Ants on my corms
 

I ordered from Stokes Tropicals, and got my four corms in, well on my Raja Puri between some of the old part of the plant, lo and behold ants... well then I read the paper that came with the plant....

This is to certify that....

(Insert Nursery Name)

is currently permitted as a nursery grower by the Lousiana Department of Agriculture ect ect to facilitate compliance with the following Federal State regulatory quarantines or actions.

"Federal Imported Fire Ant Quarintine"

Um just because I have a love for banana plants, I dont' want to infect the state with something... >.< I'm going to email the plant supplier but really what should I do, it's late at night, what should I do with the corm? Any suggestions?

Baffled,
Ahava

Re: Ants on my corms
 

Put them and the ants in a sealed container until you hear back from them.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

OH yeah, I talked to them, got brushed off, was told to put ant killer on them... well I am very good friends with the farm advisor in the area, and I'm going through the county to have them checked, but yeah that's what I pretty much did right away. Jeez what a mess.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

UPDATE ~ The plant commissioner's office took one look at those ants, and thanked me for contacting them, they of course took samples and confiscated the plants. So just beware of Stoke's Tropicals. You wouldn't want to bring some weird thing into your state.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

Sorry that you had to hassle just over a banana plant...and then they took them from you?! Hopefully they will give you your plants back...

It'll be a sad day when we find a fire ant nest in our yard...

Just to add, I played with some fire ants and Seymour Johnson AFB in NC...We had to park in a field and went to an Air Show. Ended up coming back with fire ants on our car. So I took a stick and he bit onto the stick and then poked his back end around like 5 times... think if that was my skin, or worse, got brought back to VA

Scary :eek:

Re: Ants on my corms
 

It is quite possible, that the plants, along with the soil will be put into an incinerator. He said that they may not be fire ants, but they don't want some other species mixing with the others in the area. (For obviously good reasons. *thinks of killer bees*) I am VERY SAD and disappointed those were my FIRST banana plants ever. But it really threw me off when the nursery told me to just spray Raid or whatever on the ants... they were fruit producing plants... plus you'd have to treat the soil, they were so deeply imbedded in the banana plants, I know they had to be eating on them so um yeah, it was bad to say the least.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

I am going to get my plants back fortunately. I'm just going to have to spray them with something... I dunno what but those were some critters. Maybe I overreacted, but I'm so new to all this *sweatdrops* I think probably the look on my face was pretty comical when I poured water over the corms, and the ants just came swarming out of them, I think I just about fainted. Thanks all for your replies and suggestions and help. Next time I order anything, it's going to get sprayed asap. Live and learn. :/

Re: Ants on my corms
 

I'm getting the idea somehow that Stokes was just trying to make you happy and keep it on the down low, ignoring the effects it could have made...although did you ever find out what exactly they were?

Re: Ants on my corms
 

The guy brought my corms back and said the biologist said some scientific thing he didn't remember. But they "Shouldn't" be a problem. However, I still have the corms in the tote, and they are definately going to get sprayed down before I replant them (all that hard work for naught). Thankfully the county workers didn't damage the corms at all. Alls well that ends well. :nanerelectricguitar

Re: Ants on my corms
 

i am so sorry to hear about your croms! i would have been pissed!!. maybe you should order your nanas from a grower in cali, just so that wont happen again. are they ok? i hope they do all right for you. keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Re: Ants on my corms
 

i guess i really don't see the problem. when we dig "seed" corms they often have ants, weevil larva, spiders, etc. we just spray them with alcohol, it kills any insects almost instantly, and then soak them in a bucket of water.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

Thanks Inktube.
I am learning a lot from you.
Also I can spray the tender leaves of my citrus with alcohol to get rid of the aphids?

Re: Ants on my corms
 

sure, rubbing alcohol is a great insecticide - especially soft bodies insects like aphids & mealy bugs. i drench the leaves of the infected plants wait 5 -10 minutes and then rinse off with water. if the plant has soft tender leaves i won't let the alcohol stay on for more than 5 minutes.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

Thanks Inkcube.
That's something I will be grateful to you for along time to come.
I've been battling this aphid problems for a long time and now I have an ACE in the hole for them.
That's very easy to apply too. No mixing and no messy stuff.
Thank you.
This is a wonderful forum and thank you Moderators!
And alcohol is much cheaper than the liquid insecticides. And...I use alcohol when I graft my plants.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

Yes - thanks inkcube - I'm with Benny here, always struggling to control aphids on citrus so an alternative to insecticide is very welcome.

Cassie

Re: Ants on my corms
 

you're welcome bencelest & Cassie, i keep large spray bottles in my greenhouses within easy reach filled with the cheapest off the shelf 70%. its also great on wasps, to which i am highly allergic.

you may want to look for ants close to your plants, many ants "farm" aphids to harvest the honeydew they produce. there are many good pelleted ant poisons out there that are not harmful to plants, the environment or pets - the ants take the pellets back to the nest as food.

Re: Ants on my corms
 

I been reading this thread. I bought a pot of bananas over the weekend. After I repotted it I noticed a bunch of little ants. I need to get rid of them.