kill ants

[bil]

OK, I'm curious. In the US, do you have ants that damage the orchids?
In Spain and in the UK, we don't. My greenhouse has a resident population of ants, and they harvest the honeydew off the orchid stems and shoots. They do no damage that I can see, and ensure that any bugs that land on the plants are given short shrift.

I wouldn't dream of killing them. We have a deal, the ants and I. They stay out of the house, and I don't kill them in the garden.

[Cym Ladye]

Unfortunately Bil, ants are the vector for all sorts of disease, which they love to carry to your orchids on their dirty little feet! They farm aphis on the flowers and scale on the leaves, sucking moisture from the flowers and leaving mold on both the flowers and leaves. Much as you love these little critters, they should be kept off your orchids and moved elsewhere if you do not have the heart to dispatch them.

An old time orchid grower, knowing how I loved ferns, once told me it was fine to grow ferns and orchids, just not in the same pot! The same applies here.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Unfortunately Bil, ants are the vector for all sorts of disease, which they love to carry to your orchids on their dirty little feet! They farm aphis on the flowers and scale on the leaves, sucking moisture from the flowers and leaving mold on both the flowers and leaves. Much as you love these little critters, they should be kept off your orchids and moved elsewhere if you do not have the heart to dispatch them.

An old time orchid grower, knowing how I loved ferns, once told me it was fine to grow ferns and orchids, just not in the same pot! The same applies here.

Well, I simply can't keep ants away. There are just too many nests around the garden. I have enough problems controlling bugs on the citrus trees. So far I have seen no ant associated pests on any of the orchids, and were I to see anyy cushion scale or limpet scale, it would be chemical megadeth tooty sweety-.

I had eradicated cushion scale in the orchard, and it is back again, which is seriously unfunny.

[Optimist]

Well, ya. Anything that goes from one place to another is a potential vector for something or other. You can't kill everything That walks or moves. Ants are useful for producing soil, and providing food to many birds among other things. Having never encountered an orchid virus, I would think they are more a worry amongst owners of large green houses, rather than the general public. I would much rather have ants than aphids.

Bil, we have big nasty red ants fire ants, and harvester ants in Texas.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Optimist

Well, ya. Anything that goes from one place to another is a potential vector for something or other. You can't kill everything That walks or moves. Ants are useful for producing soil, and providing food to many birds among other things. Having never encountered an orchid virus, I would think they are more a worry amongst owners of large green houses, rather than the general public. I would much rather have ants than aphids.

Bil, we have big nasty red ants fire ants, and harvester ants in Texas.

we have a type of harvester ant, but thank heavens no fire ants.

[Cym Ladye]

It is easy to keep ants out of your orchids and let them thrive elsewhere, even if you live surrounded by native woodland as I am. If you really want to get the ants out of your orchids, I am sure you can find a way.

[BAK15]

I find tiny black ants occasionally esp if one container is inside another. Find water soak to be ineffective, the ants will come to surface and end up on counter etc. sometimes put plant outside; will try 1:1 ratio of peroxide to water. Are you rinsing the peroxide out of the orchid, was not sure if it's harmful to the plant.

[ALToronto]

Ortho powder is boric acid, which can harm orchids. I make my own baits by mixing boric acid, syrup and a nut butter, liberally dusted with more boric acid, and leave them on plastic lids on my plant shelves.

Ants don't farm aphids on my plants, but they do pollinate flowers, so I end up with much shorter-lived blooms than I should. They're not the worst pest to have, but they're still a pest.

[Kasiopea]

I was just logging in to explode over what ants have done to my beautiful Vanda blooms. Again! They damage the spike to get the sap and all of the flowers come out damaged and distorted. When I cought this spike coming, it was about 4" long and ants were all over it. I do have a feeling tho that not all ants damage blooms. Those ants were black and not the very tiny variate. I have recently moved and at the new location we have the little tiny light colored sugar ants, and they don't seem to bother the other spikes, blooms. I set out baits every where anyways, but there are just soo many of them in the yard! I don't know if I'll be successful at getting rid of them all, but I'm keeping a close eye to all my spikes. One more goes bad, I'm going crazy on these suckers!

[Orchid Whisperer]

Terro brand ant baits are borax-based (borax and sugar water) but relatively neat and easy to maintain without providing too much boron to the plants. Leave the traps on or near your orchid pots, the ants will find them & within a couple days the ants will be gone.

An added bonus is that the chemicals involved are relatively benign compared to conventional pesticide sprays.