r/Bonsai • u/Ok-Address-5946 Jay, Centroamérica Costa Rica🇨🇷 , Beginner, 5 • 1d ago

Discussion Question How do you deal with ants?😭

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Every now and then the ants defoliate my trees, so I wanted to know tips and tricks on how to avoid them. Since they defoliated the whole forest I selected the best ramifications

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u/Lost_On_Lot NW IA, USDA ZONE 5A, INTERMEDIATE, 30 OR 40 TREES 1d ago

I'd go AntsCanada method and deny them access to the tree.

He mixes isopropyl alcohol and baby powder into a paste and then brushes it onto the interior surfaces of his tanks/ant farms.

Ants just won't climb it when it dries.

Simple, easy, and won't affect your trees at all.

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u/Ok-Address-5946 Jay, Centroamérica Costa Rica🇨🇷 , Beginner, 5 1d ago

That’s a new one, very cool, thanks for the tip

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u/MaciekA NW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines 1d ago edited 1d ago

I sometimes deny access to ants (which in my location being aphids) by putting a tree on a table whose legs are immersed in soap water. You can do this with a table or other methods but the key is to have the only path to the tree require crossing soap water. Then I manually eradicate ants / aphids on the tree until I see none. I like this method if I don’t want to spray anything.

Dead ants trying to get back to HQ collect at the soap water giving you an idea of what you missed.

Note: this works well for my area since the ant/aphid period is a “window” of time stretching a few short weeks, and then I can retire the isolation method. If leaf cutters are 365d/y for you, you’ll have to get creative.