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#16
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red ants!!
"Spider" wrote in message ... "Ophelia" wrote in message ... snipped ... repeat of post for Ophelia. Sorrry to others. Spider Do ants do damage in the garden? If so, what plants will they hurt? They tend to do secondary damage following, say, slug and wasp damage, and frost or mechanical damage. Occasionally, they will undermine a plant by building their nest under it, but I've hardly ever heard of a case of this. They also 'farm' and 'milk' aphids; they enjoy the sugary excreta of aphids, so offer protection to the aphids in return for their 'honeydew'. Sounds nicer than poo, doesn't it? :~) This can confuse inexperienced gardeners, who believe they need to treat their ant problem when, in fact, it's their aphid problem that is at the root of their troubles. Because ants like sugary foods, they tend to be attracted to ripening fruit. Ants do not like water, so the OP could try seriously wetting the nest site. To find the nest, watch the ants to see where they come from and return to. The soil around the nest is very fine, having a sandy quality. It is easy for me to spot a nest in my heavy clay soil; not so easy for someone on sandy soil. Spider |
#17
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red ants!!
On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:16:52 GMT, Rusty_Hinge
wrote: The message from Pam Moore contains these words: On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:03:46 GMT, Little Paul wrote: On 2009-04-22, Pam Moore wrote: So Rusty, where do you buy borax? I've seen it in my local pound shop, in Bristol. It surprised me as I didn't think anywhere sold it anymore. Thanks Paul. I'll try pound shops. We have one in Keynsham. Ah, Horace Bachelor territory... Or do i mean URG Batchelor's Horace-radish? /URG K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M That's the one! Pam in Bristol |
#18
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red ants!!
Spider wrote:
"Spider" wrote in message ... "Ophelia" wrote in message ... snipped ... repeat of post for Ophelia. Sorrry to others. Spider Do ants do damage in the garden? If so, what plants will they hurt? They tend to do secondary damage following, say, slug and wasp damage, and frost or mechanical damage. Occasionally, they will undermine a plant by building their nest under it, but I've hardly ever heard of a case of this. They also 'farm' and 'milk' aphids; they enjoy the sugary excreta of aphids, so offer protection to the aphids in return for their 'honeydew'. Sounds nicer than poo, doesn't it? :~) Just a bit This can confuse inexperienced gardeners, who believe they need to treat their ant problem when, in fact, it's their aphid problem that is at the root of their troubles. Because ants like sugary foods, they tend to be attracted to ripening fruit. Ants do not like water, so the OP could try seriously wetting the nest site. To find the nest, watch the ants to see where they come from and return to. The soil around the nest is very fine, having a sandy quality. It is easy for me to spot a nest in my heavy clay soil; not so easy for someone on sandy soil. Many thanks for this most informative post, Spider! saved |
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