ants

I have teeny little pic nic ants all over one of my plumerias. I dont see any bugs except these ants. I do see black stuff in the corners. I know what aphids and spider mites look like and I don't see them anywhere. This is my first time with these so I'm not sure if this is a normal thing or not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Dawn

edited to say: that white spot I don't think is a bug either. It was hard and kinda flaked off when I picked at it.

This message was edited Jul 19, 2007 8:57 AM

all of them

Dawn,

I always have ants on mine, too. I think the plants ooze a sticky stuff when the leaves and flowers start growing on the tips. I don't think it's anything for you to worry about. I've had my plumeria for 14 years, and its the same every year.

Terrie

Whew! thanks a bunch Terrie!
Dawn

Dawn, I found a bunch of ants on mine first thing this spring. They were farming aphids and mealies on the back of my plumeria leaves. They are never good news. I am in a constant battle with ants. They not only farm aphids on the underside of the leaves, but sometimes, they make a home in the container, especially if it is kept especially dry. Whenever I see them on my plumerias, I spray the underside of the leaves (and the ants themselves) with Insecticidal Soap. I use an insectide whenever I find trails of them too in the yard, and I've put out ant bait as well. As I said, they are never good, and I would get rid of them if you can.

Ok, gonna take care of them this evening. Thank you Clare. Ever tried Terro? They take this stuff back to their hut and it wipes out the whole clan.

Amdro and Diazinon Granules also work very well. The Amdro works best on the larger ants, and the Diazinon for the small ants. I use both in combo and wipe them all out. I agree with Clare, they cause way more trouble than they do good.

Dawn, I've never tried Terro. Thanks for the tip, Davie. I'll try the Diazinon granules. I am using Amdro now, but I'm not sure how well it is working. I tried to ascertain why my ant baits weren't working, and one of the guys at the nursery said that some ants are attracted to sweet and some are attracted to protein -- or something to that effect. As I said, they are everywhere here and all over my plumerias. They are quite annoying!

Amdro does work well, but only on larger ants. The pieces are too big for the smaller ants.

That explains it well! Thanks, Davie! We just have the little guys here, not the big ones.

poor lil' ants. LOL mine seem to just be curious. you gotta do what you gotta do.