Well I have tried a lot of things and nothing seems to work. I think I finally figured out why. My biggest problems are my mint plants. A regular mint and an orange mint. The ants have established colonies in the plant containers. I wouldn't mind so much but they are farming aphids which is making getting rid of the aphids next to impossible. I am at a point where I am going to try extreme measures poisons on them and restart my mint plants. I don't want to because the orange mint is huge this year but I have started seeing both ants and aphids again. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them once and for all at least the colonies in the containers? I know the ants don't hurt the plants but last year I would spray daily and still have to remove thousands of aphids, or so it seemed, daily. I don't want the borax to be taken in by the mint as I use it throughout the year for teas. Most natural methods don't seem to be attractive as they have thousands of aphids to feed off. Should I be focusing on eliminating the aphids instead of the ants? Insecticidal soaps didn't seem to do the job. Could this be because the ants were cleaning them off or protecting the aphids in some way?
Oh man~ good question I'm curious to see what everyone has to say. My dad fights those little black ants continually :-x They make him crazy!~
First SOAPY water for the aphids and them a corn meal dinner for the ants. You should be able to get rid of both with this "formula". If the cornmeal isn't eaten by the ants give the plant a really soapy drench.
Mix the Boric Acid in jelly and put it in a jar lid for other shallow container. The ants will eat it and die and the Boric Acid doesn't come in contact with the plants. If you have cats or dogs, be sure it is someplace where they can't get to it.
Will they die at the nest or go off somewhere and die? I think one of the mints has a nest right in the container. Then again, I don't know if Borax is even dangerous to humans??? Hard to find reliable information online with a 30% split on harmful, not harmful and only harmful in prolonged exposure.
Borax and Boric Acid are not the same thing. Boric Acid is an antiseptic and insecticide and will kill the ants that eat it, which will probably be all of them except the babies and the queen. You could sprinkle DE on the top of the soil, that they will track into the mound with them and end up killing the mounds completely.
I am glad you made that clear! The thought of having borax in my plants was not a pleasant one for anything I might eat later. I will be trying to find some boric acid and DE right away before the ants get to last years levels and they start farming enough aphids to cure world hunger.
Don`t know if it works,, I have never tried it but heard somewhere that for ants in your pots, sprinkle a good amount of dry laundry soap, Tide, Gain, whatever you have, on top of the soil in the pot after you water next time. Supposed to run the ants off.
Mart... Might have to try that. Fire ants are notorious for moving into pots. I keep mine off the ground on blocks or wood... anything to deter them from moving in.
Like I said,, I have not tried this so not sure if it works. But if it does, guess you can sprinkle it around the area where the pot sits. Can`t remember but I dont think it kills them, just runs them off. Can`t hurt anything to try it.
I got my boric acid so I am hoping this works. I actually hate to mess with them but having to treat my mint plants weekly to keep aphids at bay is hurting the plants too much. Hopefully this will eliminate them where I don't want them.
Thanks for the tips guys....these little pest are in all of my potted plants!!!!....whenever I water.....they are everywhere!!!! Don't mean to sound dumb.....but what is DE? Thanks
DE is Diatomaceous earth is an organic insecticide. You can find bags of it in just about all garden centers. Not a dumb question, many people are not familiar with it There is also a form that is used in swimming pool filters but that isn't what you want for the garden.
Thanks, I certainly appreciate the information!!!....Will be one of the things on my to do list today.
