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    Yesterday, I harvested one of my tubs of spuds. They shouldn't have been ready yet, but all the foliage had dropped so I decided to whip 'em out. There weren't many spuds, but those that were there were in excellent condition with perfect skins. The soil in the container was absolutely full of ants and ant eggs. All my garden is plagued with ants, but it's the first time I've seen this. Is there anyway to stop them invading tubs? I know it's a losing battle in the garden, but this was a really concentrated infestation.

  • #2
    I find water encourages them to move along, I don't use any of the powders or bait just plain water.
    Last edited by Greenleaves; 04-08-2015, 07:46 AM.

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    • #3
      The tubs get plenty of water. Saying that, when I emptied the tub yesterday it wasn't over wet to say how much water I give them. It wasn't dry though, just nice to be honest.

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      • #4
        Organic = Borax and Sugar
        Non organic = Ant powder
        Feed the soil, not the plants.
        (helps if you have cluckies)

        Man v Squirrels, pigeons & Ants
        Bob

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        • #5
          I used polento in my raised beds............worked a treat

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          • #6
            I now get the kids to give them a good soaking. One prods the ground with a spade whilst the other waters the area well. Might take more than one soaking but they do eventually get the hint and move on.
            sigpic

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            • #7
              I have a perennial problem with ants nesting under my front doorstep. Once a year at this time of year (this year it was Sunday) they produce a batch of winged ants which are larger than the normal ones, and fly off to make new colonies. For some reason the ones under my doorstep always decide to invade the house at this point. This is one of only 2 circumstances when I will use insecticide (the other is when I get a wasp in the room) - I spray the inside of the front door and carpet and the brickwork and doorstep outside and that stops them. It is nowhere near my plants, and the other side of the house from where I grow my veg, but I still hate doing it. I don't hate it as much as hundreds of ants running around in the hall though!
              A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Penellype View Post
                I have a perennial problem with ants nesting under my front doorstep. Once a year at this time of year (this year it was Sunday) they produce a batch of winged ants which are larger than the normal ones, and fly off to make new colonies. For some reason the ones under my doorstep always decide to invade the house at this point. This is one of only 2 circumstances when I will use insecticide (the other is when I get a wasp in the room) - I spray the inside of the front door and carpet and the brickwork and doorstep outside and that stops them. It is nowhere near my plants, and the other side of the house from where I grow my veg, but I still hate doing it. I don't hate it as much as hundreds of ants running around in the hall though!
                I saw 5 or 6 of these when I was pottering round the garden on sunday - never seen any ants in the garden (although I'm sure they are there!) so I was bewildered where they'd come from. To be honest I never even knew we had flying ants in good old yorkshire!

                Now hoping they werent looking for somewhere to start a new colony!! :/

                On the other hand... maybe they'll do battle with the earwigs (which seem to have suddenly got huge) and all disappear!

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                • #9
                  I thought all ant colonies eventually produced winged ones. We deffo had flying ones on the allotment - last year I think. Haven't seen many this year but we were in London on flying ant day. I found wd40 stops them coming in the house as they won't cross, it but I doubt it would stop flying ones. If your spuds are good I woudn't worry about it. I've heard they can damage the roots but it doesn't sound like they've done your spuds any harm.

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                  • #10
                    I have had a bumper turnout of the larger winged variety earlier this week. I think they are only supposed to live for one day aren't they?

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                    • #11
                      We had the flying ant swarm as well! We were in the garden and all of a sudden there must of been 500 on the ground or in the air. They came from under the steps we have and 2 of the steps actually looked like they were moving from a few feet away as it was such a blur of movement. Its safe to say we ran indoors lol

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                      • #12
                        Polenta - corn meal - as mentioned above works very well if you feel the need to kill them.
                        Also boiling water.

                        Sorry if that upsets some of you.
                        Last edited by Nicos; 05-08-2015, 05:31 PM.
                        "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                        Location....Normandy France

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by brownfingers View Post
                          I think they are only supposed to live for one day aren't they?
                          They are would be queens searching for new places to breed. Apparently, when they've mated their wings drop off and they fall to the ground, before trotting off to start a new colony.
                          Last edited by Shadylane; 06-08-2015, 10:10 PM.

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                          • #14
                            I find the social behaviour of ants fascinating, although I have an innate dislike of the creatures themselves. Like bees, wasps and termites, the colony operates like a single living thing, and individual ants behave more like part of a body than separate creatures. If you are into that sort of thing, their genetics is fascinating, with male and female ants having different numbers of chromasomes. Most of the ants in a colony are sterile and never breed. The winged ants appear once a year and contain both males and females, and a queen ant can live upto 30 years in some species, so once you see flying ants emerging from a particular place, it is likely to happen again each year.
                            A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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                            • #15
                              If it's just individual pots you're worried about, could you stand them in big trays, on bricks or something, and fill the trays with water? Alternatively stand them in the trays and smear vaseline all around the outside edge of the tray ? I know people recommend vaseline around the legs of their beehives to stop ants getting in, so it must work. Also apparently ants hate cinnamon.. not tried this, but great if it works! Sprinkle across doorways perhaps?
                              sigpicGardening in France rocks!

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