|
Fri, Jun 10, 11 at 13:31
| A friend had 2-3 yards of "premium soil mix" delivered from a local landscape materials place. The soil then sat on the ground in a large pile for about a month. However, now that we are ready to work with the soil, it's been taken over by ants. The entire pile is infested. Put your shovel into the pile and they are swarming all about. Is there anything that can be done to discourage them so they pack up their little kit bags and move out? They aren't fire ants, we don't really have that problem (north bay area, CA). They are small and black. I get them in my own yard but not to the point where it's a concern. The ants in and of themselves aren't really a concern, but we're worried about the symbiotic relationship that can be established with aphids, disease, etc. I searched around and it seems like most posts are about fire ants (man, that must really suck) but not much out there on more pedestrian ant species like that ones we're dealing with. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| All I can tell you is that I had a potted Japanese Maple that suddenly dropped a lot of its leaves. I thought maybe it was root-bound. I took the tree out of the pot, and there was an ant nest in there. Tunnels, eggs, the whole deal. The only way I could think to get rid of all of them was to soak the root ball overnight (and drown all the ants). We've repotted the tree and it's doing better. I guess you can't soak all of that potting soil? And yeah, fire ants are horrid. |
|
| The ants are there because they found a good place to nest. Move that potting mix around and disturb them and they will leave. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.