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Ants in my pot!!

Dun_nuttin_Rite

12 years ago

This has happened to me twice now. I repotted one of my plumies early this spring and there were hundreds of sugar ants all in the roots. I was mortified (thinking this was the reason my plumie wasn't growing so well).

Today I repotted my other plumie because the lawn man weed wacked my pot (no it wasn't my husband), and put cracks and holes all in it. And yet again there were tons of small ants. These ones were a little bigger though and red.

My question is are these ants stunting the growth of my poor plumie, are they a nuisance? And how can I make sure they never come back again?

By the way I have had my 2 plumerias for 2 years now, and have not seen a flower. I am hoping next year I will see a flower. I have no idea what kind or color of flower I got, so I will be suprised to see when the flower blooms what it will be.

Thanks for all your advice~ Worried Plumie mom

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Comments (7)

brighty
12 years ago
I had ants in my pots also. The weather was warm so I just soaked the heck out of the pots once a day for 2 or 3 days and they all ran out carrying their eggs. They never came back. Good luck.
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
12 years ago
Hello Everyone,

Dun nuttin rite, (lol) at your name!!! To funny!!!

I bet u do lots of things right!!!!

As far as ants, i have had this happen to me as well.

Like Brighty said, i also flushed my pots and watched as the worried ants carried all of the eggs out to find a new home. If you dont let them return and settle back, they will eventually figure it out. They will find another home.

Try flushing your pot for a few days like Brighty suggested and keep an eye out for these little buggers!!!

Dont be worried Mom!!!

They will bloomm for you, they take their time and they will surprise you when u least expect it.

Some of us here on this forum have waited years to see blooms, so it is normal ...you have to be patient!!!!

That is your reward for tending to these beauties...

They will come..

Take care everyone,

Laura in VB
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labland
12 years ago
I too always get ants in my plants ( better than ants in my pants! Hah!) in the summer. I think they are drawn to water. Never affects my plants. I agree, flush your pots wells. In have them innmy planter, probably because I CAN'T flush them out like you can pots!
jandey1
12 years ago
I had a fire ant infestation (oh, joy!) last winter, right before I had to bring my pots in, and when straight water flushing didn't work, I added generous amounts of hydrogen peroxide to the water and flushed again a couple of times, too, because dang fire ants just float and make little rafts with their connected bodies!

Then just to be safe and make sure their chemical trails were really messed up I sprinkled talcum powder all over the top of the soil where they climbed up the trunk. That seemed to do the trick and the plants loved the H2O2 (super-oxygenates the soil, so no harm done to roots).

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the_first_kms2
12 years ago
If you don't get them to out they end up hollowing out the soil in the pot.

I found an ant colony in a 1 gallon pot when i went to transplant an under performing plumeria. Nearly the bottom half of the plants roots were loose and and not in the soil mixture. I wish I had caught it sooner. The plant is still a runt but did bloom this year.
gardenscents
12 years ago
Just went to a lecture on fire ants (and other ants) last night and that was my question - what to do with ants in the pots? Put ant bait around the bottom/outside of the pot and wait. They will go for the bait and take it back to the nest. I got rid of a colony living in my orchids by placing ant bait thingies all over the cart. Good luck! You don't want them inside!

RuthAnne in SC
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
12 years ago
Gardenscents....

Thanks for the info!!

Laura in VB

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