buggy houseplants

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sapphire58 Gastonia, NC(Zone 7b) Feb 12, 2007

why do I get ants in my houseplants? I have pets and grandchildren so putting anything toxic on my plants is out of the question. HELP!

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Badseed Hillsboro, OH(Zone 6a) Feb 12, 2007

I recently read a reply that Horseshoe posted. He had said that aphids attract ants. Do you also have aphids on your plants or only ants? You would generally find aphids sucking on the stems but they could be on leaves too.

Post #3181037
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sapphire58 Gastonia, NC(Zone 7b) Feb 12, 2007

This will prove my ignorance; what am I looking for in regards to aphids? Are they flying things? And how do I get rid of them safely?

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hcmcdole Powder Springs, GA(Zone 7b) Feb 12, 2007

Look for aphids (they don't fly) under the leaves and on the stems. Mealybugs are another pest that attract ants. If you have ants, more than likely you have some kind of plant sucking insect that secretes honeydew (what the ants are farming). Use a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and swab off the pests is one way to get rid of the pests.

To see pictures of pests do an image search using a popular search engine or go to the bug files.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=aphid&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&safe=off&q=mealybug

http://davesgarden.com/bf/

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sapphire58 Gastonia, NC(Zone 7b) Feb 12, 2007

Thank you for the great and helpful info. I appreciate it. Going to go buy stock in alcohol and q-tips now!

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Keyring DC metro, VA(Zone 7b) Feb 12, 2007

if the ants are nesting in there, using water with mosquito dunks in it might do the trick. I tried it once and the ants fled, carrying their eggs.

Post #3182503
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