susaneden, I am sorry to disagree with the first part of your statement that they are not a threat in and of themselves I have had plenty of damage just from the ants alone as a matter of fact they are actually chewing the leaves off of my watermelons and last year they ate my Ruby Queen corn. They are a nuisance and are taking over my garden. By the way I have never had aphids.......knock on wood. Dale Dale

I hear that there is some product out there were you can put a ring around a plant and the ants wont cross it so if you submerge the pots again to get rid of the ants and then use that product as a barrier, the ants will not find their way back into the pots and you should be rid of them! Fire ants seem terrible. So far I havent seen any here, but there are tons of other plants that make problems and they are also pretty difficult to get rid of! Good luck! -Alex

When you pulled up the plants, if the roots looked like they had knots on them, you had nematodes and the ants were after them. You wouldn't notice nematodes b/c they are all but microscopic. All you would have been able to see would be the result of their damage to the root system and the resulting damage to the plant.

Diatomaceous Earth will kill all kinds of bugs and is perfectly safe for humans and pets. It is also called fossil flour. We used to use it for the chickens to kill mites - put piles of it around for dusting beds. We use it for ants (can even sprinkle it on counter tops). Works for roaches and bedbugs but fortunately haven't had to test it for those. Also good for pets - ear mites and fleas/ticks. Can be given in pet food for internal pests such as worms. Buy only 'food grade DE', not the stuff they sell for pools.