Please Help! Ants.

[tetragrammaton]

So, outdoors I have 4 Sweet Seeds Sweet Chese Autos, and 1 Diesel (photoperiod dependant).

One Sweet Cheese had a brief problem with whiteflies, but I took care of that. The rest of the plants are fine and healthy and are growing great.

With that said, today, as I was watering my plants, ONE pot, I noticed is full of little black ants. Why? How do I fix this, and why are they only in one potted plant, and none of the others, which are right next to each other?

In the meantime, I set a homemade "trap", that I have no idea if it will work or not, but I took some french bread, poured some energy drink on it, and left it near the plants on the ground, hoping it will attract the ants, and they will communicate to the ants in my soiless medium to come that way, and then once they are all there, I can kill them.

I also plan on getting ant traps to put on the ground, but I don't want this plant to be destroyed, because out of all of the 4 Sweet Cheese Auto's the one with the ants is my most vigorous (on day 15). I have a thread in the Sweet Seeds section for those who want to see pics. I last uploaded pics yesterday on day 14.

If it matters, the soiless medium I'm using is Plagron Lightmix. And once again, the ants (many ants) are only in one pot (for now at least).

Please help me fix this, and also please inform me of the damage that these ants might be causing underneath. I don't know much about ants other than that they make tunnels and shit, I don't know what they eat, but I hope they don't eat my roots. That's why I need to solve this ASAP.

Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
tetragrammaton

 

[tetragrammaton]

In addition to the "trap" I set of the french bread soaked in energy drink, I also did some research online and found out that they hate cinnamon. It was recommended that I put a tablespoon of powedered cinnamon on top of the substrate, which I just did.

It also told me, that if that doesn't solve the issue, to disolve a few tablespoons of cinnamon in a liter of water, and then water said pot.

I'm hoping this does the trick, but any other advice etc... is greatly needed and will be appreciated!

Peace, love, and sweet smokes!
Tetra

 

[troutman]

Unless you kill the queen the colony won't die out. They do sell ant baits that will help with that.

 

[Babbabud]

Take a close look at the stem and leaves ... you might just see aphids ?


Some species of ants farm aphids, protecting them on the plants where they are feeding, and consuming the honeydew the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals. This is a mutualistic relationship, with these dairying ants milking the aphids by stroking them with their antennae.

 

[Lrus007]

ok mostly there are 2 kinds of ants.
1 kind likes wood and other likes sugar.
go to the rx and buy some boric acid.
mix 50/50 with sawdust. then mix 50/50 with sugar.
set out 2 piles near plant. you will notice they like
one or the other. they will take the boric acid into
the nest and it will kill the queen. then they will be gone.

 

[tetragrammaton]

Take a close look at the stem and leaves ... you might just see aphids ?


Some species of ants farm aphids, protecting them on the plants where they are feeding, and consuming the honeydew the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals. This is a mutualistic relationship, with these dairying ants milking the aphids by stroking them with their antennae.

I had a problem with mosca blancas (whiteflies) which are similar to aphids, but it was only on one plant, a different plant than this one, and I took care of that problem, but yes, you're 100% about the symbiotic relationship that ants have with said leaf suckers.

For the meantime, I have applied cinnamon on top of the substrate, as well as created my ant trap. The first picture is of the plant that while watering, I noticed all of these ants emerge. No ants emerged from any of the other plants... and as I stated, this particular plant with the ants, had no issue with whiteflies or any leaf sucking pests.

The second picture is a group shot, and as you can see, I also applied cinnamon as a preventative measure. The last picture is my homemade "ant trap".

Additionally I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the ground around the pots, to deter them, as well my ant trap which is simply french bread soaked in energy drink.

P.S. The yellow you see, is a yellow plastic bag I folded many times, cut into strips and applied sunflower seed oil to, as a trap for the whiteflies, which seems to be working wonders. Only one plant was affected, but I added the strips to all of my plants as a preventative measure as well.

 

[Betterhaff]

Not sure where you live but if possible get some Terro. It’s a bait with borax and they take it back to the nest (affects the colony). I use the liquid type, put drops on waxy cardboard patches and place around what you think are “traffic” areas, they'll find it. It takes a while to work, has to be ingested, but most of the times for me they were gone in a week.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

With that said, today, as I was watering my plants, ONE pot, I noticed is full of little black ants. Why? How do I fix this, and why are they only in one potted plant, and none of the others, which are right next to each other?

I had a problem with ants a few years ago, and here's how to solve it.

1. Ants are high energy and need a food source

Somewhere, there is something they're eating, whether it's a thrown away piece of fruit or a dead mouse, there is something nearby that is keeping them nourished and going back.

2. They use a trail of scent to get around.

The pioneer ants go around looking for food on their own. When they find something, they leave a chemical trail behind that after they return to the nest, is going to be followed by hundreds of worker ants, who will keep making the journey until the foodsource is exhausted.

So the key solution is:

a. Find the food source
b. Clean the floors and walls with a strong smelling detergent to break the connection between the food source and the nest
c. Find the nest and seal it up with anything they can't get through.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

I also applied cinnamon as a preventative measure

When you rub the stem of the plants in a month or so, they're going to smell of cinnamon.

I had the same thing with a couple of Ethiopian Highland plants. I sprinkled a teaspoon of cinnamon on the soil, hoping that the powder would get in the ants' joints. The stems of the dried weed still smell of cinnamon.

Especially if you grow in an otherwise neutral smelling/stasting medium, you can really add smells and even effects like that.

 

[Teddybrae]

Yeah. All of the above. Otherwise put a saucer of water under each pot. Say 1 inch deep. The ants get sick of trying to get over the water and go away ...