how do to get rid of them? do you just use tanglefoot or something to prevent them going up? or do you set trap? or just live with it?

i, on purpose, never let my trees touch each other or anything else.. thinking that might prevent disease and insects. but i know i'm wrong. sooner or later something will come.. like ants.

this morning i was watering the trees and saw large number of tiny ants in my KB pot. i tried to drawn them, but i know that's not going to work. i think ants came on the container through the sucker that i tied to deck railing to stablize. but that sucker needs to be stablized to the railing until the air layers are done.

what options do i have? i know there are enough ants that ant trap should work. but i'm not sure if the colony is in the container or outside of it. if the colony is in the container, i don't want bunch of poisoned ants dead in the container..

pete

Ants hate fresh coffee grounds, but figs love them (actually they carry them to the queen, she partakes and dies, and they do to).  Try that, and also, put a line of chalk around the top of your container.  Ants won't cross that, or chalk up the trunk.  The fig won't care, but ants won't even think about going up the trunk.  Chalk is cheap.
Suzi

Years ago i had ant in my figs. Bought tanglefoot and never had any more problems
with ants.
I also use it on my American Elm tree.

All my spent coffee grind went into KB. Went to Home Depot, but they didn't have tanglefoot. I guess I'll be having caffeinated KB :)

Pete

I don't know if they still do it, but Starbucks used to give gardeners their old coffee grounds in sealed bags.

Tanglefoot I think you'll have to find at an ag place. Probably on the internet too. Even with all the Citrus people grow here, it's not that easy to find.

I get lots of coffee grounds from the supermarket grocery store.  They give it away in a large plastic pail with lid that were used in their bakery.   It's great be ause those pails are good to use.   If you ask the supermarket mgr where you live they might do the same.  I'm always embarrassed to ask, but my supermarket offers it without asking.

Thanks for the tips for ants!  I don't have the problem - yet, but a few people mentioned the possibility of the problem with figs.  I'll have to let Mom know about these remedies also

Starbucks gives out coffee grounds as well, there are filters to pick out but no trash. Sometimes it is 60 pounds or more when you go right after lunch and no-one else has got them yet.
Anybody encounter the ants that farm aphids for their honeydew? I just had to dust a blueberry with diatomaceos earth because they were getting set up. They protect the aphids and clean them off after you spray with anything.

i have my kids collect lady bugs for the thing. haven't had any issue so far. tho, i have tiny spiders putting webs out there. i have to go clean up the web everyday. i don't drink coffee too often.

pete

Ants seem to not like wood  ash.

Grant
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