Pam Moore wrote:
On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 21:14:30 +0100, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:


To the original poster use clove oil, that'll drive the buggers
away
and keep them out, also garlic sometimes.

Oil of cloves; isn't that what used to be recommended for
toothache?
Can you guarantee that it will also drive off ants? In solution I
assume?
Garlic how? crushed? planted?
Thanks anyway!

Haven't heard of oil of cloves for this purpose, but it's certainly
worth trying if you don't want to use the products of the chemical
industry. Till we hear back from Tumbleweed, though, my guess is that
it wouldn't drive out a colony that was already established: like
bees, they can't take a laying queen anywhere, as far as I know.

If I thought the colony really was causing a problem (but they don't
usually: they won't hurt the plants), I probably would use Nippon. If
that's too chemical for you, I'm afraid you really will have to help
your friend tip over the pot and destroy the nest -- boiling water
usually does the trick. Spread out a plastic sheet, and tip the whole
thing over; then wiggle the plant out: it should be quite easy
between the two of you. A bit of boiling water on the very tips of
the roots shouldn't do any harm. You need to do this now, before they
send out drones and unmated queens (if it hasn't happened already --
it's quite a beautiful sight, really. In some parts of Africa,
they're big enough to eat: when a colony starts sending out flying
ants, you make a fire at the entrance and grab them as the heat burns
off their wings. A bit like shrimps.).

But...a willow in a pot? It's not my garden, but, for goodness' sake,
_why_? Such a vigorous grower is probably due for soil-replacement
anyhow, and it hardly matters how much you abuse it: they're tough.
This is one of those crises for which the Chinese character, they
tell us, is the same as the one for "opportunity". Opportunity either
to replace the soil, or to plant something else.

--
Mike.