On Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:39:09 +0100, Pam Moore
wrote:

On Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:56:02 +0100, Astrog wrote:

Hi all,

I have an orange tree, in a pot grown from a pip 30 years ago. It
normally lives indoors, this is in Scotland.

However we moved house, and I put it outside for a while, it got
infested with ants. So now I cannot bring it in because the wife is not
to keen on ants in her dining room.

Any ideas on how to get rid of the ants and not kill the tree ?

Years ati when I had a pot plant (not an orange) infested with ants, I
got a container a good bit larger than the pot, stood the plant in it
and filled the whole thing with water. As long as the container is
deep enough the water will drive the ants upwards. I can't remember
what happened then but I got rid of the ants.
An alternative is to take plant out of pot, shake and wash ALL the
soil off the roots, along with ants, and then repot in fresh compost,
ericacious for an orange.
I hope your orange survives.

Pam in Bristol

A little adaptation of Pam's suggestion - wrap some cling film around
the stem of the plant just above where the water level will come to
and spear petroleum jelly onto that. The ants won't cross the jelly.
Leave the pot submerged in water for half an hour to be sure.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.