Thank you Shell, Is that an item available at HomeDepot or any other
hardware store?

Hi, Mariana,

Amdro can be found at HD or Lowe's. WalMart has Terro, which attracts the
ants (heh, heh) and finishes 'em off. Still, my advice would be to treat
now for aesthetic reasons, and a few days before taking the plants in for
the season, hit them with Orthene or something similar. Orthene is
systemic, so you can water it through the medium. The reason I say a few
days before bringing them in is that Orthene is not particularly pleasant
smelling.

I know someone is going to disagree with me on dosage, but I stand by it: I
use 2 tsp. per gallon of water; I have found that anything more can burn
the leaves.

About ants attracting scale, etc., there's a relationship there. Ants will
be attracted to plants that have beasties such as mealies and can spread
them, though at this time of the year it's just as likely that the ants are
simply *there*. If you see the ants congregating in a particular area, do
check for bugs. The following is lifted from the July edition of Motes
online newsletter (I've selected a few passages, so it's not in context):

"Ants like the orchid medium because it is by nature dry. They hate water
and will build their nests higher and higher in wet ground. An orchid pot is
therefor a penthouse apartment for them. Immersing the entire pot ant plant
in a large vessel of water will persuaded them to find another place to set
up house keeping. Be sure to cover the entire pot and if possible the entire
plant. If the plant can not be totally submerged allow some of the foliage
to touch the edge of the vessel so that the ants can beat a retreat and are
not forced to wait out the flood perched on the upper reaches of the plant.
If you have some vengeance in mind, 2 oz. of dish washing soap per gal added
to the water should hasten and further their departure. Even more wrathful
is 2 tsp per gal of Orthene SP or 1tbs. per gal of DiazinonWP. Be sure to
wear gloves with either of the latter."

"While usually content with the sweet manna that the orchids yield up from
their largess, sometimes ants take things into their own mandibles. And what
they take can be scale insects, aphids and mealy bugs. Ants have also set up
symbiotic relationships with these creatures all of which are very efficient
at extracting sugars from plants. Growers should observe closely where the
ants are going and be sure that at the ends of their routes one does not
find a fluffy white mass of immature scale or mealy bugs. Alternatively one
may discover hardened mature scale or aphids. Leaf axils, under bracts of
new growths or flower spikes are favorite places that ants like to deposit
their little sucking friends. The ants have already scouted out the richest
veins to mine and they know that sucking insects cannot use all of the
sugars that they so efficiently extract."

There's a lot more, but I don't want to make this post too big.

Diana