Thinking about plant protection.. some questions came to mind

12 years ago

I have been out of commission for the last few weeks and I'm still recovering from a 4 1/2 hr sinus surgery at Univ.of Miami. I haven't been able to go into the yard to check on my trees until today. I found most of my potted trees are majorly infested with ants. This could be a serious problem because they could never be brought inside of my house like this should a hurricane or a winter freeze be in the forecast.

1. Could these ants be causing any adverse issues to my trees/plants?

2. Are there any benefits of the ants being therw that would be worth leaving them alone?

3. If it is best to get rid of them....what is the safest way as not to stress my trees/plants?

AND

4. Is anyone aware of some type of respirator type mask useful to wear while in the garden and where I could buy one? (I am barely 2 weeks post op so that could be the reason why I felt so uncomfortable when I went out there for a while. I think with my severe allergies to molds and mango pollen and God knows what else it would make my gardening life much easier if I made an attempt to protect my messed up sinuses as much as possible. This 4th surgery just about killed me but I love my fruit trees!)

Thank you fellow fruit enthusiasts

Comment (1)

red_sea_me
12 years ago
Good luck with your recovery Marin, I've heard horror stories about nasal surgery. To offer my 2cents,
1. Kill the ants, they spread various types of scale and are a nuisance when you try to bring your pots into the GH or worse the home.
2. Kill the ants.
3. Did I mention kill the ants? Find out where their nest is (in your pots) and soak those suckers. I've been using Bayer spray lately and it seems to work OK. I use it to spray a line around my house and garage and now have a kill on sight policy towards those little buggers. If I come across a nest or a trail to follow back to the nest, I will stop almost whatever I'm doing to douse them.
4. While at the box store buying poison to kill the ants, check on masks, maybe in the paint dept? I've seen them from simple surgical mask with filter inserts to serious canister type with micron filtration, carbon, etc. It might get pretty miserable wearing to heavy of a mask around in you heat and humidity. 'Course you could just get a bubble suit so at least it is air conditioned?

Did I mention, kill the ants?
best wishes,
-Ethan
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