Ants in my plants!

[Bulbopedilum]

BIG, RED, ants like to make my orchid media home! THey don't harm the orchid but it's so annoying when I water my orchids and they start crawling up my arm! How can I remove them and prevent them from getting to my orchids? Thanks!

[Optimist]

Are the bulbophyllums you have generally pollinated by ants? I think that the best no poison way to take care of insects is diatomaceous clay. Unfortunately it does not kill right away, and as you probably know, the ants follow a scent marked trail all the way from their hole. If you can trace the direction, and path they are following, you may be able to disrupt the soil, and put down the diatom clay. If you cah find the hole also. However, fairly soon, they will dig another exit hole.

Insects are covered by a waxy coating, and the little skeletons of diatoms scratch the waxy coating, and that will make them fry to death when they are exposed to air.

Another cure that effects ants is neem oil. This substance clogs the openings in their abdomens called 'spiracles' which is their way of breathing.

I would not put neam oil directly on the rchid plants because like ants they also bring carbon dioxide into their systems through pores in their leaves and roots which you should not clog.

Oh, prior to all this, take your Bulbophylum out of its media and totally clean, and replace or clean the media.

Also move the plant and place it in a new place, so that the ants cannot find it.

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by Optimist

Are the bulbophyllums you have generally pollinated by ants?

Haha I think you looked at my signature. I don't have them... YET (I was finding another 4-syllable orchid than Phalaenopsis). Thanks for the help though. I'll check about neem oil. My house got re-painted so I had to move it inside. Hope the ants wont find it!

[bil]

I grow in a greenhouse, and the ants come and go. They do no damage that I know of, they clean the sugar dew off the plants and probably give attacking insects a hard time.
As for ants in the media, yeah, I have gone to water a pot and had ants absolutely boiling out of it. Mind you I don't hold the pots when I water, so no probs.

One day I went to get a handful of fine bark out of a bag on the shelf, ad when I pulled my hand out, I was wearing an ant glove that went all the way to my elbow.

Ok, that was exciting.

Reminds me of the time when I was a boy. I had climbed a tree to see what was living in a hole in the trunk, reached into the hole, and....

(swift biology lesson. The fleas on a squirrel or anything else lay their eggs in the nest material, and when the larvae are old enough they pupate like other insects like butterflies do. However, once the puation is complete, and there is a full grown flea in the pupa, it goes into suspended animation/hibernation until vibration and a heat source comes along, whereupon they all hatch instantly and start jumping towards the heat sourcem, ie my arm.)

My arm was orange to the shoulder with a complete carpet of fleas.

Cue the flea dance as I desperately tore my shirt and T shirt off and stared beating them against everything in sight. Fortunately they were squirrel fleas not rat fleas, and had no interest in biting me, and were as keen to leave my person as I was to see them go.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Ant traps, based on sugar syrup as the bait and borax as the poison, are very effective, if they are sold where you live.

[MrHappyRotter]

Aside from being a nuisance to the grower, if the ants are building a nest in the potting mix and the colony gets large enough, it can be hell on roots. The nest and associated waste of a colony can block airflow to the roots and hold moisture around them long enough that they eventually die.

Some types of ants also bring plant pests along with them, because they cultivate the critters that feed on plants and harvest honeydew that pests excrete. Scale and aphids are commonly introduced. Not all ants do this however.

As for getting rid of ants, just about any contact insecticide will work. Since the ants aren't consuming the plant and we don't know if they are farming other pests, systemics aren't going to help. Pyrethroids are usually safe, effective, and low cost.

If you don't have many plants infested with ants, you can just dunk the plants in a bucket of water and let it soak awhile. The ants will either drown or abandon the nest. Obviously you want to do this at a distance from the collection (so the ants don't just move to another pot).

Depending on the type of ants, you may be able to eradicate them by placing ant bait (homemade or otherwise) near/on the pot, enticing them to eat. Something as simple as Terro or a mixture of boric acid in sugar syrup may work, though you have to consider that different species of ant will be attracted to different food sources, so this method needs to be tailored to the type of ant you have (which I do not know).

[Salixx]

I second diatomaceous and/or ant traps. Diatomaceous earth is relatively harmless unless you breath a bunch of the dust in. I suggest wearing something over your nose and mouth while working with it.

Ant traps, even if using toxic substances, can be controlled better than sprays and such. I had ants at my old apartment and put them right in their path (if you watch, you can see them coming and going). It helped immensely in controlling the little buggers. I think some are also designed in a way that foragers bring back the bait and poison the colony, but I could be wrong.

[Dollythehun]

Your'e right Salixx. Some colonies are a looking way from where you see them. All these are good tips.

[samgeo]

Originally Posted by bil

I grow in a greenhouse, and the ants come and go. They do no damage that I know of, they clean the sugar dew off the plants and probably give attacking insects a hard time.
As for ants in the media, yeah, I have gone to water a pot and had ants absolutely boiling out of it. Mind you I don't hold the pots when I water, so no probs.

One day I went to get a handful of fine bark out of a bag on the shelf, ad when I pulled my hand out, I was wearing an ant glove that went all the way to my elbow.

Ok, that was exciting.

Reminds me of the time when I was a boy. I had climbed a tree to see what was living in a hole in the trunk, reached into the hole, and....

(swift biology lesson. The fleas on a squirrel or anything else lay their eggs in the nest material, and when the larvae are old enough they pupate like other insects like butterflies do. However, once the puation is complete, and there is a full grown flea in the pupa, it goes into suspended animation/hibernation until vibration and a heat source comes along, whereupon they all hatch instantly and start jumping towards the heat sourcem, ie my arm.)

My arm was orange to the shoulder with a complete carpet of fleas.

Cue the flea dance as I desperately tore my shirt and T shirt off and stared beating them against everything in sight. Fortunately they were squirrel fleas not rat fleas, and had no interest in biting me, and were as keen to leave my person as I was to see them go.

Just finished reading this and let me tell you, I can't stop scratching. Oh dear god the horror. lol

[jkofferdahl]

Originally Posted by Salixx

I second diatomaceous and/or ant traps. Diatomaceous earth is relatively harmless unless you breath a bunch of the dust in. I suggest wearing something over your nose and mouth while working with it.

Ant traps, even if using toxic substances, can be controlled better than sprays and such. I had ants at my old apartment and put them right in their path (if you watch, you can see them coming and going). It helped immensely in controlling the little buggers. I think some are also designed in a way that foragers bring back the bait and poison the colony, but I could be wrong.

I'm a huge fan of Diatomaceous Earth, which I've used in and around plants for a long time. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of it on the plant when the medium is relatively dry and will remain so for a couple of days. Let it just naturally sift into the pot. The ants will have to crawl through it and when they do, the little diatom fossils will commence to doing nasty things which quite effectively kill the ants. And if you have pets, don't worry if they get into the DE, as its harmless to mammals (so long as we don't inhale it).