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  Ants! Every kind, Everywhere!
From: mburack at mindspring.com> on 2002.01.22 at 15:46:01(8033)
For those of you who dont grow plants in South Florida, I am doubtful that you could understand the "unreal" insect problem "we" deal with here.

I have been looking for a way to kill a lot! of ants without having to use serious pesticides (I save the serious stuff for the more "colorful" groups of pest insects).

Ants regularly invade and nest in every available pot I have and farm every miserable pest imaginable. Does anyone know of a good and fairly benign product that can be flooded on the plant as well as into the soil with good result?

Thanks

Marc

From: "Donald Burns" donburns at macconnect.com> on 2002.01.22 at 16:46:36(8034)
Marc,

Seems to me that the pest control guys down here use a common kitchen
chemical (white powder) such as Arm & Hammer stuff to fight hard shelled
insects. The last time we had a carpenter ant invasion, this stuff was used
along with some more toxic stuff. Wish I could remember what it was. I'm
sure someone else will know.

Don

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From: "john s. smolowe" johnsmolowe at pacbell.net> on 2002.01.23 at 03:21:13(8035)
off the record, there is a chinese product called "miracle ant chalk" that comes 2 three-inch sticks of white chalk per $2 yellow and orange cardboard box. it is not licensed and therefore not available from nurseries, but can be found
in chinatown groceries in major cities. it is said to contain pyrethrum or pyrethroids. works well indoors or on clay pots - just a single line across the ants column leads to the death of hundreds within hours. might be impractical on
dirt and probably not good to use if toddlers are around as it looks just like blackboard chalk.

john smolowe

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From: araceae at earthlink.net on 2002.01.23 at 03:23:23(8036)
Amdro.

>For those of you who dont grow plants in South Florida, I am
>doubtful that you could understand the "unreal" insect problem "we"
>deal with here.

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From: magrysbo at shu.edu on 2002.01.23 at 03:23:34(8037)
Boric acid. Mix a little into finely powdered sugar.
Bonaventure Magrys

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From: Jill Bell godjillab at home.com> on 2002.01.23 at 03:23:46(8038)
Hi,
It seems to me that I remember hearing something about Boric Acid. I could
be having a senior moment or something.....
Best Regards,
--
Jill Bell
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From: Dick Lutz rflutz at sover.net> on 2002.01.23 at 03:23:57(8039)
Borax

Borax does a very nasty job on ants. It also does a very nasty Job on soil,
either a highly toxic level of micro nutrient or the pH is drastically
altered. Use it in a place that the ants have to walk over it without it
getting into the soil. In Vermont we use it on ants that get into the
house.

Dick Lutz

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From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2002.01.23 at 15:01:29(8041)
Dear Friends,

I`ve been following this thread of messages, and it seems that we are making
too many generalities on 'ants'. Amdro does wonders on FIRE or RED ant
mounds in your yard, but NOT on the small 'white-footed' ants we find in our
Florida homes and kitchens. The WORST ant is the TINY yellow-orange ones
that infest the drain holes of my pots on benches, they are almost
microscopic in size and very slow moving, and when I place a pot on my thigh
as I stoop to remove leaves or weeds, they get on to my fleash, crawl
upwards, and then the stings/bites occor, and the itching is terrible, much
worse than a red or fire ant! The only 'cure' that I have found for these
is a quick squirt of aerosol ant-killer directly into the drain hole of the
pot. The ones that farm pests on plants and nest in pots are probably the
larger, very- fast-walking black pharo ants, and these are very difficult to
get rid of, I have found that for these and the smaller white-footed,
house-loving ants the thick (probably sweet) liquid sold at 'Lesco' and
other outlets called 'Terro' ant bait sometimes works. Boric acid mixed in
condensed milk would also be a possibility in killing these pests.

Cheers,

Julius

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From: mburack at mindspring.com> on 2002.01.23 at 16:36:33(8044)
I agree... I have borax products to made specifically to kill ants, but I sure wouldnt want it watering down into the pot.

Marc

aroid-l@mobot.org wrote:

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From: mburack at mindspring.com> on 2002.01.23 at 16:37:15(8045)
Dewey.. Amdro only kills fire ants (smile).. these arent.

aroid-l@mobot.org wrote:
> Amdro.

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From: mburack at mindspring.com> on 2002.01.23 at 16:37:27(8046)
This sounds interesting John (although it probably is a "formed" boric acid product). Dont you think there could be potential problems, when the ants eat stuff like this (and boric acid) then procede to go back into the nest in the pot and die. Now you have hundreds or thousands of dead ants decomposing all with boric acid content (or other poison) leeching into the soil???

aroid-l@mobot.org wrote:

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From: Durightmm at aol.com on 2002.01.23 at 18:39:46(8047)

Then asdd a heaping amount of Dursban  lol Joe

From: Krzysztof Kozminski kk at kozminski.com> on 2002.01.23 at 18:41:03(8050)
On Tue, 22 Jan 2002, john s. smolowe wrote:

> off the record, there is a chinese product called "miracle ant chalk"
> that comes 2 three-inch sticks of white chalk per $2 yellow and orange
> cardboard box. it is not licensed and therefore not available from
> nurseries, but can be found in chinatown groceries in major cities. it
> is said to contain pyrethrum or pyrethroids. works well indoors or on
> clay pots - just a single line across the ants column leads to the
> death of hundreds within hours. might be impractical on dirt and
> probably not good to use if toddlers are around as it looks just like
> blackboard chalk.

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From: Piabinha at aol.com on 2002.01.23 at 21:44:13(8053)
i tried this stuff years ago when people would swear by it for roaches. it didn't work. so not only is this stuff poisonous, it doesn't seem to work.

tsuh yang

From: magrysbo at shu.edu on 2002.01.24 at 04:18:57(8057)
Don't confuse these with the short dark brown sticks. Those are chocolate
covered ants.

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From: StellrJ at aol.com on 2002.01.24 at 14:21:17(8059)
In a message dated Wed, 23 Jan 2002 4:44:52 PM Eastern Standard Time, Piabinha@aol.com writes:

> i tried this stuff years ago when people would swear by it for roaches. it didn't work. so not only is this stuff poisonous, it doesn't seem to work.
>

Maybe that's because it isn't called Miracle Roach Chalk. A product designed for ants may legitimately be ineffective on roaches. To get back to the "homicidal" bit -- is any other chemical pesticide any safer around toddlers? Numerous household products can kill toddlers, but we do not say it is homicidal to use them for their intended purposes.

Jason Hernandez

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From: "sullivan" paulsull at sunline.net> on 2002.01.24 at 15:57:53(8065)
i use a product called terro foir the sugar ants that infest my potted
plants in Southwest Florida.
----- Original Message -----
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From: Piabinha at aol.com on 2002.01.24 at 18:29:05(8066)
In a message dated Thu, 24 Jan 2002 9:21:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, StellrJ@aol.com writes:

> Maybe that's because it isn't called Miracle Roach Chalk. A product designed for ants may legitimately be ineffective on roaches.

it's packaged as miracle chalk, and advertised as efficient in killing roaches.

tyc

From: "David Ruland" druland at atlantabotanicalgarden.org> on 2002.01.25 at 03:35:52(8069)
Greetings to all from atlanta. I have found in the past that soapy water
has rid my outdoor pots from fire ants and seems to have little effect
on the plants although I haven't used it on my aroids.

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