You probably cannot get rid of them entirely. The ants themselves don't damage plants, but they "farm" not only aphids, but also scale and mealybugs. Nine times out of ten, if you see ants climbing a plant, that plant has one of those pests.

Sometimes ants are pollinators; I credit them with pollinating my passionfruit vine.

I find Tanglefoot very useful on lychees, citrus, and other plants with trunks. You can apply it to the foam that comes with the kit, but that is sort of unsightly. Instead I just use masking tape and move it on the trunk about every 4-6 months.

SB

I had a family of ants move into my GH around March this year. For days I watched as they walked down my benches with their eggs and all their stuff. They moved into a large cym orchid pot. I didn't want to kill them either (I'm one of those tree hugging nut-jobs ;o). Well ........soon as it really heated up in their (April- May) they moved out, same way they move in, with all their stuff eggs and all. I haven't seen them sence. So I guess you could wait for *really* warm weather (lol). OK, that's all I know about ants. No help at all I know..LOL......
Pat.........

Well, I don't see *really* warm weather happening anytime soon! (Much to my dismay!)

On the plus side: I don't see 'em marching up my plants - so (hopefully) that means I don't have mites or aphids or scale (or Lions 'n Tigers 'n Bears "Oh, my!").

They seem to mostly hang-out on the floor, along the baseboards of the GH, and they like to climb up the shelves. But nothing on the plants (Thank Gawd!).

It *did* warm up in the GH today (I guess we're having our "Indian Summer" - temps in the mid-80's). Not so much Ant-Action today.

...But since I know (or at least "hope") that the GH is going to be a comfortable environment, I *really* don't want 'em swarming me (Ick!)!

Worst case: DH bought some ant-bait. If it looks like it's gonna be a problem, I may borrow some and put it in the GH. I really don't wanna kill 'em, but I don't want 'em killing my "ambience" either!

If anyone's had any luck with "deterring" ants (without necessarily killing them), I'm open to suggestion!

Thanks!

-N

Why are you so sure that they are Argentinian ants? why would you call them that? They are probably Mexican ants since your are in CA. Do not blame Argentina for your ant problem. They could also be Chilian ants.

1eyedJack and the Dawg (And we both LOVE Argentina)

I got nuthin' against Argentina (Or any Central- or South-American Countries!).

It's the Argentinian ants I'm not so fond of...

They're Argentine. Trust me!

-N

:-P~~

Here is a link that might be useful: Key to common household ants

Ah, I now can see. Paro ellos no pican. You might try a bit of Yubra Mata. Por lo menos ellos te gustan Mata.

El Paro i Jaquin con solo un ojo.

ji, ji, ji, ji

Ummm... Una mas Margarita, por favor???

Que es Yubra Mata? Google no puede encontrar...

Por que I misspelleditalo.

Yerba mate

Major?

Nope. Yerba Mate ain't the answer! Ants *like* to eat that plant!

:::sigh:::

Anybody got any suggestions on how to *deter* ants (as opposed to offering them Tasty Treats)???

If not, I'll hafta break out the Ant Bait and kill 'em (and I'm okay with that, but I'd prefer a less drastic approach!)

Thanx!

-N

Killing one colony of ants would be like extinguishing one spark in the current CA fires. John

Hi try some cedar mulch or cedar bedding used for rabbit and hamster cages. Cedar is supposed to repel insects (most insects anyway).

Nicole

I suppose if it worked it would be because it killed them, but I would be tempted to try sprinkling boric acid around the base of the greenhouse. It works on roaches, and is about as harmless as things get....far better than most insecticides.

Chuck

Buy AMDRO fire ant bait. It is essentially hominy grits which have been penetrated with an insecticide. The workers carry the bait to feed the queen and the larvae. When the queen dies and no longer produces eggs and when the larvae die, the colony dies.