SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ANT COLONIES IN MY SOIL MEDIUM

[fat-rob]

Hey guys,
This morning i went out to my grow spot to find all 8 of my female seeds plants were covered in brownish whitish spots. 1 was inparticularly horribly bad, and as i inspected the 1 that was real bad There is a huge any colony inside it. The other had different looking bugs in them. And the ground they are around seems to be quite ant infested, but they whole woods im growing in is. Guys i put alot of effort and money into growing this crop. Just a week ago i gave these plants their first shot of iguana juice and they seemed to flourish in them. I was just about to transplant as well. What should i do guys im seriously desperate. Im about to move them into the river after i transplant.



ANY HELP MUCH APPRECIATED

 

[sproutco]

You could use a bait like amdro. Be sure to treat mounds nearby.

 

[HeadyPete]

Hey fat-rob,

Drag about the pests. Some plants attract aphids, which in turn attract ants. I have blue globe thistle in my garden and this was the case. The ants "farm" the aphids and protect them from enemies in return for the honeydew (waste product) the aphids secrete. The ants love it! Check to see if there are groups of small green, yellow or black little bugs around the tender parts and growing tips and see if the ants are hanging out around them. Also if you disturb the insects the ants should come after you! careful, some ants pack a mean bite! Use a stick.

If it is a case of aphids, use Safers Soap or Green Earth insecticidal soap (read the label and make sure it is just soap ie. fatty acids). Spray liberally over the insects and they will croak. Make sure to do the undersides of the leaves as well as the topsides. Once dead, the ants will leave. This may yellow the leaves but it is minor. I wouldn't want to spray buds but the soap is safe for human consumption. Maybe give em a good rinse, if possible, after the pests are gone.

Hope this helps your problem. If it is not aphids than perhaps some pix, if possible, would help.

l8r

HeadyPete

 

[Growdoc]

use bugs to fight bugs....

do a search for a thread called ¨predator bugs¨ here on icmag, it should give you a link to the best place for you...

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=14950

Growdoc

 

[Tunefull]

Hi all

Sorry m8 i dont have any advice on ways to kill things(safely)
But i was going to say(and another guy mentioned it aswell)The ants are probs there for the other insects it attracts(So the ants are doing you a favor)
I dont think they will damage/lay eggs or anything on your plants.They just use them as shopping center's


I have someit putting lots of very little holes in my fan leaves(and whatever it is goes for the freshest leaves aswell)

I need to find out more about things to spray mine with(will look into that safers soap(tho not seen it in any shops)

Anyway good luck m8
Let us know how the war goes*grins*

 

[Bermyboy]

Hi all

Sorry m8 i dont have any advice on ways to kill things(safely)
But i was going to say(and another guy mentioned it aswell)The ants are probs there for the other insects it attracts(So the ants are doing you a favor)
I dont think they will damage/lay eggs or anything on your plants.They just use them as shopping center's


I have someit putting lots of very little holes in my fan leaves(and whatever it is goes for the freshest leaves aswell)

I need to find out more about things to spray mine with(will look into that safers soap(tho not seen it in any shops)

Anyway good luck m8
Let us know how the war goes*grins*

Try Neem Oil.

 

[Skunkmasterflex]

If my memory serves me correctly I think Boric acid will do the trick.

 

[sproutco]

Nurserys add dursban insecticide to the soil to prevent this.

 

[fat-rob]

WEll, when i went out to check on these plants, the ants appeared to have had a nest inside the soil in the pots of my plants, i believe they have dug tunnels in it and whatnot, so i hope this problem will resolve, because my plants have horrible discoloring all over the leaves and this is definitely due to something, hopefully im not giving my plants too much iguana juice, for them to get burned. Stay tuned everyone im going to the nursery today to buy some 5 gallon pots and start on some transplanting. Im going to take some high quality pics while down there with a buddys 5 megapixel sony cybershot, so you guys can give me an expert opinion on exactly what im facing. I will get shots of the plants them selves and the soil medium as well. Thanks for your caring and time everyone, ill have pics up this mid afternoon.

 

[sproutco]

If my memory serves me correctly I think Boric acid will do the trick.

Boron is toxic to plants in small quantitys (few ppm) so you would not want to add this to the soil where the roots could get it.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Diatemacious Earth will take care of most insects and is non toxic to plants and animals...it kills them after they travel across it and clean themselves which results in ingestion, so it's not real effective against flying insects unless they land on it.

Dust the soil and surrounding area with it and the ants will be gone in a couple of days.

 

[tuttlebudd]

COULD it be your iguana juice is attracting them??? It would NOT hurt to treat as above...THEN spray a perimiter AROUND the plants to take care of incoming insects...
tutt

 

[fat-rob]

Alright guys, i went down to the nursery today and bought this stuff that looked decent called ORTHO Bug B Gon. IT says on the label to use on Lawns, flower beds, FRUIT & VEGETABLE crops, around buildings, ect. However, it doesnt say that it kills athids anywhere on it, but the first thing it says it kills on the label is ANTS, so therefore i bought it. I went down to the spot today and i sprinkled some of the stuff on the soil of all the pots, trying not to sprinkle too much, I then poured my iguana juice nutrient solution on the medium.
The ACTIVE INGREDIENT in this BUG B GON is CARBARYL-6.3%, then 93.7% other ingredients. I HOPE THIS WILL WORK. I could not get a camera to take pictures so i used a (dont hate me) camera phone so i could at least give u guys an idea of what im dealing with. I inspected the plants and found these wierd looking bugs on them. I think one was a grasshopper or either a praying mantis and the other had a wierd light reddish orange color to it. Im not sure if either was an aphid, ill show the pics of what the leaf damage looks like and i tried to get a shot of the bugs and the overall plants, tomorrow i might try and get something more to spray on my plants to rid bugs. I dont like the fact that this bug b gon doesnt support the removal of aphids. THANKs EVERYONE for your time.

EDIT- THeres a big time error when i try and upload my pics to this message, im really fucking pissed off about it and i apologise to everyone for not being able to post my pics, fucking picture system!

 

[sproutco]

Carbaryl is the active ingredient in sevin. It will kill ants.

 

[Hunt4Hazez]

Thats a outdoor growers worst nightmare Bugs and ants infesting soil in Potted plants? damn.

Let us know how it turns out hopefully they can recover.

 

[Guest]

Diatemacious Earth will take care of most insects and is non toxic to plants and animals...it kills them after they travel across it and clean themselves which results in ingestion, so it's not real effective against flying insects unless they land on it.

Dust the soil and surrounding area with it and the ants will be gone in a couple of days.

EXACTLY!.....but Diaemacious Earth mainly kills just by contact. It is volcanic dirt that is wickedly abrasive. If seen under a microscope it would resemble glass shards. Once an insect travels across, it will quickely dehydrate do to the severe scratches.

An old school method for killing ants--throw a handful of grits(like the Duke boys eat) around and the ants eat it...it swells...ant dies. Boiling water works well when killing the nest.

Hope this helps,
Seed