Help i have ants in my pots - Orchid Board

TriforceRay · #1 08-04-2011, 10:18 PM

HELP!!!!!
What can i do to remove them?

Kelo · #2 08-04-2011, 10:20 PM

You can get ant powder or similar from garden centers or you can buy it on the WWW.

Lady_Vamp · #3 08-05-2011, 12:06 AM

I had ants in a potted orchid, my solution was to submerge the pot (water line must be above the substrate so nothing can hide) for about an hour in water when it need watering and now there are no ants left

PS: For the first waterings I'd stay close to it in case some of them make a run for it and invade your house/appartement/other plants.

tucker85 · #4 08-05-2011, 08:31 AM

Ants in orchid pots are always a problem here in south Florida. The ants don't hurt the orchid and I'm not always in a big hurry to get rid of them. The problem is that you can't display the orchid indoors if it has ants. I spray with Orthene a few times each year to kill any critters that might be lurking on my plants. The Orthene seems to get rid of a lot of the ants also.

Royal · #5 08-05-2011, 05:39 PM

I find that ant don't appear in fresh media so much. Usually when I have ants, the plant could use re-potting as the ants will grind up the media into dirt..

Leafmite · #6 08-05-2011, 07:57 PM

Every year, when my plant collection is outside, I seem to get ant colonies in a pot or two. For those into herbs, I've found one, a type of artemisia (wormwood), that ants don't seem to like. I put some leaves in a pot where I've identified a colony and watch them scurry away, carrying off their young. To be completely certain the ants are gone, I soak the pot overnight. During the time when the plants are in the house, I use ant baits (terro) to keep ants from becoming a problem but outside, there seems to be an endless supply of ants so this is ineffective. Good luck getting rid of those ants!
Leafmite

TriforceRay · #7 08-06-2011, 12:43 AM

Thanks guys for all the good info on removing them.

Orchid126 · #8 08-06-2011, 01:32 PM

Ants don't hurt anything, but they do farm aphids, so then you have double trouble.

Eyebabe · #9 08-06-2011, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchid126

Ants don't hurt anything, but they do farm aphids, so then you have double trouble.

They also farm mealy bugs and other sap sucking/honey dew producing insects. Their propensity to farm insects harmful to orchids is a good reason to get rid of them.