I will guess that the ants are growing fungus as food for the ants to eat. You can kill the fungus with Serenade, Hydrogen Peroxide and Zero Tolerance safely and effectively. When the fungus does not grow I assume either the ants will die of starvation or move elsewhere. ZT is hydrogen dioxide a stronger form of HPeroxide. Basically it is close to water but an oxident that is safe for humans. but dont spray yourself. it might burn the skin etc. but it is safe in the sense it is not a poison that is around once it dries up. after drying it is gone. H2O is water HO2 is a concentrated oxidizer hydrogen dioxide. H2O2 is hydrogen peroxice an oxidizer this stuff all breaks down into water and dries up. Serenade is my favorite of the above. Here is a link that might be useful: serenade on garden web

It's not a bother at all. Adding 50% peat to an otherwise unacceptably water-retentive soil is helpful, but you can see it's only marginally effective, even using only the mind's eye./ If you start with a very water retentive soil, and mix it with half perlite, what exactly is accomplished? We know that there is still enough fine particles in the mix to entirely fill the spaces between the perlite particles, so aeration and drainage aren't improved. The primary benefit of adding large volumes of perlite to heavy (water-retentive) media comes from the fact that perlite isn't internally porous, so it takes up space that would otherwise be occupied by fine particles and filled with water. IOW, it acts as ballast. In order to maximize the benefit perlite can offer, you would need to screen out the fine particles and use a volume of screened perlite sufficient to ensure there would be an insufficient volume of fine particles to fill all the air spaces between the perlite particles, and that would be somewhere in the range of 80% screened perlite. Larger volumes of perlite are helpful because they reduce the volume of water a soil CAN hold, and that allows better aeration to return to a larger fraction of the soil faster; but as noted, it doesn't help much with drainage or aeration unless its volume is greater than the threshold % it takes to ensure all the spaces between the perlite particles aren't filled with fine material. Perlite also doesn't reduce the ht of the perched water column (depth of the saturated soil after a full saturation) until it reaches the threshold level where the air spaces between perlite particles aren't entirely filled by fine matter. Pine bark and perlite are almost made for each other. Perlite and peat, mixed, can't offer near the drainage/aeration potential of a perlite pine bark mix. The perlite particles, even small ones, wedge between the flat bark pieces, creating very large pockets of air that don't occur in peat or other fine particles. That allows you to add either bark fines or peat back into the mix to adjust water retention, and still have a LOT of air porosity at container capacity (medium fully saturated). You don't need to worry about what's acceptable to me. I'm good with whatever you decide is right for you. I'm not here to criticize your choices, rather, I am here to provide the information you and others need to weigh the cost of materials, time, and effort against the potential gains. If someone tells you Miracle-Gro et al similar offer potential equal or similar to a soil designed to minimize excess water retention (perched water), that's a conversation I want to be a part of. Being able to go a week or two between waterings is convenient, but the convenience comes at a cost. I point out the cost or lost potential, and you decide what best fits your needs. There should be no surprise in the idea that what best suits the grower and what best suits the plant are more often than not, mutually exclusive. BTW - that tip about holding the pot over a sink, lowering it, then sharply reversing direction to upward is a VERY good way to rid smaller pots of excess water. I use it ALL THE TIME on small starts - especially cuttings. Al

I’m going to guess you’re watering too often, or your soil is too water-retentive. My plant - I water about once every 3 weeks, though I probably should water more given that it gets pretty good sun. Given that I’m in NV with extremely low humidity, that gives you some idea of how little water these guys actually need. Also, if provided with more light, they do use water faster.

I'd really appreciate any help at all to save my peperomia clusiifolia, Jelly! I've had her for two years now, she's the first plant I ever got that I didn't immediately kill so I'm super attached and don't want to lose her! Here are the facts: Water once per week, indirect light next to window Last time repotted was probably November, with this Sphagnum Peat Moss potting mix Large, brown spots started appearing in the middle of the leaves about two weeks ago. The first leaf just fell off today. The brown spots aren't like dry and crunchy, they're like soft I noticed the sides of the leaves starting to curl inward around that time too--could there be a nutrient deficiency? I don't add miracle grow or anything when I water A couple weeks ago I also noticed that the soil isn't drying out as fast as it used to--her pot also just feels heavier than my other plants around the same size. Could the soil be water logged or need to be aerated or something if that's a thing? Time to change the soil? Or is she too big for the pot and dying because she's cramped? I think it's a 7 inch pot. Any help at all would be amazing! I tried looking online but her brown spots don't look like any other brown spots I've seen because it's just like one big spot in the middle and not a bunch of little spots all over.