Well squashcat; PLEASE Be aware of two things 1) Your posts are read by international Publikum who are interested in the subject and have potentially the appropriate knowledge to solve your problem. In short: What the hell *ggg* is Aamdro?! I have NO idea, and Aunt GOOGLE shook her wise head. 2) I presume that the ants are not the problem but only the indicator of a more serious problem. Why are these ants frequenting your pots - may be there are smaller insects inside which are feeding on the roots. These insects might be the reason because they ooze liquid containing undigested overrageous sugars. In this case a bath for the roots in a dimethoate or malathion solution will be necessary and give satisfactory control. Hans-Werner

Noone here has mentioned cornmeal, which is non toxic, cheap as dirt, and worth a try. Just sprinkle it all around the area you see ants. When I did this in my garden, I noticed that the ants immediately started grabbing the cornmeal and carrying it around, presumably to take it to the nest and feed the queen. I read somewhere that if an ant eats cornmeal, that it will more or less be the last meal the ant ever eats. I did this in my garden, and the ant population decreased markedly. Sprinkle plenty of cornmeal on the dry soil, and within a few days you might see less ants. I like my veggie garden to stay organic, so chemicals were not an option for me. I think this works on any kind of ant that will eat the cornmeal, as it has some protein and some sugar it should appeal to a broad spectrum of ants. The other thing is, if the cornmeal does not work, keep the soil a lot moister, and the ants will move, at least away from your plants. I have read that if you see ants, then your soil is too dry. Just a comment for whatever it's worth. Perhaps mulching the area will help, too.

If you don't plan to move the aloe any time soon you could just leave them. I've had ants move in and then out of my potted plants without having to do anything. You can submerge the pot- plant and all into a bucket of water for about an hour. This shouldn't hurt the plant if there are drainage holes for the water to escape afterwards. I've started putting a thin layer of diatomaceous earth on top of my outdoor potted plants that seem to be prone to red ants. You can get it at feed stores.

Thanks Barb! The amdro has not helped :( It's suppose to be down in the 20's at the end of this week so I have brought all my other hibs in but this one! I am going to try plan b...remove as much of the soil as I can (w/o damaging the roots of course!) and totally repot it. Including a little amdro in the new potting soil just in case! Even though it's full of fire ants, it's still just blooming away! Thanks for the feedback! -A