Ants living in my media

[Pa-uul]

Hi y’all. I’ve got little ants living in my hand watered clay ball pot. I can see little queen ants there as well. They might be eating dead roots and stuff which is okay maybe, but they have no place in my bedroom right? I’m treating the surface with neem oil at the moment to discourage them, but am curious as to whether they could have any beneficial properties? What do you think, should I keep them?

 

I also wonder if they crawl into the buds and get stuck on the resin and die there and stay to produce a harsh smoke!? ::

[SukonmiSkunk]

pu-uul,

I have ants on my outdoories, almost every day, its almost like they keep it clean of build up, I could be wrong.

I dont really think they would do any damage, but in your room , you are right, no place for them there....

Usually ants hang around where there is a food source...

I dont think its an issue, getting rid of them might proove tricky. You clould try ANTRID, I am not sure if it will damage the plants, best check with the nursary guy..... or gal.....

[Pa-uul]

...ANTRID...

Will check out ANTRID. Thanks, thought of that too! Hopefully it is non-toxic to humans.

:hang:

 

They look like smaller, whiter versions of the tiny house ants. I hope they're not termites??

 

There is a thread on a similar thing here: <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Nah, I'm looking at a comparison here and it's not like a termite, it's like an ant.

Cute little things too, like baby house ants.

[SukonmiSkunk]

yeah ant rid is pretty toxic, please check with the garden guy, LukeS would have a better Idea I think... it might be wise too, just to leave em for now, if they dont seem to be doing any harm.... and just treat the room when the grow is over....

LukeS might steer you down a better path....

 

ive get these little white ant type bugs in my wormfarms.... but I think they are in the soil... you say your in clayballs.. so I dont think they would be the same.... but could be?????

If any one knows what these are I would love to know......

[mull]

I had them once come in when there was afids in the GR..? They seem to live together well afids and ants.

Could be ant rid, cant remember now but it was mortein product. This little white feeder disc with bait in it. The worker ants feed on it, then in they go and poison the queen, killing the nest.

[Tom]

Ants can bring in other pests such as aphids, they "farm" them as a food source, the problem is that the pests still cause damage to the plants.

 

[Pa-uul]

The worker ants feed on it, then in they go and poison the queen, killing the nest. 

Right, that is the principle of ANTRID as well.

it was mortein product.

Ant-rid is not Mortein, though.

[WantDaChronic]

ants are a pain in the arse, literally if you sit on them but in all seriousness, they do help out a bit by eating bugs, airating the medium, etc. but they can cause a few problems as well :thumbdown imo it is much better to have no ants or any other living creature in the grow room other than the grower...

[Luke Skywalker]

As ant-rid uses borax as it's main consituent then yeah, it should be about as non-toxic as it gets. Just don't get it all over the plants and you should be okay.

 

Ants can be voracious little bastards sometimes, feeding on all kinds of things. Look for the trails they're using to get into the house and try and spray something around there to discourage them. Using ant-baits sometimes works, but sometimes doesn't.

 

You can also drown ants, by soaking pots in water with a drop of detergent (wetting agent) and using a small amount of borax/insecticide in the water. Let it soak for a while, and then you should have drowned out the colony. Wear gloves, the buggers can bite.

 

Check out www.antrid.com.au.

[F420]

Wouldnt the ant actually act like a natural pest control. And they wont eat the plant so??