How do you get rid of ants?

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dovey Columbus, OH(Zone 5b) May 05, 2005

I thought I had them licked... but I noticed the little buggers climbing all over my Bamboo.
I heard something about molasses... equal (the sweetener)... and cucumber peels.
How do you safely deal with ants?

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Night_Bloom Griffin, GA(Zone 8a) May 05, 2005

Baits are the best way to safely deal with ants, but are the ants harming the bamboo? If there are scales, aphids, etc. then ants would be a problem, because they might protect the aphids (you'll still have to get rid of the aphids though if they are present - I'd use imidicloprid, a systemic that'll get all those sucking Homoptera). If there are aphids present and you get rid of them, the ants should go away.

However, if these are not aphid ants, they might actually be good for the bamboo - they'll eat insects such as caterpillars and beetles that might munch on your bamboo. I would find out what kind of ants I had before getting rid of them. Only a few kinds of ants will bite and sting. Most are harmless to people.

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dovey Columbus, OH(Zone 5b) May 05, 2005

It's hard to say what came first the ants or the black sooty stuff in the joints of the Bamboo. But I assume that's what they are after.
Without them the black sooty stuff eventually bleaches out and goes away.

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dovey Columbus, OH(Zone 5b) May 05, 2005

BTW
They are little tiny red ants with black butts

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Night_Bloom Griffin, GA(Zone 8a) May 06, 2005

Hmm the black sooty stuff sounds like sooty mold which is usually the consequence of a homoptera of some kind (like a soft scale, mealy bug, or something similar). Homopterans will indeed attract ants as I mentioned in my post above.

See if you can see any aphids, mealy bugs, or soft scales. If there are some and if imidicloprid is okay to use on bamboo, this might be a solution. No homops would mean less ants and no sooty mold. The sooty mold doesn't do anything to the plant itself; it only grows on the sticky stuff the insects exude.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of sooty mold or I would show you what it looks like. You can try googling for it though.

Since I'm only familiar with Eastern ants, your ant doesn't sound familiar to me, but maybe your local extension agent could identify it for you.

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