I've noticed lots of ants on my sunflowers recently. I see that I have an infestation. I've tried hot pepper spray mixed with anti-bacterial soap and water, with mild effectiveness. Anyone have a good idea? I've also noticed what appears to be dirt (!!??) stuck between stems and stocks. Is this from the ants too? I havn't seen this before....

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), July 14, 2001

Answers

Maybe Rotedone would do it? It's a powder that you dust over your plant. (I think you can get it as a spray, too). I got rid of a horrid infestation of cucumber beetles with it this summer, very quickly, too. It is organic, derived from some flower from some island in the pacific. Non-toxic to humans. Maybe someone else on the forum can confirm that Rotedone would work for Aphids? Good luck, Marty :) emily-jane

-- emily jane jenkins (emilyjanejenkins@hotmail.com), July 14, 2001.

I used a mix of cinnomim and water to keep ants away from my plum trees and it worked nicely (they don't like the aroma). Maybe a little sprinkled as a barrier around the flowers will help.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 14, 2001.

Organic is not necessarily harmless. Cyanide is organic, cobra venom is organic, curare is organic, digitalis is organic. Now, organic may be useful (three of those can be, and they're working on cobra venom; but they're not necessarily harmless. There are indications that rotenone may (just in laboratory rats so far) cause Parkinson's disease. It's certainly a powerful nerve poison in fish. Incidentally, rotenone comes from plants that grow in Australia, Papua-New Guinea, and the Micronesian islands.

Try tracing the ants back to their nests, then pouring boiling water down them. At least you can be sure any damage that does will be strictly localised, and it works 100%. You may not find them all at first, but you'll sure be thinning them out, and it will then be easier to trace the others.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 14, 2001.

Insecticidal soap always worked for me (even Wally World carries it, under the Concern label). A dusting with DE might help too. One thought - a strong blast of water from a nozzled hose would probably knock them plumb off the plants, if you have the time and patience to be thourough (and have someone who doesn't mind getting splashed to support the plants against the force of the water while you're spraying - a good job for a hot and tired family member after a long hard day doing something hot and nasty).

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), July 14, 2001.

Ants will herd aphids. Aphids get the sugar from the plant and ants get the sugar from the aphids.

You need ladybugs to eat the aphids and to use DE on the ants.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), July 14, 2001.

I had no idea rotenone had been linked to Parkinson's disease. This is the first year that I've attempted to garden organically, and I found rotenone listed on an on-line list of organic solutions. They even said (on the box) that it could be used right up to a day before harvesting! Thanks for the info, Don, I'm going to do a bit more research before I use it again. emily jane

-- emily jane jenkins (emilyjanejenkins@hotmail.com), July 15, 2001.