How can i get rid of an ants nest in my plant pot?

Question

the plant pot is home to a willow tree, the ants are everywhere, i have used ant powder, i assume i cannot use boiling water, i have limited time so i really dont want to empty the pot back to the roots. can anybody suggest any thing else i can try !

Answer 1

Use a mix of cinnamon and sugar. The ants will pick up the sugar, along with the cinnamon, and take it back to their queen. Ants can’t digest cinnamon and once the queen dies from not being able to digest the cinnamon the colony will die without her.

Answer 2

Simplist thing is to empty the plant pot but failing that change as much of the soil as possible

yes the ants will swarm but if you up root the plant first then leave it alone they will go back inside the nest then dump all the remaining soil into an air tight bag and dump that in the wheely bin just before they come to collect it but do it soon as the nest will be getting ready for the queens to fly then you may have dozens of nest to deal with

you could try smothering the soil and all round the pot with ant powder but it does not really work well

Answer 3

assuming you can lift the pot..... find a container big enuff to hold enuff water to totally cover the pot..... dunk the plant's pot in the water until all the air bubbles quit coming to the surface...... the ants will, too..... remove the plant, dump the water.... allow the plant to drain very well..... if needed, you can do this again and again on the SAME DAY, but then let the plant drain completely and don't do it again for at least a week.... keep the plant where it will not get more ants!!...

this is a good way to 'clean' plants that need to go back in the house after being outside for the summer, too....what you're doing is sort of like having a huge rainstorm that totally soaks the ground... the plant can survive that, but it cannot survive standing in water where the roots cannot 'breathe', so be sure to take it out when the bubbles stop and let it drain good!!!!....

Answer 4

Well i only no Ant powder. Only stuff i no that worked for me. Go to your local garden center or something and ask the people in there that ant powder isn't working for the nest in your plant pot. Maybe they've got a spray or something that you could use that won't harm your plant.

Answer 5

Just sprinklie on some ant powder, it won't affect the plant. And don't worry about your willow tree the the ants won't harm the plant either. And no, don't use boiling water.

Answer 6

Lot´s of black pepper, The ant´s will carry this into the nest , and the egg-laying queen will move the ant´s out. no good pouring boiling hot water in and around ant´s nest´s. as it never reaches far enough into the nest to kill the egg-laying queen. But the black pepper will

Answer 7

use cream of wheat. just like rice to birds the ants will eat the cream of wheat and explode. Pour the cream of wheat into the nest and flour around the nest. the flour keeps the ants from leaving the nest area

Answer 8

Personally I would re-pot it, that's the only way to guarantee that you got rid of all of the ants.

Answer 9

For you orchids- Submerging them in water for approximately quarter-hour gets the ants out of the orchid mixture. Then washing the roots off and changing the soil will do away with the ants. some insecticide on the soil of the different flowers will kill the ants. The soil will want changing.

Answer 10

Sprinkle some cayenne pepper onto the soils and water it in good. Make sure you do it outside though cause they will came running out after it gets all the way in there.