Getting ants out of your pots.

I will be bringing in all my planted pots into the greenhouse within a few weeks. All the ones I keep outside usually have ants in them. I definitely do not want to take them into the greenhouse and happened on a way to get rid of them without repotting.

A few weeks before I will bring pots that are sitting on the ground into the greenhouse, I will lift them up and sprinkle granular ant poison underneath the pot then sit them back down. I then water the pot. After a few days the ants will be gone.

X

Does granular ant poison mean Amdro?

X, excellent idea. Thanks.

I use Spectracide Fire Ant Killer but any kind of granular insecticide should work.

X

Thank-you Xeram - I just lifted up a pot on the lanai this morning and got bitten to death! Just HATE these buggers!

Those "sweet ants" agentina ants, they don't usually bite, unless disturbed! Grrrhgh! This year they're bad here in our region.

I have lots of ants in my pots too,I have to try that!
I hate to use poisons,I have lots of dragonflies around my small pond and water containers,so this will help..

I use Boric acid powder under my pots and set out the liquid ant poison that is sweet stuff and boric acid that they take back to the nest.hive.
Works pretty good.
I read you have to check the surface of what your putting the powder on though.It discolors some stuff when it gets wet.Also I never put it in my pots it's supposed to make them go acid.
For some reason the Liquid ant poison works better by Terro than the one from Woodstream even though the lable says the same thing on it.It must be that one uses a different attractant or something.Also sweet ants like sugary stuff better before winter(I've read),they hord it for the nursery because they can't get it from the flowers during the winter.
The liquid stuff I put on a bottle cap near an ant highway.The cap will be empty in an hour or so.They like it so much they drown each other crowding on top of each other to get some to bring home to the nest.
The powder seems to keep crawling bugs out of my pots too(beetles etc.)Doesn't bother the black widows though.
Helps keep the roaches down too.Sometimes I sprinkle some DE with the boric acid powder.The DE I use says it's got some secret attractant in it that is supposed to get bugs to walk through it.

I'd be careful using boric acid powder under your pots if there's any chance it could come in contact with the soil at the drainage hole--too much boron in the soil is toxic to plants (and I've seen some posts suggesting that it doesn't take much to be too much). And definitely never, ever put it in the pot. I use the boric acid bait trays, that keep the boric acid contained and out of any potential contact with the container soil.

The granular ant poison works the best for me .. I've tried everything. Since I had such good success last year at the end of the season, I now put the granular ant poison on the ground before I set a pot down. I've noticed it also discourages earwigs too.

X