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Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth.... Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
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Banana Plant Health And Maintenance Topics This forum is for discussions of banana plant health topics such as coloration issues, burning, insects, pruning, transplanting, separating pups, viruses, disease, and other general banana plant health and maintenance issues.


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Old 08-11-2009, 03:50 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Default Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Ok...there I am...probing the dirt for the 3 inch dryout depth, so I can water again AND OUT OF NOWHERE!!!...Well, the dirt
Comes ants.

I use Diatomaceous Earth normally to combat crawly-legged suckers that are where I don't want them to be.
It is safe around kids after the dust settles & does wonders!

But my real question is:

Is it safe to use Diatomaceous Earth around the BANANAS??

Don't want the blasted ants eating my banana corm...

Please HELP!!! I am ready to go KAMIKAZE on these ants!!! ~Cheryl
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Old 08-11-2009, 03:54 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Quote:
Originally Posted by CValentine View Post
Ok...there I am...probing the dirt for the 3 inch dryout depth, so I can water again AND OUT OF NOWHERE!!!...Well, the dirt
Comes ants.

I use Diatomaceous Earth normally to combat crawly-legged suckers that are where I don't want them to be.
It is safe around kids after the dust settles & does wonders!

But my real question is:

Is it safe to use Diatomaceous Earth around the BANANAS??

Don't want the blasted ants eating my banana corm...

Please HELP!!! I am ready to go KAMIKAZE on these ants!!! ~Cheryl
Either Beer, urinate into the pot, use salt, anything that radically changes the environment, plant reacts slower than ants, so once they're gone, return the pH back to normal and remove the pot to a higher location (on a table, chair...)
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Old 08-11-2009, 06:00 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Yes DE is fine for plants, its actually provides silica. For DE to work effectively the soil MUST be dry, any moisture will cause it to not work and clump together. Diatomaceous Earth is single cell organisms, being a single cell, when dry, they have the ability to slice and dice insects. Apart from inhaling the dust, DE is generally safe. DE is commonly taken by humans and as a feed supplement for animals to combat parasites. BUT DE can be harmful to your beneficial bugs, the same way as it is to the "bad" bugs. Ants often come around in search of aphids or mealy bugs. I would suggest having a good luck to see if that might be what is attracting ants. And if it is not... there are other options we can explore. Good luck!
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Old 08-11-2009, 09:20 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
I gave in...

I unpotted the banana, cleaned it thoroughly, mixed up some fresh soil(w/o ants) & repotted it & elevated on a chair in the backyard...

With the chair legs SURROUNDED, sitting cans of DE...

Little crappers...let'em try again... ~Cheryl
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Old 08-11-2009, 09:29 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Old 08-11-2009, 11:30 PM   #6 (permalink)
 
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Question Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Fire ants are all over the place down here...they farm the aphids and bite like hell when disturbed. I've read that the sugar substitute, Aspartame, will kill them. Any comments about using it?
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Old 08-11-2009, 11:45 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
If I find anything on that Sigi, I'll pass it along! ~Cheryl
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Old 08-12-2009, 08:01 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Aspartame will kill them; so will a 50-50 mix of borax and white sugar (my fave, they get all drunk and then take it back to the queen and kill her with it.)

DE is great too, but it's a deterrent, not a cure. And for anthills in the yard, I absolutely love the old standby of soaking your rubber boots in kerosene, stirring baking soda into the hill, and then dousing it with vinegar - you get a foamy volcano of ant death!
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Old 08-12-2009, 08:07 AM   #9 (permalink)
 
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Amdro will kill ants

I use the borax on roaches as well.
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Old 08-12-2009, 08:34 AM   #10 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
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Aspartame will kill them; so will a 50-50 mix of borax and white sugar (my fave, they get all drunk and then take it back to the queen and kill her with it.)
Borax or the borax potion works very well. I also use Cyfluthrin (a pyrethrin found in a species of African Chrysanthemums). You will find it as the sole ingredient in a few of the Bayer liquid garden products. It does not kill worms or spiders but kills insects and insect larvae on contact.
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Old 08-12-2009, 10:35 AM   #11 (permalink)
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Aspartame will kill them; so will a 50-50 mix of borax and white sugar (my fave, they get all drunk and then take it back to the queen and kill her with it.)

DE is great too, but it's a deterrent, not a cure. And for anthills in the yard, I absolutely love the old standby of soaking your rubber boots in kerosene, stirring baking soda into the hill, and then dousing it with vinegar - you get a foamy volcano of ant death!
You can hang out with me...

I feel about the same way you do about ants...MWAHAHAHA!!!

Thanks for ALL the other bits O'Information...Apartame I have & I had forgotten about Boric Acid & will have to goto the Pharmacy to get some!

Thank you Richard for the backup plan....if all else fails...Cyfluthrin...

Have a great Wednesday All!!! ~Cheryl
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Old 08-12-2009, 11:00 AM   #12 (permalink)
 
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And for anthills in the yard, I absolutely love the old standby of soaking your rubber boots in kerosene, stirring baking soda into the hill, and then dousing it with vinegar - you get a foamy volcano of ant death!
As a child, did you also pull the wings off of flies..............LOL
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Old 08-12-2009, 11:08 AM   #13 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
I did not. I do, however, have a vendetta against ants. You tell me - if you had a hive of ants like the ones below, would you not foam them to death?
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Old 08-12-2009, 11:24 AM   #14 (permalink)
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Talking Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Foam Them!!!

OK...all the kids in the house are like (((Blarg!!!))

Nasty things....LOOK AT THE PINCHERS ON THEIR BOTTOMS!!! NO THANK YOU!!!

Happy Foaming Lorax!!! YouTube that!! ~Cheryl
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Old 08-12-2009, 11:35 AM   #15 (permalink)
 
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Just poking fun at your death dealing to the Anthropod World.............LOL
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Old 08-12-2009, 12:02 PM   #16 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Sheesh, and i thought Tx fire ants were rough... Lorax take names, while your kickin... hahaha
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Old 08-12-2009, 12:05 PM   #17 (permalink)
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Default Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Those ones are likely Atta colombica, actually. I like to think that they're all called Earl. You know, that way I can dance about in the forest singing "Goodbye, Earl" as they foam.
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Old 08-12-2009, 12:13 PM   #18 (permalink)
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Joy Re: Bananas & Diatomaceous Earth....
Is ok Chris...

Hi All!

I used the cheap beer method that Jack Daw recommended to clear the dirt of ants out of the dirt I removed my banana plant from...Thank Goodness they weren't Fire Ants...Yee-Ow!!
I now have to rebalance the soil's Ph to bring it usable again.

It doesn't kill the ants, but they don't like the change in Ph & move elsewhere...(ie out of my pots)!! THANKS JACK!!

I have a HEAVY line of DE around my foundation & dusted in to the window tracks & other misc. places.

Just hoping to get them under control where they can do their thing & I can do mine, harmoniously.

Have a great Wednesday!! ~Cheryl

Goodbye Earl... Hilarious!!!
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