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aaamy_gw

Fire Ants in my potted hibiscus!!!

aaamy
13 years ago

My poor hibiscus! First it was the droves of grasshoppers and now the pot is one big fire ant colony! I noticed it a couple of weeks ago and sprinkled some amdro on top of the soil. A couple of days later I checked it and there were not any signs of ants....or so I thought! A few days ago, we had some really bad wind so I moved it underneath the porch. I went to move it back today only to find a ton of fire ants underneath the pot. I pulled the whole thing (plant & soil) out of the pot and sure enough, they are now living in the bottom half of the pot. I put some more amdro in the bottom, put the plant back in, and sprinkled more on top. Does anyone have any suggestions?!!? I really need to bring it in for the winter but can't until I am sure all of the ants are gone!!!

Comments (3)

  • beachbarbie
    13 years ago

    It sounds like you're on the right road. When it was in its original location, the ants were probably in the ground, so sprinkling on the top only killed some.
    Other than completely changing the soil along with adding Amdro, I think you've done the best you can.
    If you're in a similar zone 8 as around here, you shouldn't have to bring your hibiscus in for several weeks.
    Barb

  • aaamy
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks Barb! The amdro has not helped :( It's suppose to be down in the 20's at the end of this week so I have brought all my other hibs in but this one! I am going to try plan b...remove as much of the soil as I can (w/o damaging the roots of course!) and totally repot it. Including a little amdro in the new potting soil just in case! Even though it's full of fire ants, it's still just blooming away!
    Thanks for the feedback!
    -A

  • princealbert
    13 years ago

    aaamy,
    If you have a tub bigger than the pot put the pot in and water it to full saturation, standing water over your pot.
    leave it for a couple of days. It shouldn't hurt the Hib iscus but it will drive/drown the ants out. That's how I do it.
    pa

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