Hi everyone!

I am in zone 7b, and I am having  a major struggle with trying to transition some fruiting plants indoors.  I have a calamondin that is currently bearing fruit, and I tried to bring it indoors, but it is infested with ants. I went out and bought some Bonide fruit tree spray, with much hesitation.  I even mixed the product up in my sprayer, but the stuff smelled so toxic to me that I couldn't dare spray it on my plants.  The warning label just confirmed my reservations.  Please help with any organic suggestions for addressing the insects before bringing my plants indoors.  Does anyone have suggestions in general for transitioning plants indoors and avoiding bugs and mold?

I also have another question.  I purchased a verte fig tree, which is currently indoors, but I wanted to know if anyone has managed to have one survive and have fruit fully ripen in 7b.  Mine is too young right now, but I am wondering if it will have to be an indoors only fig.  If so, how do I get these figs to ripen?  I don't have any fancy heat lamps or anything like that.

Thanks!

Hi Kristen, glad you're here!....As far as getting rid of ants with natural/non-toxic means, I have some ideas that may help. For streams of ants of all sizes that have found their way into my house at times over the years, I learned how to get rid of them completely and quickly. You use plain borax (which is a safe natural pesticide, the salt of boric acid), sugar, and some recipes call for water. I use a few shallow lids near where the ants come in and it doesn't take long for the colony to be wiped out.

In case you'd rather have something to spray directly on the tree, I have another suggestion that has worked excellently for me against pests- just use a spray bottle of water with about a teaspoon (whatever the directions suggest for the amount of water in your spray bottle) of neem oil shaken in. I use Theraneem Naturals for the Garden, and get it here:
http://www.iherb.com/Organix-South-TheraNeem-Organix-Neem-Oil-for-the-Garden-16-fl-oz-480-ml/17693
This is a great price, 2 day free shipping, and the bottle lasts a long time. There's also a discount for new customers if you use PMH653 at checkout.

Neem oil also kills bacteria, mold, and germs, so your tree/s would be naturally and safely disinfected :)

I'm also in zone 7b, but a beginner at growing fig trees, so don't know much about ripening fruit. Another member did give me an excellent suggestion for using a shop lamp, the kind with a clamp, and daylight bulb for added light for my indoor baby fig trees.

Let me know if you have questions about any thing I've written....best wishes :)
p.s. I'm so glad you didn't use the toxic fruit spray!

What about trying to lure the ants away, maybe put some crumbs of a cookie in the pot, leading away to a big piece of the cookie in the lawn.  You'd have to keep an eye on it, but I'm pretty sure they'd abandon a plant for a cookie.  I think I would, anyway.  :)

LJFiggy, Wow, thank you for the excellent response!  I truly appreciate your suggestions.  How did I forget about the old mainstay, borax?  Has anyone made use of diatomaceous earth for indoor plants?  Sometimes, I also get the occasional centipede :0.

Sarina, I had not thought about that, but I wonder if they wouldn't just make two trails, one going out for the cookie and one simultaneously for those going back to their lair with whatever they can carry on their backs from the cookie.

It's kind of gruesome, but you could put the cookie on a piece of flypaper so they can't get back.  :(

Check your tree for scale as that is a sign if you have a lot of ants on your tree. Flat transparent bugs that attach to stems and leave a sticky residue that ants love. Neem oil or some dish soap mixed with water can help suffocate unwanted bugs. All my trees have been treated before I brought them in for winter. I will continue treating all winter for spider mites. Good luck

Iowafig, the plants does, indeed have scale.  I could not tell because it is bearing very healthy fruit and has quite healthy-looking leaves. I was wondering what that was.  I always imagined that scale was something that would appear on the leaves, sort of similar to cedar apple rust with apple trees.  Hm, so now what?  Do you have any advice?  I just thought the ants were attracted to the sweet fruit, as often happens with figs on fig trees.  Thanks so much for your very valuable insight.

Also, another question.  I use neem quite often but I, admittedly, got lazy this summer and didn't spray nearly as much as usual.  My question is, does anyone actually spray the soil when treating plants with neem, whether as a preventative or curative measure?  I usually just do tops and undersides of the leaves.  Thanks again, everyone, for all of the very helpful advice.

If your tree is scale infected attempt to scrape or brush them off with a tooth brush dipping it in rubbing alcohol. Alcohol will not hurt your tree and kills them on contact. Then spray your tree off with a garden hose to give it a good bath. Might as well flush your soil out as well to get rid of built up salt buildup. Let tree dry off. Apply neem heavily stems leafs and under everything. Apply to the top of soil it won't hurt. I would apply every week for a as long as recommended on bottle. There will be eggs still present and some scale you might have missed. When you have that under control you can add a squirt of dawn dish soap to a squirt bottle full of water and spray your tree once and a while to keep the other bugs under control this winter. Citrus trees are very needy compared to figs. Good luck

Something big is eating my little yellowneck fig tree (8 inches!). Not sue what but it has chewed many leaves! Could it be a catterpilar? I have looked for the creature but NOTHING! Any idea?

Meg,
You probably got slugs.  They only come out at night.  As soon as it gets dark outside, take a strong flash light and check your tree from the base all the way up the tree.  I do this every night.  You can also add some Ant Eliminator granulars and water it in.  That stuff will kill every insect living in the soil of you tree.

Snaglpus...i kinda thought it was slugs or caterpillars (do they eat fig leaves?) almost all leaves are gone on this little figlet!

I was thinking of bringing it inside until it recovers..,