Houseplants - Ants
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  (October) HELP!!! I have ants in my plants! And in the yard! They are all over my yard, front and back, a huge colony of itty bitty black ants that just will not go away. I have tried the Grants ant stakes and the Terro ant drops, but they just pack up their little ant suitcases, tuck a brat under one arm and move somewhere else! I need something to use in the yard to kill them once and for all. I also have a problem with them getting into my outside houseplants that will soon be brought into the house. They really like my ferns and my Christmas cactus. Last February, I went to water my X Mess cactus and ants just poured out. My plant had been in the house since October. Is there anything I can use to kill the ants inside without harming my plants?

  Two different solutions. For the yard find a broad spectrum granular insecticide and broadcast it. Permethrin is the most common active ingredient and there are various trade names. You don't want to treat individual ant mounds, since you may not get them all and they will set up housekeeping elsewhere. For your houseplants, use a water soluble insecticide and after a good drink with plain water, water the pots with the insecticide. Insecticidal soap, permethrin or houseplant insecticide should work. Read and follow the label directions. Not all plants will be listed, so you may want to do a test before dousing all your plants. Ferns in particular can be susceptible to insecticides. Cleaning the pots and spraying down the outside of the pots as well as the drainage dishes can also help. You can also immerse the pots in water for a few seconds and then let them drain-this often flushes out the ants.

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