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!~DERZ ANTS IN MY COCO COIR?

MobbDeep

MobbDeep

Member
Ok so my seedlings are doing fine but lately Iv been noticing normal red ants ( not the FIERCE red ants,but normal household red ants) in my grow room and around my cups of coco coir..Iv even seen them go in the cups ( 8oz cups filled with coco coir/perlite)...through the bottom holes..

Ive read that the ants will nest in the medium,and all this activity can harm the roots..is this true..what effects will the ants have on my young seedlings?..

and if they are bad,how can I get rid of them..will flodding the coco coir drown them?..Iv though about putting the cups in some type of container filled with water,as this will drown ants coming out,and ants trying to get in..wil this work??!:fsu:
 
O

ourcee

Active member
have you ever tried to drown an ant? it wont work. I mean eventually they will die, but its unlikely that you can kill them by flooding your media.

get some boric acid, mix a tablespoon or two into 1cup of sugarwater, fill the caps of juices or water bottles with the concoction and let them feed on it, they'll take it back to their nest and kill the whole colony.
 
durgamata

durgamata

Member
Ants will seriously fuck up your root system on younger plants. I think they may even eat the roots.

I had several outdoor clones that never grew beyond 6 Inches because the soil was infested by Ant Colony's weeks later, they *grew* for 5 months.
 
C

coxswain

I've noticed pharaoh ants around my coco pots. They're marching trough my plants into the coco pots. A major pest around here. Anoying little bastards. Whatewer we do we can't get rid of them. Any suggestions?
 
C

coxswain

ourcee said:
have you ever tried to drown an ant? it wont work. I mean eventually they will die, but its unlikely that you can kill them by flooding your media.

get some boric acid, mix a tablespoon or two into 1cup of sugarwater, fill the caps of juices or water bottles with the concoction and let them feed on it, they'll take it back to their nest and kill the whole colony.
Click to expand...


Boric acid you say eh? I'll get it first thing tomorow! I've put up with ants so far ... but it's effin personal now!
 
HeD333

HeD333

Active member
Also, ants tend to be attracted to water.
1.Make clean water unattainable.
2.Provide ants with poisoned water
3. ???
4. Profit.
 
Danknuggler

Danknuggler

Active member
Ant are the other BOrg.I too had them BAD in coco.They even had little insect pets they were hearding around my pots.I bought those liquid ant traps.I think these were made by hotshot.I actually turned the traps upside down and squeezed out the clear liquid into drips all around and then also lef the traps where the ants were marching in and out of plus I used some ortho max ant and roach spray around the base of the walls like the directios say.I tried to DR DOom them but theycame back within hours.These are f'd up chems that i was careful to not get into my medium or on my plants and then I cleaned up the ant traps and any drips i layed about.I read Terro works good too.
 
O

ourcee

Active member
yeah the cool thing about the boric acid (commonly sold as roach powder btw) is that they take it back to the nest instead of it being an insta killer, thus killing the queen and all those other lil fuckers runnin amuck.
 
MobbDeep

MobbDeep

Member
Thyer getting me quite nervous at this point..I dont want them to harm or stuny m young seedlings..do they really feed on roots..or just make nests?..I poured some karo honey on a plate..

will the honey karo attract them,then trap them cus its so sticky they cant get out..what are my options..and what can I do about the ants that are already IN the coco coir..whenever I see one ,I kil it..
 
C

coxswain

pleased-to-meet-you-im-an-anteater.jpg
 
G

Guest 18340

Most super markets, Walmarts, Lowes, Home depots carry this stuff.
It's basically sugar syrup and boric acid. They are attracted to this stuff BIG TIME. Put a few drops down where you notice the ants mostly and they flock to it. (If they're primarily IN the coco then wait 'til you see one crawling around and put a few drops down in front of him, like magic they come out in droves to eat this stuff) The soldier ants carry it back to the nest and you'll be completely ant free in a few days. This stuff will absolutely work.
Their are a few other brands out their but this is THEE one to get.
Peace, Evl...
 

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MobbDeep

MobbDeep

Member
dammit..some of my plants cotyledons are being eaten..so far 4 of my seedlings have gotten bit..some worse than others..ugghh...iv been battling them..they just keep coming back..so far iv only been killing them with my hand,or a tape..any help?

also,how will my tiy seedlings react to the ants eating their cotyledons??..will they stress,stunt?...die?....or is it fine??pelase help man..seeing my seedlings with their leaves chewed has really pissed me off and ruiend ym day man..DAMMIT
 
MobbDeep

MobbDeep

Member
Ok..so after some online reading..I found out some easy natural home made remedies..I declared war on the little bastards..they were everywhere,ate some seedlings's cotyledons,and were starting SEVERAL colonies around the closet..here what I did..

1.swept and mopped entire closet,paying extra attention on the edges and corners

2.put 50/50 water and white vinegar in a spray bottle..ants HAATE vinegar,it cancels their sense of smell,so they avoid it..it forms a shield..i thouroughly sparyed ALL the edges of my closet,and the cracks where i saw them coming through..i will repaet this every day.but i read its good for just one application,since the vinegar dries and stays there

3.sprinkled diffrent layers ( not mixed in) of cinnamon powder,coffee grounds,and black pepper in a circle around where i place my seedlings..these powders all repel ants..i put the coffee grounds on the outer layer,since the ants CANNOT climb it and go through it..they didnt go throguh the cinamon at first,but OCCASIONALY an ant got bold and crossed it..

4.put lots of coffee grounds , cinnamon and black pepper on the edges of my closet walls,especially where i noticed they were coming in through..

5.cleaned my room and mopped..i found another big colony outside the closet,and mopped te little bastards..


i will post my results if i notice the ants left..

any questions?
 
G

Guest 18340

Dude, you ask for more help after I already told what to do/use? I posted it on the 1st, today is the 4th and you complain that they're eating your plants, but you didnt bother going and spending 5 bucks for the solution? You went thru all that and all you did was at best get rid of the ants that happen to be on the floor. The colony is always hidden somewhere and the object is to get the soldier ants to bring poison (natural or not) INTO the colony where it will kill ALL the ants INCLUDING the queen. No queen, no ants.
I live in Florida, Ants are a constant nuisance here. The remedy I gave you works 100%.
Google the phrase "how to get rid of ants" and you'll see what most recommend. The same stuff I told you to use...
 
MobbDeep

MobbDeep

Member
dammit..when the lgihts came on..4 of my seedlings were fukkin dead..something chewed throguh their stems,and they fell over..also ALL of the cotyledons were chewed off on all the plants..and one seedling's stem is scraped,althoguh this happned 2 days ago..DAMMMIIIIITTTTTT

my only guess is the ants attacked them..and always at nighttime..now i only got 4 seedlings left..man i am utterly DEVASTATED..im going to water them with a water/cinnamon solution,as tis will draw the ants out of my coco coir..HOPEFULLY..Im also going to order some boric acid..lets jsut hope they survive till den..man 4 seedlings..DEAD..what a loss..they were growing so nice too..
 
Quazi

Quazi

Member
:wallbash::wallbash:

PAY ATTENTION

You need to put out a chemical trap or some other method of poison delivery that they will take back to their nests. You can use the solution that was already recommended or grab the little plastic traps that you can leave on the floor for them. Either way: it's around $5.00. It's bait that they will take; problem solved. Done.

Cleaning up around your grow is all well and good, and you should probably do this in addition to baiting/poisoning them, but it won't do a thing for the source of the problem by itself and they will be back.

Why ask a question, ignore the best answers, and then come back saying: "Nothing worked!?"

-Q :rasta:
 
G

Guest 18340

MobbDeep said:
dammit..when the lgihts came on..4 of my seedlings were fukkin dead..something chewed throguh their stems,and they fell over..also ALL of the cotyledons were chewed off on all the plants..and one seedling's stem is scraped,althoguh this happned 2 days ago..DAMMMIIIIITTTTTT

my only guess is the ants attacked them..and always at nighttime..now i only got 4 seedlings left..man i am utterly DEVASTATED..im going to water them with a water/cinnamon solution,as tis will draw the ants out of my coco coir..HOPEFULLY..Im also going to order some boric acid..lets jsut hope they survive till den..man 4 seedlings..DEAD..what a loss..they were growing so nice too..
Click to expand...

It's damn near impossible to drown the ants in the coco, I've tried.
Buy the drops I posted a pic of, or the traps made by the same company (Terro). The traps have the same liquid inside. If/when you lay the trap, pour a little out in front of a few ants. All they need is one wiff and they will come and eat. Whether they are nesting in the coco or in the walls/floors of your area, they're programmed to take food back to the colony.
By all means keep the area clean but killing them where they live is the only way to get rid of them for good.
No need to order the stuff online, any home improvement store will have it.
Go out and get the stuff NOW, before the ants devour everything.
 
MobbDeep

MobbDeep

Member
Man Im still upset about losing the seedlings..now I got some questions..

Do you guys think getting thier cotyledons eaten (all of them)..and soem seedlings getting little cunks of their first leaves etan..will stunt or affect them in any way.?theyr 8 days old..so do you think theyll jsut brush this off and keep growing like normal..or stunt them, for a couple days or what?

Iust need soem assurance..I cant wait for the day I finally have a clone mother..and stop having to deal with ordering seeds and seedlings
 
cocktail frank

cocktail frank

Ubiquitous
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SCREAMING IN YOUR THREAD TITLES?
no need to yell, we can still see the words in lower case letters.....
 
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