Ants in my plants?
Question:can i put ant powder on soil round my plants or will it go straight to my roots and kill them.
Answers:
Are the ants in the roots or in the foliage ? In the roots, they will not damage the plant, but they make great gaps in the earth, so keep watering around the plant to force them to move their house. If they are in the foliage, then look closer to see if there are green or black aphids. These are the culprits that are damaging your plant, not the ants. The ants are milking the aphids for their sticky secretions, and so keep them safe from their natural predators, like the ladybird and her larvae. Get rid of the aphids, by squashing them between your fingers, or spraying soapy or nicotine water on them, and the ants will leave your plant to look for a new source of food.
My grandmother used to say that ants are on plants b/c they are eating the aphids that are sucking the life out of the plants. Take care of the aphids first, then the ants will go somewhere else where you can properly eradicate them.
There's lots of sprays you can guy, many are enviro-friendly if that's a concern to you. Good luck with your ant problem!
Ants in your plants eh. Well its a good thing. They eat all the bugs on your plants. If you are riddled with them then you need to get rid of em. I cant see a problem of using powder, i have done it on my mates garden on many occasions. I think he has half of the population of ants on his property. Just dont over do the powder.
the ants help prottect the plant
I've listed a couple of interesting articles below in sources regarding the benefits of ants.
If you still feel you need to get rid of some of the ants, and would like to try something other than ant powder, you might try cornmeal. Sprinkle it or pile it wherever you want. The ants take it "home" with them yet they are unable to digest it.
try soapy water it wont damage your plants but it will get rid of the ants
Try growing Feverfew (tanecetum) the ants are discouraged as they don't like the smell.
The ant powder won't hurt your plants,you can use Nippon liquid instead,you put a couple of drops into a special small container that you can get when you buy or put it on a piece of tile,the ants get it then take it back to the nest.
Ants on plants can be good, they eat the black fly that try to breed on my apple trees... black fly and other bugs really eat away at your plants (looks like a cluster of tiny black marks and the plant starts to look a bit wilted and not so green. Use some soapy water to wash the whole tree/plant and this should do the trick, kill the black flies and other ant food, etc and the ants should disappear elsewhere.
Nicky, Ants use Aphids like we use cattle except they dont eat'em. They use the sweet clear excrement from the aphids and in turn they protect the aphids.
But like Cake says if ants have built a colony in you plant root system then you have a problem, it will be starved for nutritions and water eventually with big hole underground...
I perefer to jus stomp them in and run them over w/ lawnmower instead of chemicals but depends on why your critters are...
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