RickMartin
Omono
for the first year since ive been doing this my trees have ants. I dispise ants so my question is can boxwood and holly trees take a spraying of insecticide to kill these ants.
Insecticide use on Boxwood and Holly Trees
- Thread starter RickMartin
- Start date
Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
I don't know ant insecticides that are harmful for either of those species.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
Use some Malathion, it'll will work and not hurt the trees.
misfit11
Omono
The ants aren't going to hurt your tree. They are probably there because of aphids (wooly or otherwise). The ants farm the aphids for their honeydew. Inspect your trees for them. You may be able to simply physically remove them if the infestation isn't that bad. Otherwise use a horticultural soap or Neem oil.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Ants are a problem. One ant just passing through is not noticeable, but there is no such thing as one ant. Eventually, they may take up residence in a pot because they like dry areas, and pots are drier than other places. Pots on the ground are especially favored. You will need to kill them at their source/home if they are bugging your trees. Get a chair and watch them. They seem to wander, but not really. They come and go along an ant "path", find it and respond accordingly. You have to be careful with any oils, especially on thin-leafed plants, or in strong sunlight. Oils may or may not penetrate the soil or deter ants if they are interested in the roots or soil, or in addition to, the exposed parts of the tree. For the queasy, ant traps on or near plants are helpful unless the ants are too plentiful. Otherwise buy ant poisons and follow directions. Anything that can kill ants or spiders can kill or sicken humans and pets, so wear gloves when handling the plants or soils, thereafter.
misfit11
Omono
Completely disagree. The very nature of bonsai is that due to the requirements for very well drained soil (not even soil, more like rocks) they need to be watered daily during the summer months. In the winter the soil is to be kept moist at all times. If ants are able to take up residence in your pots then I would be worried about the substrate your trees are in. Ants would not be too happy about being effectively drowned on a daily basis.
And once again, ants don't eat plants (unless you live in Brazil and you've got leafcutter ants).
Silentrunning
Chumono
I have found that Amdro fire ant killer is effective on almost all ants. A small pile next to the pot works.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
OK, if ants don't eat plant material, what do they eat? Are they herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores? Or, maybe the ants in California are just full of hot air.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
Ants do like dry places, and are very effective at constructing nests that don't leak. They can and will take up residence in bonsai soil and are very adept at plugging up the areas of the pot that they have nested in. In Mobile, the place that introduced the rest of you to the fire ant, it happens all the time. I have two pots now that are sitting on just bricks that are infested. They carry particles of ordinary soil into the pot through the drain holes in the pot to tidy up their new home and make it water proof. If it is a small pot, I mix up some malathion solution in a small tub and submerge the pot in it for five minutes or so, I like to do this in the evening and let the pot sit on the bench overnight and the next day flush it out with water - no more ants, until it happens again. I use what is left in the tub to pour on the mounds in the yard, if you live in the South you always have a few.
If the pot is too large to practically dunk, I sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of trizacide lawn granules on top of the soil and water it in, it gets them too.
There is nothing wrong with responsible use of chemicals to improve the health of your trees.
In my experience, fire ants are omnivores, I have observed them eating fruit, vegetables, insects, dead animals, and farming aphids to get honeydew.
If the pot is too large to practically dunk, I sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of trizacide lawn granules on top of the soil and water it in, it gets them too.
There is nothing wrong with responsible use of chemicals to improve the health of your trees.
In my experience, fire ants are omnivores, I have observed them eating fruit, vegetables, insects, dead animals, and farming aphids to get honeydew.
Dragon60
Shohin
One can also soak the pot in a light solution of soapy water (2 tablespoons of either insecticidal soap or dish soap like dawn, ivory, joy per 2 quarts water) for about twenty minutes. Probably get rid of other insects too. Ants will either die or move on.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
Soapy water for twenty minutes will do nothing for ants, other than piss them off. They will climb out of the soil and up the tree, after they cleaned up a bit with the soap, and will be waiting for you to retrieve the pot with clean stingers and mandibles, and that Dawn-fresh smell. Get some malathion, you'll thank me later.
Dragon60
Shohin
I'm sure the malathion works well, but I have used the soapy water and the ants went away. It was an inexpensive fix for me.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
Cool, I have always been a proponent of using what works best for you. So soap them up!
RickMartin
Omono
Thanks MM. I soaked them in Malathion yesterday. It's raining today so hopefully the pot that seemed to have the most got a good dose of it before the rain washed it out. I just cannot seem to catch a break with all this rain.
misfit11
Omono
A quick Google search says “many ants eat sugary nectar, or the liquid that plants make. They also feed on the sweet “honeydew” liquid that aphids make. You will see ants eating oranges, mangoes, and other sweets fruits as well.”
So unless your bonsai has fruit on it or has flowers that produce nectar, the ants aren’t eating your tree. I get wooly aphids on my boxwoods and that’s why the ants come around.
Maybe the ants here in CA are just full of hot air. Just like the 95% of climate scientists who are telling us that human activity is changing the earth’s climate. Pffft! Scientists thinking that they know anything about science. I’ll get my scientific beliefs from Republican politicians and Fox News thank you very much!
Tieball
Masterpiece
I use Borax powder detergent, sugar and water mixed. I then put the liquid in small soaked cardboard tubes (those new paper straws work well) or other cardboard flat pieces. Ants are gone. Quickly. It’s the Borax detergent.
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Someday, the ants will find your trees and take up residence there and you'll have to make a serious decision. I can't predict when that will be, but I will predict that you won't be back on this thread conceding that ants are not welcome on your trees. I won't be holding my breath.
RickMartin
Omono
The Malathion seemed to work. Thanks everyone for their input.
