Small pots are easy--wash them out, destroy the ants, and replant with clean medium. Infestation of larger plants could be effected by application of diatomaceous earth to the main ant hill. It's basically chalk, but razor sharp on a microscopic level. It cuts up the exoskeleton at the joints and causes insects to dehydrate rapidly. Just don't inhale it! Rick Buell -------------------------------------------- On Tue, 4/3/18, Tim Eck <teck11@embarqmail.com> wrote: Subject: Re: [pbs] Ants in Pots To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 10:45 PM I think I read that limonene dissolves or penetrates chitin which arthropods and mushrooms are made of. This makes it vastly safer for cats than the pyrethroids which are nerve agents. Cats have poorly myelinated nerve axons, making them especially susceptible to nerve toxins (and bugs have no myelin if I recall correctly). I spray limonene all around the cat dishes to kill ants but it does not persist long due to high vapor pressure. Tim > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of > Lesley Richardson > Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2018 5:41 PM > To: Pacific Bulb Society > Subject: Re: [pbs] Ants in Pots > > Look up limonene, aka orange oil. Don't know what it would to do plants, but > it certainly caused the carpenter ants nest to disappear. > Lesley > > On Tue, Apr 3, 2018 at 1:36 PM, John Wickham <jwickham@sbcglobal.net> > wrote: > > > Any suggestions for ant control in pots? > > > > > > On Tuesday, April 3, 2018 12:42 PM, Hansen Nursery < > > robin@hansennursery.com> wrote: > > > > > > Dennis brings up an interesting point (I've had problems with ants > > farming mealies and scale.) that I learned from a pest control > > person. Ants farm aphids and other insect-type creatures. I was > > having a terrible problem with ants around and under the house and was > > told the ugly 20-foot laurel hedge in my front yard (I had just moved > > in.) was a major hiding out place for them. There were some 150 feet > > of hedge in fact so it was a major undertaking given the bushes were > > 20-25 feet tall. It was worth all the hard work! > > > > I removed almost all the laurel hedges within the first year and have > > not had problems since. > > > > Robin > > Hansen Nursery > > robin@hansennursery.com > > > > > > --- > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > > https://www.avast.com/antivirus/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…