCD.
Disgusting.
Now I'm gonna have to go check the pots to make sure no ants/aphids.
I'll prolly have nightmares tonite.
