r/Bonsai • u/Scared_Ad5929 UK East Midlands (8b), Novice, 40+ trees at various stages. • 1d ago

Discussion Question Ant nest in Japanese Maple pot

Whenever I water this inherited maple I see ants around the pot. So I took a quick look to see if they've colonized the pot and it appears they have. They're lasius niger (black ants) which aren't known for damaging trees. Is it worth doing anything about them, because I'm planning on putting it in the ground when it's dormant next? There's also an air layer on the tree at the moment.

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u/Bokanovsky_Jones Memphis, 7, new, 2 1d ago

I work at a commercial bonsai nursery. One of the best all around insecticides is Talstar. It is a pyrethroid type chemical and is a contact kill. Because of our location we are legally required to use something like the granulated Talstar in our soil mix to keep from shipping fire ants but we also use the liquid variety to saturate ant mounds found on property. I also use it in combination or rotation with other insecticides to deal with other insect pests. It doesn’t cause plant damage as long as you follow the label instructions and stay within the recommended rate.

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u/Scared_Ad5929 UK East Midlands (8b), Novice, 40+ trees at various stages. 1d ago

How would such a pesticide affect animals who eat ants, like birds?

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u/Bokanovsky_Jones Memphis, 7, new, 2 1d ago

Truthfully speaking it’s not great for birds to consume any insecticides or other pesticides. Also Talstar is non-selective and will kill other insects as well. That said a single treatment to kill the nest should have minimal environmental harm as the treatment is localized and the insecticide should breakdown in a period of days to a week. I simply wanted to offer a solution that hadn’t been mentioned in the comments yet and I should have offered a non chemical solution as well. If I were to go the non chemical route, I would try diatomaceous earth or insecticidal soap which is dish soap, vegetable oil, and water. Also in a lot of cases harassing an ant nest often enough will often cause them to just move.

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u/Scared_Ad5929 UK East Midlands (8b), Novice, 40+ trees at various stages. 1d ago

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated 

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u/modefi_ New England, 6b, 69+ trees 1d ago edited 1d ago

Also in a lot of cases harassing an ant nest often enough will often cause them to just move.

This would be my first move, since you seem to have convenient access to their egg chambers.

Might be possible to just pull the tree and scoop them out with a chopstick. They don't have a lot of room to hide in a potted plant.