Thanks for the tip, Ray. I'm a South Fl balcony grower, too, and the dang ants are a real pain. I will give it a try.

Marci

Mom used to use a solution of boric acid on us for "pink eye" when I was a kid. When I moved to S Florida I sprinkled it liberally for Palmetto bug and roach elimination around the baseboards---it worked!

Then about 30 years ago I heard from my pediatrician that it was not as safe as we all thought. He told me not to have it where any kids could come into contact with it.

Just did a search and find that it is considered a poison, so of course it it can be useful for pests and fungus, but must be used carefully around kids and I would assume pets (paws?). The search also pulled up Poison Control centers.

Anyway, just keeps the kids and pets away :)

Jan

PS Interesting article on the subject

Here is a link that might be useful: opinion and information on boric acid

Me, again. Since I am dissing the boric acid, I really should give you another solution that I have used over the years. (Actually I still did use boric acid ocassionally but only in places that the kids would never be able to access.)

Did you know that ants won't cross a line that has been made by rubbing the green side of a cucumber peel along a surface? If it is a kitchen or bathroom window, where those tiny ones come through a crack from who knows where, I would rub a peel all around the area they seemed to come in and that would be the end of the march. Guess they don't like that bitterness any more then I do!

Jan

Ray, what a bummer. Ants haven't adopted my collection yet, but it sounds awful. I've copied this thread for future reference. Whitecat8

When I lived in an apartment in NYC I was told to sprinkle Borax around to kill roaches (lousy place). I was amazed how well it worked until our cat became sick. Vet told us Borax was extremely toxic. Cats clean their paws and ingest it.

I like Orange Guard for ants. I use it outside and its very effective. Like the cucumber skin, Orange Guard uses orange skins. Very bitter.

Jane

Very Interesting Jan! Thanks for sharing the info! The particular bottle of Boric Acid I bought was in the pesticide aisle at a local WalgreenÂs or CVS. It has a warning label & so forth, but when I compared it to the old bottle of boric acid my neighbor has (that she actually got from a pharmacist many years ago) the ingredients are the same without the warnings! I guess it is kind of like the pesticide that they use spray people with to keep mosquitoes away back in the 60's or 70's (was not alive back then, So I do not recall the name right off the top of my head)... Now 30 years later the manufactures say, "Oops, out bad! Sorry it gave you all cancer..." Thanks you again for the link! Fortunately I have no children and no pets (other than the 3 or 4 Caribbean geckos that call my balcony garden home) and they say away from the mess.

W.C. I have to tell you, I placed the jelly there that night and they ants were all over it. The next morning so much of it had disappeared & there were even more ants gathered around the glob of deadly jelly! This evening after coming home from an event, I peeked to see if they were still eating, there are not more ants. I am sure they have eaten their fill & are now setting up their new colony somewhere in one of my bamboo pots, but they will all soon be dead (lets out an evil chuckle). So for now, they are not in my orchids. I have actually only ever had a problem with ants in my orchids when I had scale & mealy bugs. The ants were "farming" them on the leaves & living in the potting medium. After I got rid of the mealy & scale, the ants left or died.

-Ray-

Jan - thanks! My kitty is all over my orchid area so I won't be using boric acid after all. Heard about the cucumber peel method years ago and forgot it. Afraid that won't work for me. Guess I'll try to catch some hungry lizards. LOL

Marci

Hmmm - maybe we can order hungry lizards from the same place that sells ladybugs. LOL Ray, because I'm new to orchids, there are more "learnings" for the future, no doubt, and this thread will come in handy. Thanks, WC8

Ray
Good luck with your war lol. I'm still fighting with ants after almost 30 years . I win a battle or two but the ants are definitely winning the war lol
Lizards won't work have hundreds of lizards and frogs as well as birds. Still have plenty of ants .I even have carniverous plants lol Ants outlasted the dinosaurs so why wouldn't they be able to out last humans lol.
I fear that if I have plants I'm going to have ants ??
I can either accept them or drive myself crazy??
BTW How is your "Bonsai coming along??
gary

Hi, again,

Just saw a spot yesterday on AOL homepage...sounds like your original idea, Ray, with added protection for the kids and cats.

"Poke holes with nail and hammer in the top of a glass jar. Combine sugar, borax and water and put the jar in the area where you see the ants and they will be taken care of in a few days." (Borax and boric acid are basically the same thing.)

I'm thinking just leave some of your grape jelly in the jar... takes the place of the sugar and water?

Jan

Jan, that is a great idea!! It will keep the kids out of it & the pets safe! I will put that one in my "idea jar" for the day when I have a pet!

Gary, my Bonsai are going well (slow of course) but well. I am training two blue junipers. I want to create a wind swept look with one & create a fat trunk & Jin it. So right now I have them heavily pruned & in large growing pots to help them fatten up a bit. I have also been using mychrozial fungi & super thrive to really encourage them to grow at the maximum rate! I also saved a very long, straight branch from of the plants & am rooting it for a future project that involved an "upright" composition. I enjoy the hobby, not as much as orchiding (because there is always something to occupy your time with orchids. In Bonsai, there are long waiting periods between pruningÂs & maintenance). I have also put my ideas of attaching orchids to the side for now. I am thinking that I might try to dwarf a Popash or button wood tree (maybe 4-5 feet tall) and use that as my host to attach the orchids & keep it in a large pot on the balcony. Using smaller bonsai plants would just look too odd. Thanks for checking up on me!

-Ray-