Quote Originally Posted by WolfinKW
It's fun squirting them with the mister and pissing them off though.
Wolf, yer killing me.



Most of the time ants will just make nests in the bark mix; they seem to find the humidity and coolness perfect for their larvae. They don't eat roots or anything, so if you're growing orchids for yourself and find an ant colony or two in your bark, well, so be it. A lot of times, a good flush-through with the hose is enough to get rid of them.

Here though, where plants are going out for sale, ant colonies in the plant Madame X just bought to complement the color of tonight's wellington at table would obviously not do, so they need getting rid of. Once a month during the growing season I put insecticide in the dosatron and water everything with it. That keeps them away.

Ants also "farm" aphids, meallies, etc., literally moving them around from plant to plant to give them access to the most tender growths. The ants feed off of the honeydew these insects produce. I've actually stood there and watched them do it (time was plentiful back then...). So it's a good idea, I think, to just get rid of them when you find them. They may not be an immediate problem yet, but no reason to wait around for one to develop.

Here's more info.