Apr 06, 2012 11:02
Hi, I'm completely new at gardening. I literally started a few weeks ago. I'm starting out with some daylilies and an orangey-yellow honeysuckle (not 100% sure what kind it is, but its really pretty).
I've got my honeysuckle in a large planter outside. The planter used to belong to a small rubber tree plant that kicked the bucket after about 30 years of life. The planter had been left outside (with the soil in it) for at least 3 years before I emptied it out a few weeks ago. That's when I discovered it was infested with tons of ants. I dumped the soil and rinsed the ants out and after about 20 minutes, there were no signs of life. I continued as usual with my plans to put my honeysuckle in there with some fresh soil and I moved it to the other side of our porch, because I figured it would take the ants quite a while to find out where I had moved the planter.
Well, my honeysuckle is doing great now, but I moved the planter over a bit for whatever reason and found at least 500 ants partying under the planter. I have no doubt that they've gone back to live inside the planter. There are no visible drain holes anywhere on the planter, so I'm not sure where the hell these guys are coming in. I don't really want them living in my planter, though.
I don't know what type of ants they are, but I can tell you that they are small and a reddish color. They are DEFINITELY not fire ants, but they are a bit smaller than Argentine ants. I live in NE Texas, if that helps.
What can I use thats safe for pets (Mainly cats. We have a lot of friends in the neighborhood now that we have a kitty of our own that goes outside on a leash.) and my plants that will get rid of the ants?
beginning gardener,
garden pests: insects,
pesticide,
flowers