Does anyone here grow their orchids with ants?

[Havoccity]

I saw this huge Cymbidium with a Camponotus ant colony at a show. The ants were climbing around feeding on nectar that the plant was producing on its stems.

Does anyone here keep ant colonies in their orchid pots? Perhaps with myrmecophilous species like Myrmecophila or Coryanthes?

[Ray]

Nope. They attract and farm other insects.

[estación seca]

What Ray said. Ants move mealybugs and scale from plant to plant and drink the sugary bug secretions. Protective ants would bite or sting the gardener.

[SG in CR]

Originally Posted by Ray

Nope. They attract and farm other insects.

Not all do. I don't know the type of ant, but there is a type of ant that I have nesting in a Prostechea I have mounted in a tree and I've never seen any of the sap feeding pests that other ants farm. In fact quite the opposite, it's the healthiest Prostechea I have.
But they are a pest when I try to pollinate the flowers. they'll be on my hands biting me in a matter of seconds. Luckily their bite isn't really painful like some ants. It's like a tiny pinch that isn't strong enough to damage the skin.
Though I'm not sure how you would go about getting the right kind of ant to colonize a pot. I tried putting a colony of them in a Coryanthes and they disappeared the next day.

[thefish1337]

There is considerable diversity within ants, it's simply not accurate to broad brush them as only farmers of scale and aphids. I have seen myrmecophiles with ants at multiple collections in the northern hemisphere that do not have these insect infestations so it's not surprising that others have co cultured ants with other types of orchids. Orchids are masters of manipulating insects and microbes and if this forum counts as evidence, even humans.

Learn the ants in your environment that farm scale/aphids and learn the others because ants on the whole are a good thing. Remember, only about 8% of insects are pests and the rest are doing jobs that nothing else on earth can do.

[Mugsie]

When I bring my collection inside for the winter, I end up battling ants. Last year, even with pretreating, I still had a hundred million (give or take seven &#128513 overrun one room. It took me months to eliminate them all. I've found that when I don't have ants, the mealies are a lot less through the winter.

[Leafmite]

The ones I get are the types that farm the pests so I took care of them right away (I bought a Spinosad product to sprinkle on the surface of the soil in my pots that takes care of slugs, pill bugs an ants). I always get them nesting in my tropical plants so I was quite happy to find a product that works. Yeah, ants certainly get into everything. Some of them like the sugar part of the time and the grease at other times so I put out both types of traps to get the ones try to come from outside.

[Havoccity]

Originally Posted by SG in CR

Not all do. I don't know the type of ant, but there is a type of ant that I have nesting in a Prostechea I have mounted in a tree and I've never seen any of the sap feeding pests that other ants farm. In fact quite the opposite, it's the healthiest Prostechea I have.
But they are a pest when I try to pollinate the flowers. they'll be on my hands biting me in a matter of seconds. Luckily their bite isn't really painful like some ants. It's like a tiny pinch that isn't strong enough to damage the skin.
Though I'm not sure how you would go about getting the right kind of ant to colonize a pot. I tried putting a colony of them in a Coryanthes and they disappeared the next day.

Thats very interesting! What species/hybrid Prosthechea is it?

[DirtyCoconuts]

i have ants on a lot of my plants- some are annoying- the entire encyclia area is a battle and i am constantly wiping off spikes and new growth and i put the most ladybugs there when i release) some are great- my schomburkia section is all ant city but they have zero issues -

i have found that balance is the most important factor, then vigilance

i use no pesticides other than my hands (squish) and a mix of ISO soap and water for topical treatment

[SG in CR]

Originally Posted by Havoccity

Thats very interesting! What species/hybrid Prosthechea is it?

I think it's P. chacoensis.