On 23/04/2012 07:43, john east wrote:
"Christina wrote in message
...

"john wrote in message
...

"Dave wrote in message
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On Apr 22, 9:39 pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"john wrote in message

...





"Christina wrote in
message
...

"john wrote in message
...
Recently bought a mint plant from a supermarket and have been
growing it
a pot on the kitchen window sill. The other week we put it in a
bigger
pot, but now have a lot of ants coming out of it.

Have just submerged the pot in a large jug of water. Will this do
the
trick? If so how long will it have to soak? Or is there a better
way?
thanks.

Yep, drowning the ants will do the trick. How long will they take to
drown? Who knows?
As you repotted it the ants are likely to have been in the compost
you
added.
Is there a better way? Probably by making sure there are no ants in
your compost so you don't have to drown them.

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Christina thanks. Hopefully it wont upset the mint plant if i leave it
soaking all night ?

should be ok but don't let the water come over the surface of the pot
overnight or you'll drown your mint as well.
If you've had it submerged for a few hours that will be enough.
Ants can't swim.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

And you cant drown their eggs either.
Try Nipon or some other ant killer that they take back into their
nest, it will kill the eggs as well.

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Thanks. Would it be still be alright to eat the mint though, since i
guess ant poison is somewhat nasty stuff?

Once you've drowned the ants, there will not be any adults to take the
poison.
If there are any eggs in your pot (doubt it as I think you just disturbed
a nest you had in the compost you repotted it from and had a few strays
from that) - take most of the compost in the pot out, and repot it from a
new bag.
No need for poison and you can still eat the mint.
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Thanks. Out of curiousity now i'm wondering how often should i keep soaking
i wonder to get ahead of their egg laying and hatching cycle, i.e. the
gestation period. every day, every few days? i've just looked it up,
gestation time is 3 hours.

Ants enter pots with dry soil through the drainage holes in the bottom,
in particular when the soil has shrunk a little to create a space. To
avoid the problem in future cover the holes at the bottom of the empty
pot with a piece of weed-proof membrane (or use old pieces of Oasis)
before you plant up. The ants will look elsewhere for a des res.

--

Jeff