rockm
Spuds Moyogi
yeah, at least I don't have fire ants, crazy ants, etc. up here (but knock wood, they're close). Fire ants are the WORST.
Aphids? How to get rid of them?
- Thread starter szxnx
- Start date
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Yep. I had one particular fire ant bite on my calf that just won't heal after 2 years. I have an appointment with a dermatologist to cut the bite area off so it can heal soon.
Kadebe
Chumono
And strawberry.... if you have strawberry in your garden.... in no time the ants will colonize the plant
GGB
Masterpiece
I guess that's the cost of living in paradise. I can watch those little guys for hours, they're harmless here. But in my area if you are wounded and can't move the temperature could end you haha
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Flowerhouse
Chumono
LOL. See, in my yard it's rocks. If you have rocks ants will make nests under them.
ShadyStump
Imperial Masterpiece
Yesterday I discovered ants making themselves at home in my bay tree. Just the little sugar ants, not the big red ants we often have issues with around here.
I've successfully used tobacco tea on about everything. CAUTION: Using nicotine is essentially a carpet bombing operation. It works on anything with a nervousystem, even beneficial things like bees and ladybugs and earthworms. I recommend isolating the plant away from everything else when doing this. I've seen no evidence that it's harmful to microbial life.
Just a heaping spoonful of the cheapest tobacco you can find soaked overnight or steeped hot to a quart or so of water, add a few drops of alcohol to kill any virus or what not that could possibly be transferred to other plants, and a couple drops of dish soap as a surfactant. Strain it to get the chunks out- I use a coffee filter. Use a spray bottle to apply to the above ground parts of the plant, and then water the soil with it too to get anything that might be living in there.
I sometimes do it when my tropicals come in for the winter, and again before they go out in spring, and occasionally in between if I discover I missed something. I also toss a few cigarette butts in my rain barrels on occasion to keep mosquito larvae from thriving in them, or sprinkle just the straight dry tobacco on the top of the soil so it works there when I water.
I've successfully used tobacco tea on about everything. CAUTION: Using nicotine is essentially a carpet bombing operation. It works on anything with a nervousystem, even beneficial things like bees and ladybugs and earthworms. I recommend isolating the plant away from everything else when doing this. I've seen no evidence that it's harmful to microbial life.
Just a heaping spoonful of the cheapest tobacco you can find soaked overnight or steeped hot to a quart or so of water, add a few drops of alcohol to kill any virus or what not that could possibly be transferred to other plants, and a couple drops of dish soap as a surfactant. Strain it to get the chunks out- I use a coffee filter. Use a spray bottle to apply to the above ground parts of the plant, and then water the soil with it too to get anything that might be living in there.
I sometimes do it when my tropicals come in for the winter, and again before they go out in spring, and occasionally in between if I discover I missed something. I also toss a few cigarette butts in my rain barrels on occasion to keep mosquito larvae from thriving in them, or sprinkle just the straight dry tobacco on the top of the soil so it works there when I water.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
Almost everything is a possible carcinogenic, especially if you feed it to rats that are bred to be predisposed to develop cancer. There is nothing wrong with the responsible use of chemicals. Read the lablel, follow the directions, don"t get it on you.
Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
First, that is not funny, if that is what you were trying to be. My Dad, a Vietnam Vet, suffers daily from the exposure to Agent Orange. He is in his 80's.
Second, if you actually knew anything about Agent Orange, you would know that it is a herbicide, not an insecticide. it was used as a jungle defoliant during the war, not to help the locals out with an aphid problem.
Third, as you mentioned in an earlier post, YES, you should be avoiding harsh chemicals at all costs, if you don't know the difference.
szxnx
Sapling
Little update for everyone:
Nature has a great way of balancing things out
Funny how this exact thing just happened to me. Checked it in the morning and two lady bug larvae were enjoying a feast last night it seems.
Nature has a great way of balancing things out
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
Ants are awesome. Much smarter than many people I have met. The live everywhere except Antarctica.
E.O. Wilson ( no longer with us) wrote extensively about them.
E.O. Wilson ( no longer with us) wrote extensively about them.
szxnx
Sapling
Another interesting things is how leaf cutter (iirc) ants farm fungus for food and use leaves as fertilizer. Incredible isn't it?
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
Literally volumes about ants most people don't know.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Yep. You don't know how huge an empire they have underground until you see a 25 ft long raft of them hanging together in the hurricane flood water or you see them marching along ịn 3-4 ft wide formation.
Rowbow
Sapling
Try rhubarb leaf tea?
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Reckon this is a lacewing larvae finishing the job now.
Sorce
Sorce
