"Help" fire Ants

[Tommy]

Hi folks, need some advice i noticed today that i have fire ants in one of my Phals pot.i did this don't know if it was a good idea or not. i sprinkled a small amount of fire ant bait on the surface of the pot and then set it in a saucer and put some in it. was this the wrong thing to do. what would you folks suggest really hate these ants. would appreciate any help you can offer. Tommy

[Anton]

Put your Phal in a saucer of water resting on some pebbles to keep it above the water level and that will act as a moat and keep them off your pot.

That just leaves you to contend with the little buggers and try and find a way of keeping them off YOU.

[BillC]

Hi Tommy, What you have done is a basic form of ' broadcast treament ' The idea being that the ants will carry the bait which has a slow acting insecticide incorporated back to the nest site and the bait will evetually be disseminated to all of the ants in the nest resulting 'hopefully' with the end of the ants. How long it will be before the ants are wiped out will depend on many things; how big is the collony, how good is the toxicant in the bait, can you afford to wait for the last ant to pass out? The only other practical solution I could offer mey not be practical or a solution! I was thiking if you take the plant out of the pot and get rid of the ants by flushing the pot and plant with couple of gallons of water, then repot the plant with fresh media that might do the trick. Good luck with your ants.

Bill

[tom499]

I'm the kind of person who has a lot of time on my hands (school summer holidays ) so my personal approach would be to follow them back to their nest and use small explosives to remove the problem of course baking powder and vinegar are just as fun and less noisy (though both will ruin surrounding area, if done effectively )

Are the ants doing any damage? I see ants carry away dead plant waste, though now thinking, those scissor ants cut leaves to ribbons.

[BillC]

Tommy, I have not heard of ants doing any serious damage to plants, unless of course they are leaf-cutters; continue with the bait food and let the ants be their own downfall. If you get a good result please post. Btw some ant species live symbiotically with orchids using psbulbs as nest sites, apparently without damage to the plant

Bill