Viewing post #932275 by Brinybay

purpleinopp said:From what I've seen of them, ants of any kind in pots are bad. That looks like the kind commonly called "piss ants" around here. Their tunneling/nesting destroys the soil structure/drainage in pots, as well as bringing pests to plants, as mentioned above, including the insidious and impossible to see root mealybugs. I have been battling ants for years in potted plants (which I have over 100 of, some years,) and they are my primary nemesis to having plants do well. They seem to prefer some pots over others, but I can't find the key to what the difference is.

If you can follow their trail to their ground nest, pouring boiling water on that will kill a LOT of them.

When I was in military training in Louisiana, some guys called fire ants piss ants. We don't have them in the NW, but if they're carpenter ants, that gives me equal, maybe more concern because our house it old, last thing we need is ants chewing on it!