Our World......

[dendro]

I was watering our tomatoes the other day and was bitten by a few half red/half black bodied ants. Yesterday while working in the garden, I found the same ants had started a colony in the soil of a tomato plant potted in a ten gallon smart pot. Anyone know if it should be a concern as far as the plant is concerned? And if it is a potential problem, how do I get rid of this ant colony from my organic tomatoes?

Thanks in advance.

lw

How about a small pile of ant bait? Kills ants. They may take some underground to feed others, so that might put the bait into the root zone. But they are small, shouldn't hurt the plants, and little will be taken up. You can put the baits out away from the root zone, the ants will come for them. Winter should break them down.

I make bait houses with clorox bottles.

I have to use them now, we have some new micro (almost invisible) ants with a fiercely painful bite. I'm getting used to the poison, but they still hurt for hours. They're living in the chacruna, so I have to take it. But bait has cut the numbers some. We place bait around the carport and house access points, and so far the ants have stayed out of the house. Used some volk oil on the citrus last week, at least the citrus will clean up and not vector to the chacruna so much.  :tea:

[laughingwillow]

Crazy ants.

I thought we had reached an agreement in da garden awhile back. THe ants were getting flooded out of their favorite smart pot a couple of times a week and finally moved out. But I was watering the plants the other day and ended up standing on their new nesting site for a few minutes without realizing it. THe first one bit me through my shirt. I thought it was a horsefly until looking down and seeing a battalion of red/black bastards making their way up my pant legs and over my shirt. It was a fight for a few minutes, but I managed to clear them off my body without losing too much flesh and I do know where they are residing now.....

We have a brand of ant killer called Taro here in Iowa that is illegal in some states but does wipe out whole colonies.

I've come to a truce in the garden with the poison ivy, mice, rabbits, deer and now I hope ants....

lw

[dendro]

Man, I wish I had some of that Taro. I'll see if it's available online.

These buggers are just too much. I have to deal with these fire ants daily, ouch! We had the arrival some 25 years ago of some ants that sound like yours, red and black, about 1/8". Super painful. But they formed discrete hills, and they could be sprayed or baited out of the yard. Whew!

Now we have these no see um anties, and they must make many small colonies because they are hard to eradicate. I think they actually live in the bushes sometimes. They may never return to the ground to eat the baits. They may nest in lichen etc. on the branches.

So I hope I can find a bait, maybe Taro, that clears them out completely.

Hawaii seems like paradise, until you try to garden here!  :blaugh:

We have coqui frogs here now, and now the tiny ants. New stuff, including dangerous pests, is coming in to Hawaii daily, from all over the world. And the ecosystem just can't deal with the newcomers.

Plus we have the usual wandering dogs, cats and pigs. But at least no deer, squirrels, rabbits or coons!  :twisted:

I wish I could grow nice organic tomatoes here. We have a medfly that stings and lays eggs in any soft fruit or veg it can get into, then the fruits just start to rot on the vines. So it's hard to grow melons, maters, squash, soft fruits, etc. Unless you build screen houses! Or spray tons like the local produce farmers do!

The weather is great tho! This is why I grow mostly roots and leaves, or things in pods.

[laughingwillow]

Den: I can send you some terro. (I spelled it wrong the first time.) I'm not sure how many different types of ants it kills, but would be worth the effort, I'm sure. Let me know if/when you want any. Shoot me an addy, bruddah.

(edit) Just peeped the box. Terro controls "sweet eating" ants, including, Argentine, Ghost, Cornfield, PAvement, Acrobat, White footed, Little black, Odorous house, Crazy and Big headed ants.

The ones around our house are very small and brown, but I don't know their name.

lw

[dendro]

Ours are called Little Fire Ants, or LFR's. From Central America, now spreading thruout the world.

LW, your post has inspired me to do some reading. Thanks for the offer on the Terro, but it is sold locally too. Terro is basically boric acid, and yes it does work on LFR's. But they don't eat it readily. They eat sweet, but they also need protein. So the bait of choice has been Amdro, which we use. However, Amdro is sensitive to moisture, and decomposes quickly in humid weather, as we have (thus the bottle houses I have made for the Amdro). And ground baits don't necessarily attract the tree dwelling LFR's. I think they live partly on whitefly webs and larvae in the trees.

I've used boric acid on roaches before. So I found a Maui farmer's site, and he has blended the terro or boric acid into peanut butter, and he smears or sticks the goop onto the branches of trees. He claims it works well, so I will try it. Maybe there is some relief ahead, we'll see.  :tea:

[Amomynous]

I don't live in a city anymore, so I don't have to deal with roaches anymore--thank God! (I'm a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but my equanimity doesn't extend to roaches or poison ivy.) I've used boric acid before to some success. But it was my understanding that the roaches didn't have to eat it. Merely by walking trough it, it gets in their breathing holes and adversely affects them. Don't know if it would be the same with ants, though.

It would need to be dry, though, which could be an issue in paradise.

[dendro]

yes Amom, boric acid works best indoors in Hawaii, usually placed inside walls, behind the sheetrock is best. Cuz that's where roaches like to hide out, and it's dry there.

Since most of the kids grew up and moved away, we don't have problems with roaches any more.  :mrgreen:

But the LFR's must be stopped! I may have to call in the Spyder Army...   :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:

[laughingwillow]

Its been beautiful out on the prairie as of late. Sixteen glorious days without rain, mostly in the 70s' and 80's, and more in the forecast.  The trees are decked out in their fall finest; orange, yellow, red and purple with still a hint of green. Farmers are in the fields and on the gravel roads because the beans and corn are coming out. Time to make hay while the sun shines!

ps: I think I finally found my first D illinois in a ditch along a well-traveled gravel road. However, when I stopped for a closer inspection, it appeared the pods had been removed from the plant. (I'll go back out in a couple of days to check this last detail out.)

lw

[laughingwillow]

Yikes!

Having a little tussle this morn with a feral tabby tom. We started feeding him last winter when he was a kitty.cI finally coaxed him into the house last night with a bowl of food inside an open door. Its getting cold outside. He came in to eat and then went into the basement. I closed the door, herded him into an isolation room, gave him food, water and a litter box. This morning he beat the shit out of me. I was ready for the claws but not the teeth. So, he won that first round, but I'll go back down a little later with a towel to help wrangle him into a pet carrier so he can go visit the vet. LOL Wish me luck.

lw

[laughingwillow]

Ding! Round two....

Little bastid had an appointment with the vet this morning that I couldn't make. Or should I say, the little bastid decided we wouldn't be taking any field trips this morning. He shucked, jived and tight rope walked his way out of my grasp again. He now looks at me with contempt like I'm his bitch.  Poor boy is covered with dust and cobwebs from nose to tail.

I'll prolly let him settle down for a couple of days and then put a live trap into the room with food on sunday evening to get ready for a trip to the vet on monday morn.

Time to go lick my battle wounds......

lw

[JRL]

Feral cats. (shudders).

We got the cat lady here. This misguided soul sees herself as a saintly animal lover, coming at dusk everyday and putting mass quantities of cat food out. Coming home couple nights ago, her SUV was stopped on a busy street half way in the lane, no blinkers.

What she is doing, against the wishes of most in the neighborhood is creating a large feral cat population right on the corner 2 doors down. Also we get possums, skunks and street gangs of raccoons, who all love cat food. After a good meal the possums come uproot my cacti, killing some slow growing buttons and upending some nice t chilensis.

[laughingwillow]

LOL I started feeding this guy when he was less than a year old and it was about -20*F last winter. I never realized how crazy-assed wild he was until this morning. Looks like he'll be cooling his heels in isolation until Monday morning. THen he'll get neutered, wormed, de-flead and then back into isolation until he comes out of the anesti-fog. At that point I'll prolly give him the run of the house until he decides that inside life is better (at present than sleeping in a snow bank for another winter.  

We've taken in other strays over the years. Many were as cautious as this guy until I got my hands on them, or at least got them playing with a toy. This guy is another story entirely.

lw

[judih]

sounds like the animal isn't entirely in favour of being taken in.
i'm wondering if things'll change by monday

[laughingwillow]

He's gotten a little better in 24 hours. Not much, though. Still not eating.

THe bottom line, imo, is that he needed to come in for the winter. Heck, he walked in the door and down the basement himself.

I've been planning on taking him to Cali when I go. Mrs lw says the cat herd stays with her until she moves. He's mine, if'n all goes as planned. I'm guessing he'll settle down when winter really hits. He has a few months to chill.

lw

[laughingwillow]

sistah-judih: I like your question/observation about the cat really not wanting to come in from the cold.

I can relate. (To the cat.) As a matter of fact, his situation reminds me of my personal experiences with music and the active sacrament.....

I was really attracted to the Dead scene, and spent at least five years stopping by, getting spiritual nourishment and then going on my merry way until the next time I got hungry. One day a door was thrown open to me, I walked in, was gripped by panic and fled the scene.

Then one day I started getting hungry again. The door was opened and I walked in. Soon the panic came back. But then I remembered that I'd already spent a lot of time around what turned out to be some really kind people in that scene, and I reminded myself that I'd made the choice to walk through that door in order to go further....

lw