Ants?

[fanaticactus]

Has anyone had a difficult season with ants this year? I am in the very northwest corner of Vermont, less than 10 miles--as the crow flies--from Canada in the Champlain Islands. Although we have had the yearly spraying for ants and spiders, I have never in 11 years had such an infestation of ants as I do this year. They are the tiny ones--smaller than a grain of rice--and they are in many of the cactus pots and on the patio, where I like to keep my collection in the warmer months. One afternoon, as I was doing some general watering of the cacti, a whole army of them marched out of one pot from near the body of the cactus. Then I saw some on a couple of others. I sprayed an ant insecticide at the soil, which seemed to kill most of them. But I'm still seeing a lot of them all over the patio near the pots.

Could it have something to do with the odd weather pattern we've had this year? We had a cool, cloudy, rainy April and first half of May...and then two heat waves with temps either side of 90F with hardly any rain. We've settled into a more traditional summer weather pattern now, but I don't know if the earlier conditions had anything to do with the ant infestation. Thanks for any insights you can provide.

[Steve-0]

TEOTWAWKI...

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/TEOTWAWKI

Tongue in cheek humor.

Mother Earth is struggling under our management.

[greenknight]

Every year is a bad year for tiny black ants around here. We use borax ant bait when they get to be a problem, low toxicity. You put it in bait stations where only little bugs can reach it, the ants carry it back to their nests. You'll never eliminate them, but this is pretty effective at reducing their numbers.

I've had them colonize my cactus pots at times, but they don't stay through the summer - I think it gets too hot for them, those ants nest in cool, sheltered places. I have most of my cacti in an old kiddie wagon, easy to move them around and it provides extra warmth in this usually-mild climate. I have styrofoam trays under the plants so they're not sitting on hot metal, and I move them to where they get afternoon shade when the temperature gets above 90f, but it still gets pretty warm. I'm actually farther north than Vermont (Cowlitz County, Washington, check it out), but I get strong spine development on the cacti in that wagon - I'm convinced temperature has as much effect on that as light, if not more.

[Mrs.Green]

. I'm actually farther north than Vermont (Cowlitz County, Washington, check it out), but I get strong spine development on the cacti in that wagon - I'm convinced temperature has as much effect on that as light, if not more.

This is interesting! I was actually going to write a post ; asking about this. From what I have read, ‘everybody’ mentions light as the trigger for strong spination but I did wonder if there wasn’t more to it?

[hegar]

I do not exactly know, why ants at times become a serious pest, but this year I am also confronted with ant activity around my cacti. There are a lot of them between my Escobaria sneedii ssp. sneedii and Escobaria sneedii ssp. leei. What is bothersome is their movement of soil particles and piling them up in little hills, covering up the smaller stems of these small cacti.
I suspect, that the ants do damage the roots of the cacti, if they are in their way. This would lead to possible rot and the death of the cactus.
So I may have to bring the heavy armament (chemicals) to bear on them. I had some ant problem in one of my other cactus beds and after the treatmnt the ants were gone and have not returned for several years.

Harald

[TKC]

I've dealt with this, and have come to loathe ants. While I at times have wondered if there is some type of symbiotic advantage, the stress and potential spreading of the colonies throughout a collection is cause for concern. I have found them to go dormant inside the soil throughout summer, only to emerge when the weather gets cooler. This has been documented from Illinois all the way to California. Enjoy

Chris,
TKC

[fanaticactus]

Thanks to all for your comments to help me get a better perspective on this problem. To tell the truth, this was such a miserable Spring here--and my lower back is problematic so I can't tolerate a lot of stooping, bending, and reaching--that my couple of small outdoor cactus patches got completely overrun with weeds and grasses, so I can't tell what the outdoor situation is like. But I am concerned about several in my potted collection. I took some advice offered above and have ordered some Terro borax ant bait stations to place around the patio (where some larger cacti are resting on the concrete). I surely do not want ant colonies to come into the house when I bring in those few that need a Winter temperature above 50F. Thankfully, I've got a greenhouse where most of them can stay if they tolerate the average 40F during those colder months. But I don't want them in the greenhouse either, so I'll most likely put the ant traps in there this year.

[RichR]

I have had tiny black ants in the greenhouse more than ever this year. They have been going for the ripe fruits and they will clean one out, seeds and all in short order. I have to keep on top of them daily or they will take all the seeds I've been waiting for. They have lessened somewhat, since most of the plants are not producing fruit in the middle of summer. One of the strange things they did was construct little piles of dirt at the apex of a number of cacti. I haven't figured out why they do that.

[fanaticactus]

RichR, your problem sounds worse than mine. Good luck keeping on top of it! I don't believe they have attacked mine in the greenhouse--yet. I saw them when the weather was good enough to keep them outside when it was either not raining or scorching hot. Strange thing was they were in some of the pots that were up on a glass table under a pergola. I guess they can crawl anywhere. Can't wait until my bait traps arrive.

[7george]

I have regular problems with ants. Meaning outdoor cacti only. Because they incubate their pupae under surface rocks of my rocky raised bed these want to kill every plant (succulent) that is throwing some shade over the rocks. So they regularly climb to the growth points of the planted cacti and damage those points by chewing and injecting some acid so cacti stop their growth and start rotting with time. I guess ants do the same with the roots because the ant-house is right underneath that bed. So I have to decide what to kill and what to keep in my yard. Saving potted cacti is much easier: just moving around and occasional insecticide application works.

[fanaticactus]

7george, I'm sorry to hear of your seemingly perennial outdoor ant problem. I can see how potted cacti have an advantage here. Good luck controlling the little beasts.

[keith]

Ants dislike diatomaceous earth. The only ants we have are Argentina ants which kill off all others . They wont take Borax anymore.

They get to be bad Summer and fall as they savage for water and whatever else. lucky they don't sting like fire ants .

[fanaticactus]

I'm sure our landscaper has some diatomaceous earth in our shed. I must look!!