ants?

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by tedro

Thanks Roberta!

Might I *see aphids? or, can i tell if there *are aphids?
Wouldn’t/will aphids get on my parlor palm, next to the phal?

if it looks like there is Cheetos crumbs on the young and tender parts of the plant

....or if large portions of the plant start dying off

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by tedro

Thanks Roberta!

Might I *see aphids? or, can i tell if there *are aphids?
Wouldn’t/will aphids get on my parlor palm, next to the phal?

Oh, you'll see the aphids if you get them. They can be green or black (or sometimes other colors), like little balls, a millimeter or so across. More to the point, if you have ants in your plants in the house, you might want the ants to go someplace else. And do it without exposing yourself to pesticides. I haven't had ant problems at my house (thankfully) so I can't vouch for the technique personally, but I have heard of other people having success leaving dryer sheets (like Bounce) lying around where they find ants, apparently the ants don't like the stuff and leave.

[kvet]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I have heard of other people having success leaving dryer sheets (like Bounce) lying around where they find ants, apparently the ants don't like the stuff and leave.

When I moved into my house 3 years ago, I struggled with ants inside for about a year. Lining every entry point with baking soda got them to eventually stop - it did take a few weeks, but I didn't have to kill anything

[Dorchid]

A quick google search says there are 10,000 trillion ants on Earth at any given time (though some scientists argue it’s closer to 100 trillion...but who’s counting?) and weigh as much as the human population.

[tedro]

Well, the ants have gone! )
That was quick, just disappeared.

I learned a lot, thank you all.

ps. my parlor palm got aphids once, i guess it was aphids, idk.
Years ago I used to open the glass door in front of it, for fresh air, just a few hours each day.
I started noticing these tiny black dots all over it!
I washed it, closed the door, used some other treatments....
In the end I had trimmed off lots of my palm.
So, when I nursed back what was left... now its Super Palm! ) — my Phal’s best friend, besides me, of course.