Ants in my Cattleya Orchids

[fbashplant]

It seems that a nation of small black ants have decided to colonize several pots in my Cattleya collection. Two of them are really massive nests and hundreds of ants swarmed out of the pots, many carrying eggs, when I watered them today. Since I water these just once a week these invaders have not been in residence long. Does anyone have a good method for getting rid of them? I mixed up a batch of neem oil and saturated them, submerging the pots in the neem oil solution for a few minutes. I am told that neem oil is effective against insects but I don't know about ants. Any suggestions? Thanks all.

[stateless]

I just submerge the plant underwater , anchor it so it won't float and leave it for an hour, seems to do the trick.

[coeruleo]

yeah, flooding can work. you can also try diatomaceous earth. it does wonders. slow acting, but they go away and won't come back. i mix it in water and water my plants, you can also sprinkle it around the area and in the pots dry. it does leave a white powdery residue, but the ants are gone. it is nontoxic. basically it scratches the ants and they dry up and die slowly. my building is under attack from argentine ants. i'm ant free, the neighbors are ready to jump off the roof.

[fbashplant]

Thanks, good info. I know that DE works with roaches and others with exoskeletons I just didn't know if it was safe for orchids.

---------- Post Merged at 09:28 PM ----------

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

[citywildcat]

It seems that a nation of small black ants have decided to colonize several pots in my Cattleya collection. Two of them are really massive nests and hundreds of ants swarmed out of the pots, many carrying eggs, when I watered them today. Since I water these just once a week these invaders have not been in residence long. Does anyone have a good method for getting rid of them? I mixed up a batch of neem oil and saturated them, submerging the pots in the neem oil solution for a few minutes. I am told that neem oil is effective against insects but I don't know about ants. Any suggestions? Thanks all.

You probably solved this problem already but in case you haven't (or if anyone is looking for a non-toxic
OR easy-to-use remedy), you might want to consider BAKING SODA. Ants absolutely hate baking soda. When I lived somewhere else, I had a big problem with those same little black ants you're talking about. I heard about this from a neighbor who had all these "old-school home remedies". I tried many other things so I figured it couldn't hurt to try this either. This was many, many years ago but I remember taking maybe 1/4 cup of baking soda and sprinkling it either ON the nest or AROUND the perimeter of where I didn't want them to go. I came back the next day, and it was as if they were NEVER there. They completely moved out - all of them - they were GONE. I used it recently also, outside, and it still works. Wondering about its properties, I did some research and it apparently has something to do with the pH of the baking soda and it's effects on the ants. I think it literally dissolves them from the inside out