Dreubber

My bananas are indoors in my dinning room. My 2 and 5 year olds table is near by. Ants seem to have been harvesting my children's crumbs and colonized my bananas. I think they brought in a queen!! I found babies! What should I do!?!?

beam2050

sounds like its time for some amdro ant killer. if they didn't get into em to deep you should be ok.

__________________
...................................................

npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Kanana

In the grand scheme of things though and if ants are in a container that will stay outside, isn't it a plus actually as they continually aerate the soil? I have pigeon peas in large 5 gallon containers and there are fire ants (way more vicious than regular ants) living in them, but I let them be and the plants are doing great. They've been living in there for 2 months now and they actually bloomed for the first time and put out peas.

Dreubber

They are eating at the plant i think as it is dying

cincinnana

Welcome ot the Jungle....

I have the issue from time to time with my container plants...
While I treat my containers in the fall with an insecticide drench some critters slip under the radar.

Treat your soil with an inexpencive insecticide as a soil drench...
Use a saucer to catch the excess.....repeat as needed.

And of course remove the food source .

__________________

cincinnana

Ants do not eat banana roots and corms ....as far as I have seen.

__________________

Dreubber

I repotted them, dumped the ant colony in the trash outside in the snow. rinsed the roots and repotted them, they are much happier and the ants and ants food source has been removed.

I did read that you can dry out banana peels and then grind them into powder and sprinkle around plants to deter certain bugs. You can put on or near an ant hill and the workers will take to feed to the queen and she will burst

aruzinsky

Permethrin is effective against ants.

https://www.domyown.com/permethrin-s...html?rrec=true

I know from experience that allergies to Permethrin are possible.

A safe, but less effective solution might be to use diatomaceous earth.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071SG42FG...SG42FG5324050/

Ripsaw

Use boraic acid and diatomaceous earth on the soil. Terro is also a boric acid treatment which you can put drops on the ant trails. Repotting was a great idea, too.

Kanana

comments on this please...

aruzinsky

Too much boron is phytotoxic.

http://plantstress.com/articles/toxicity_i/Boron.pdf

For banana, from Salt stress aggravates boron toxicity symptoms in banana leaves by impairing guttation - SHAPIRA - 2012 - Plant, Cell & Environment - Wiley Online Library

"Visible symptoms of severe and prolonged stress caused by excess supply of B included typical chlorotic lamina margins and the accumulation of white precipitates on the epidermis at the extreme margins above the hydathodes (Fig. 2a,b). "

Mark Anthony Phair

Ants are not necessarily dangerous to plants on their own, however, where there is an infestation of mealy bugs or aphids, one must realize that these insects are to ants what cows are to humans.
Ants protect, move around, and milk the honeydew produced by the aforementioned insects, AND they eventually eat the older non-productive insects.
Ants are blind and only "see" with their olfactory sense.

Using pesticides in or around the home may cause harm to children and pets, so keep this in mind.
If ants cannot "smell" their way into any area, they will not enter that area without a previously established ant trail.
Organic remedies such as citrus oil or particularly pine oil will keep ants away for up to a month depending on the strength of the oil.
I mix 50/50 of water and pine oil (the REAL pine oil, not some fake substitute) and spray around windows doorways and any other entry points. The ants will not cross the sprayed area because they cannot "see" through the smell of the powerful oil scent.
Boric Acid is a safe remedy when mixed 50/50 with sugar to attract the ants, and the ants will pick up the Boric Acid powdery granules bringing them into their nest. Ants die from inside of nest.
Boric Acid is considered "safe," whatever that really means, but I advise to keep children and animals away from treated areas.
Most garden centers carry Boric Acid. Just ask for it. Far cheaper than pesticides, and far SAFER!

Ripsaw

Too much is not good, but a little with diatomaceous earth can be lightly dusted over the soil and should not harm the plant. Don't dump it because it does not take much. You can try Terro along the trails first which usually does the trick. I have had colonies in potted plants before and these tricks help control them.

Dreubber

Would boiling pine needles into a tea also work? We cut our own christmas tree this year and still have it

Mark Anthony Phair

I could not tell you as I have never tried. Boiling any plant material and then slowly boiling the liquid infused with pine needles may produce a tincture or an extract, so I do not know the outcome of your experiment.
Commercially grown trees for the Christmas Holidays are often sprayed or treated for pine borers and pine bark beetles, and wood boring insects.
With that in mind, you still take your chances with potentially contaminated pine needles.
My BEST results have always been with the genuine pine oil and boric acid with sugar.
Best of luck and Happy New Year!

Gone Bananas,
Mark Anthony