Help I Have Ants

I Took advanche of a warm period in early march... i re potted the trees in need,,,,root pruned what needed ,,potted them and they went back to the green house.... now I HAVE ANTS in some of the new potted trees... what to buy to kill them out please.. give me a name i can buy local please...thank you,,take care john

Just sit the pots submerged in a tub of water for 20 minutes or so.

JIM,, Thank you for your quick reply !!! I can do that because i will take them out pretty soon.. any thing to spread over the soil ??? thanks john

Ants can live underwater for something ridiculous like 9 days no? Unless the idea is to have them float out?

EpicusMaximus wrote:Ants can live underwater for something ridiculous like 9 days no? Unless the idea is to have them float out?

Now who told you that?

I use a systemic insecticide which has imidacloprid.

http://www.amazon.com/Bonide-Product-951-Systemic-Control/dp/B000BX1HKI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1365340811&sr=8-4&keywords=imidacloprid

Thank you all,,, I will do the water soak first when i put the trees on the benches... i will look at lowes for the granduals also...thanks a lot,,take care john

I use a stake under the pots, I know the species the ants like- to farm those aphids friends of theirs- and put a little snack under there for them.

Thank you,Big Dave,,, I Moved the trees today,, Had a tub full of water,,soaked them down like Jim suggested,, I HAD ants drowning so maybe all of them are gone... next year i will have the traps !!!! thank you john

borax mixed with sugar works great too. they take it to the nest and it wipes them out in a season

Thank you Kieth for your information... take care john

JimLewis wrote:

EpicusMaximus wrote:Ants can live underwater for something ridiculous like 9 days no? Unless the idea is to have them float out?

Now who told you that?

Jim, you wont believe, but Epicus Maximus is actually RIGHT! Well almost....they can survive under water for up to 14 days!

When I was 12, I wanted to become a Entomologist. One weekend, on the Farm, I started collecting ants. Spend the whole day scratching in anthills and decay wood, collected many species, say about 6 or so different species.
I got out my cladding paper and bottels. ( I didnt know about Formaldehyde then, Computers and Google didnt exist, ) And then proceed to boil water, put all the ants in the jar and fill with hot water. I left them with the lids closed over night....it was late, time for prayers and bed.

The following Morning a drained off the water and placed the ants on the paper to dry, I was about to pin them down on cardboard. The morning sun was baking on the stoep. My mother called for breakfast....

When I returned, I discovered with shock and bewilderdment that 90 percent of the ants were walking about !! They were ALIVE!! I called my parents and brother, and we all were in shock. Not only did they survive the water, but it was boiling HOT!!!

When we went back to Agricultural school that week, I told my Biology Teacher, he also was confused, but did research. The Victorians experimented with ants under water already, they discovered they survive for two weeks going into a state of hibernation, or animation... or something.

Needles to say, I didn't want to become a Entomologist anymore, was far to freaky for me.. hihihihihihihihi

Love and light

I have some success getting the ants to move if I soak the tree in water, but kill them it does not. They either crawl up the tree or form "ant islands" in the water to survive. I once made sure they would stay in the water and they stayed alive forming these ant islands for a week. Due to my yard soil being so hard and compacted, they tend to love my raised beds and pots, so I constantly have problems with ants.

There are some products that might be helpful to get rid of ants. Aerosols are the most popular product to fight them. They destroy insects within 2-3 hours.  There is also non-chemical methods such as ant traps. They are safe for humans and pets. You will find more information about how to get rid of ants in this post. Hope it will be helpful.

Did you noticed this thread is 5years old?