Keep ANTS OFF FRUIT TREES With Three Simple Tricks
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- It can be a challenge to keep ants off fruit trees for many gardeners. Ants have a keen sense of smell, so once they find a source of food, ant control can be difficult. This video will show you how to get rid of ants by creating an ant barrier around the fruit trees in your garden using organic pest control methods. The three simple tricks shown in this video eliminated the ant problem in my garden and have provided total garden ant control. I have not had an ant on my fruit trees since, and they may help you keep ants out of the garden, too!
The gardening tips in this video work on fruit trees in ground, fruit trees in pots and fruit trees in containers, so even ants in potted plants can be repelled.
In this video, I show you how to use coffee grounds and diatomaceous earth as ant repellent to keep ants away from plants and keep ants away from your garden. In addition, an ingenious third tip provides insect control for longer periods of time.
These ant repellent tips will help keep ants out of the garden and off fruit trees when applied regularly. If you have any questions about insect control, how to get rid of insects, or any questions about gardening in general, please ask them in the comments below!
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@Stauriko-Linny • 99 years and hopefully you found the content helpful.
I subscribed to your channel. Thanks for the useful content.
How do you keep ants off sugar baby melons vines I notice them alot
I’ve been watching your channel for some time now. I would not have my tiny orchard if not for the information you’ve given out. 🙏 Thank you
The tape trick is the most effective thing I've used over the years and some 700+ trees. I don't know about the packing tape though. I'll have to give it a try. I always use painters tape and wrap it more so that the ants get stuck on the tape so its tight fitting and a large area maybe 8-10" wide. Also the painters tape easily breaks as the tree grows and won't suffocate the tree. Works amazing for catching and stopping aphid farming.
How about a band of Vaseline on the trunk? Haven't had to try it but some say it stops ants, my pest problems are much less than most see to have.
@@Mrbfgray it will kill the tree unless foil or some other protective barrier is first used under it.
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Tom Scott
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I live in Australia in a Small Country town , just out of Mudgee (NSW)..I recently planted a number of Citrus trees on our Property and not long after planting I started noticing my Mandarin and lemon trees were getting attacked by ants..they especially liked to move up the stems towards the younger smaller leaves at the top of these trees.. The ants were then somehow rolling these younger leaves into a tube and were living inside these rolled leaves by the thousands. I've tried many different ways of getting rid of these ants but they just continue to come back..but after reading and watching your video on this problem I am happy to say that I am now getting on top of my ant problem..I found using your idea of the packing tape wrapped around the tree's stems base was a very successful way of dealing with my ant problem
That is awesome! It's such a simple sounding thing, but for some reason, the ants just don't want to cross that barrier. It's almost unbelievable until you witness it with your own eyes. You may want to check your citrus trees for aphids. Aphids are soft-bodied, green insects that often hide underneath citrus leaves. They excrete a sweet sap and ants are very attractive to them. They're known to colonize around the aphids and protect them as a source of food. Treating with a natural insecticide like pyrethrin or spinosad will wipe them out after a couple of treatments. Make sure to spray at night, not during the day because sun can react with the oils in the pesticides and burn your trees.
I used the tape trick but the ants did make it onto the tape. The tape was sticky enough to stop them but only for a short while. Dust very quickly stuck to the tape and it lost its tackiness. I solved the problem by giving the tape a coating of Vaseline. (petroleum jelly) It traps what few ants try to cross it and is easy to reapply when necessary.
A cone above your tape keeps
Dryness
Try grease
Yep...thats what i was going to suggest...i used masking tape before...went up one way ...turned it around and came back down facing the sticky side out and then smeared vaseline on it and it works for ages but it does go ugly(the tape)combine the cellotape and do reasonably tight and then go vaseline on top...because the tape wont stay sticky for long and it wont leave an ugly mess on the trunk...i think i will try to combine the two......if using a pot....u can put pot on pot feet.....ants will often go into dry mixes from below and put a light smear of vaseline around the edge of pot as well......that should keep them out....good luck.
Tanglefoot insect barrier. In early spring the ants will eat the fruit blossoms which means no fruit on your trees. I know this happens in the northwest with fire ants.
@@mikenewell9217 Hi Mike. Thanks for the idea. I used it but took it one step farther.
I made a cone out of stiff clear plastic, flexible enough to make the cone but stiff enough not to collapse in the rain. I taped it to the tree trunk making sure I left no gaps for the ants to get through. Because it was plastic, I was able to spread petroleum jelly on the inside of the cone and do away with the tape entirely. Now the little buggers have to make it down the greasy sides of the cone before having to maneuver themselves to the outside of it. So far it's working just fine even though it is ugly. Next time, I'll try to find some opaque plastic. LOL
Ants also 'Herd" Aphids! They will tickle them and the Aphids produce dew or some sort of juice/fluid. The Ants gather this for food! Essentially they use the Aphids like Cattle!
Hi, I put tape around the truck of my tree at first it looked like it was working but after a few days I noticed pieces of grit/dirt spanning across the tape. Eventually the ants had built a bridge across the tape with it, which allowed access to rest of the tree. They are so amazingly clever and determined, wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen for myself.
This story made me LOL. I've seen them do some wildly clever things too.
Yes, i can imagine that happening. I try to protect one plant at home, placed it on an elevation inside a bowl of water with washing detergent, the ants are still getting in, probably sliding on the water, horrible
I appreciate how you clearly explained, and demonstrated all steps. Thank you. please keep making those videos.
Thanks for watching!
Diatomaceous earth is not crushed mineral dust. It is the glass-like fossil skeletons of ancient diatoms (one-celled aquatic organisms).
Other than that, what you said about DE is correct.
By the way, diatomaceous earth is a fine enough dust that it can be inhaled into your lungs and cause silicosis, so when you apply it, it’s best to wear a respirator, or at least a dust mask.
Absolutely right. Greetings, fellow nerd.
It's fascinating to look at images of DE under a microscope. Complex forms, not just crystals
What about using food grade DE?
@@fatimaariza1596 same thing. Crystals and angles means microscopic razor blades. I won't use it for anything, especially not in soil.
@@downbntoutI've heard that its completely harmless unless you have an exoskeleton. Is that not true?
Love your 3 steps to rid ants. I was already using diamacious earth but didn't know abt pkg'ing tape or coffee. I will definitely try that around my blueberry bush. Thank you. Have a blessed day 🌈🙏🌈
I’ve got ants on my pear tree. Going to apply the coffee grounds and diatomaceous earth. The tape stopped them for a day or two but now they just walk over it happily. Great tips.
Don't know if it is bad or not but I have successfully put a layer of vaseline in a ring around the base of the tree and it lasts a really long time.
Here’s another good trick.
Use the tape as with the sticky side towards the tree. Then smear petroleum jelly all over the surface of the tape. Stops them every time and you don’t need coffee grounds and diatomaceous earth (and it’s water proof). I should mention these are smaller brown ants. Have never lived where red ants are around.
I had an ant infestation in my house and did the Vaseline thing on the metal legs of my kitchen table. It kept them out of our food til I got rid of the ants ( Terro ant bait).
Thanks for info
Thanks for sharing these valuable information. I also wish to add up that besides petroleum jelly, greasing the trunk of the tree plays the trick very well. And this prevents even bigger ants and other insects from climbing over to the fruiting branches.
I used Vaseline last year on the trunk and major branches of an apricot tree after the fire (Red) ants discovered the fruit. No additional ants came after that day. I sprinkled DE on the ants and branches they already were on.
@@YSLRD Terro Ant Bait traps are no joke. Both the in-house and the out door.
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I have a fruit tree that has been attacked by ants year after year and I didn’t know what to do but now I do. Be blessed
I find your videos among the best instructional gardening videos on YT. Thank you for dedicating your time to your passion and sharing what you’ve discovered\learned with us. I’ve had big ant fruit issues and am excited to use these mitigations against them.
Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words. I'm glad the videos are helpful.
I use orange oil based furniture polish as a repellant/scent mask. I had terrible problems with ants overwhelming my hummingbird feeders but a little spray on the support post stopped them completely! It also works sprayed on the trunk of a fruit tree and because it is oil-based it is resistant to rain. It does need reapplication occasionally as it will degrade with time and sunlight (I do it about once every month in summer).
That's interesting. I've heard similar results with peppermint oil and oil blended with cayenne pepper. It all comes down to the rain in your climate, though, as you mentioned. They can be washed away easily, and in climates like mine where it can rain every day in the summers, I'm pretty desperate to find tricks that last during and after rain.
You explain things so well. I'm a new subscriber and I'm learning a ton. You mentioned you have to reapply the coffee grounds and diatomaceous earth if it rains, but how do you go about water the tree when you have applied these things?
Thanks! Generally, it rains so much where I live in the summer that I do not need to water any of my in-ground trees. If you live in a location where you have to water your in-ground trees, keep in mind the root zone sticks out several feet. You can place the coffee grounds and DE around the trunks in a 12 inch circle and run your drip lines 18 inches away from the tree. The roots will easily find the water.
I've been doing the coffee ground s because my grandma always did, but even with many grounds around my lime tree, I've seen no reduction in the ant traffic.
Yesterday I laid down a sugar borax trap and, WOW! Action to the traps right away.
Monitoring now.
Beloved, how can anyone NOT love this guy? He is sooo my new best friend.
Thanks for watching!
Great tips! Yes that make sense. I am excited to try that. I love to listen to your speech. It’s always very clear and organized! Nothing more nothing less is needed in your talk. You are a natural born teacher . Question: when you put your dog tree from pot to ground, what size of hole do you dig? What kind stuff (soil mulch fertilizer?) will you put in the hole alone with your potted soil? And do you put in at first year or wait for them grow in pot for few years? Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. When I dig a hole for my trees, I dig them 3-4 times larger than what is needed, maybe even more, to break up the soil around the area, then backfill it to the necessary size. IF you have time, I have a detailed video on planting fig trees here: ua-cam.com/video/V7PJ0u1EDeE/v-deo.html
You can apply this method to almost any tree.
@@TheMillennialGardener Perfect, I just watched it. and found more links below. Thank you so much!
New subscriber.new gardener.i got my 1st harvest of peaches weeks ago & the ants had a field day. Thanks for the gr8 tips.i will try these tips
Hopefully it helps your situation! Thanks for watching.
Thank you for this video. I have been trying to get ants aways from the cherry tree and grape vines.
I use the Diamataceuos Earth but my irrigation often washes it away. I am going to use the coffee grounds and tape method now as well.
Great tips! My dad uses the collar method. Works wonderfully. DE and coffee grounds, 💪👍
The visual of your description is great!
Thank you! I appreciate it. Glad it was helpful.
Thank you so much for sharing , sounds great , I’m going to try it immediately .
Thanks for watching!
Thanks you ,I was going to give you on one of my fruit tree too much ants in the fruits and it turn black then from full as they ripens,you've been a great help.
Thank you for such awesome tips & info! I love your videos, they are SO helpful. Thank you so much for the videos, your time & sharing your knowlege.
Excellent non-toxic advice to prevent ants infestation on my fruit trees. Will try it Kudos for video. New subscriber. Anticipating next one. Peace
Thanks for subscribing! I appreciate it.
I make a cone out of cardboard to wrap around the tree trunk hold it in place with tape then and add the diatomaceous earth.
I can’t wait to start this next year!! THANK YOU!
Would these 3 things work to get them off if they have already started enjoying your fruit trees(peach for me)?
THANK YOU for your input abut stopping Ants
Wrapping fly paper around the trunk works really well, too. It also stops tent caterpillars.
I like that idea! Does it hold up in the rain? Seems logical.
1. Coffee Grounds - masks scent
2. Diatomaceous earth - grinds their joints, kills them, but washes away with rain
3. Wrap trunk with packing tape, sticky side out.
How to? Starts at 7:56.
You’re welcome.
Lol I came here to post a TL;DR. Guess ya beat me to it! On behalf of ADHD gardners everywhere.. thank you.
Would sand help? I have heard it cuts the aunt's exoskeleton causing its death.
Tania L. Williamson why do ppl do this? I think it’s rude...I found his video very informative.
Thanks
I have lizards so I can't do the tape
Very ingenious and I actually already have all three items for the tricks on my homestead.
I'm going to try your tips on my jujube trees to try to keep the ants from eating the leaves and the few remaining fruit. Thank you for the tips!
Thanks for watching!
Great presentation, visuals, and audio! I am also careful to wash my hands after working with diatomaceous earth, and I wear a breathing mask and eye protection while working with diatomaceous earth if it is dusty.
Food grade d e ? Why are you so afraid, you can eat it or feed it to your dog. They use it in grain storage so the bugs don't eat the grain. Don't use the kind that's used for pool filters though, and don't throw it in the air and make a dust cloud. I've used it for over 20 years. Ants won't cross over it.
I would recommend fruit tree grease band. It serves the same purpose as the packing tape except it's more weatherproof and it has stronger glue. Another option is using something like Tanglefoot insect barrier.
I used something similar to tangle foot it came in a tub, the tangle foot comes in a tube for a caulking gun in my pat of the world. Red vinyl flagging tape with the sticky stuff painted on works it is super effective. U can even encircle the pot with it to keep them from setting up camp in soil.
Be really careful with tanglefoot! We removed the tape in early spring and the bark was badly damaged. Quite a bit of it fell off. We are praying that it does not kill the tree. It blossomed and has set a lot of fruit, but the leaves are blistering and look diseased. So incredibly disappointing!
excellent presentation. To the point and focused. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Hi. Hope your day is going well. Plant onions and garlic around all of your fruit trees. My family has done this for generations, and it helps tremendously with all kinds of insects including ants.
Thanks ua-cam.com/video/vN9GR6xRw24/v-deo.html
Thank you 😊
I love your concise explanations. Excellent trick!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
Orange oil and water on the mound works wonders. Kills the whole mound at one time. 1-2 oz. per gallon, 2.5 gallons per mound.
It don't work on Florida fire ants, I tried it several time.
@@freddypatterson8653 Bummer. It worked in my garden. Did you try increasing the concentration? If that does not work, I hear dry molasses works, but I never tried it.
I've poured 2 qts boing water on ant mound. Only one time did I have to repeat it twice. I like all the great info here, THX !
@@scoop2591 Yeah, boiling water works, but it can be dangerous. Best to have one of those outdoor propane burners so you don't have to carry it too far.
Have a beautiful fig tree out in the desert -thanks for the excellent tutorial!!
Thanks for sharing. It's very helpful. By the way what happened when I water the tree ? Do I have to apply the diatomaceous again?
hey, i tried putting vaseline on the trunk like what you did with the tape... seems to work too!
I just love your 3 treatnents/guard for ants.🙂
Glad to hear it. I appreciate you watching!
Much thanks!!! Very informative!!!
My neighbor's new Peachtree has many ants and I have packing tape and I will help him.
Thanks I don't have coffee grounds
Thanks and your videos was informative and you are a confident speaker.
Thanks
Thanks for watching!
Great advice, thank you! This year (in UK) many of my flower and vegetable plants, especially the leaves and growing ends are infested with black ants. It will be tricky to wrap with packing tape. I am attracted to using DIATOMACEOUS earth (will have to search where to find it). Please advise if it safe to use on tender end of vegetable and flower plants.
Hi Shuja, I am not sure if you get a notice if someone replies to your comment. Just in case you do I am rewriting my comment to this video. Mix sugar syrup with boracic powder and apply this wherever you see a trail of ants. Because it is so sweet they will take it to their queen. It will sterilize her. After a couple of days your ant problem will be solved.
This was one of the most informative videos ever, fascinating to learn. Thank you!
Heather Uva thank you. Thanks for watching!
Thanks so very much! Immediately ran out to my young apple tree, crawling with ants, and emptied the coffee machine grounds. Found packing tape. Tomorrow I will buy the diatomaceous earth. I am so happy I came across your video.
Let me know how it works for you. If you have a problem with ant hills everywhere, I recommend also purchasing an ant bait product that is designed to kill the queen. I recommend both an offensive and defensive strategy. Protect your trees with the defensive strategies in this video, and treat your lawn with bifenthrin granules and target ant colonies with ant bait to reduce the population as much as possible.
An update: the coffee grounds worked, the packing tape didn't in my case. I didn't use diamotaceous earth because I have two small dogs sniffing around everything. Very few ants after coffee grounds and I put them out daily.
Interesting!My banana,mango trees were attracted by ants.I'try your 3 tips to rid off ants.
I'm going to try your methods on a ninebark shrub I'm growing in tree form.
Plagued with ants in the past, it was just this year I found a couple big black birds rifling through the mulch. Well, the mulch is totally mixed with the soil or ants did it. It sickens me to think there are that many ants around a non-fruiting tree.
*Great video and content. Thank you for sharing. Diatomaceous earth also supplies the plants some supplemental silica - which helps cell development, nutrient uptake, and vigor. Word is it makes plants less palatable to pests as well.*
Since it is made of sedimentary rock, I would assume it adds some kind of nutrient value. I certainly wouldn't consider it fertilizer, but it probably adds some value. Thanks for watching!
I heard that it kills natural bacteria in the soil.
@@swannoir7949 *DE is natural occuring and derived from fossilized water plants etc. It is my underatanding that it will not harm beneficial microorganisms in the soil - especially when dusted onto onto plants or soil surface etc where these specific garden pests come in contact with it. I have seen no harm come to any of my plants and they Thriving. I use DE occasionally as needed. Once per year or every other year. Some utilize it much more frequently than myself. As with anything I would not recommend disbursing an excessive amount in any one area.*
@@Kinjo2008 But there are two kinds of DE -- one is food-grade DE. Is that the DE you use? Because it's the non-food-grade one that is the concern.
@@swannoir7949 *Understood and a fair point. I only use food grade DE for garden use.*
Good information for dealing with ants.Thanks. Nice shade cover on Dale's bed!
DE Porter thanks for watching! Dale has it made in the shade, literally.
Thanks for those amazing tips! Happy gardening...
You are welcome!
Thanks for the tip. I have an ant infested papaya tree & will try the coffee ground & packing tape solutions. Glad to have stumbled across your channel. A new subscriber here.
Thank you so much for subscribing! I appreciate it!
Great topic as I notice ants are harvesting on my mango seedling trees .....good points......only concern is that the sticky tape will kill all small lizards as their feet get stuck ......lizards are great for natural bug control ......
Yes, lizards are great but won't eat an ant unless it has wings as we see fa few times a year. They seem to see the difference between an ant and another insect of the same size from half a meter distance. Wonderful to watch them ( Portugal)
Seems like Vaseline or wax would be a better bet.
wrap trunk with paper tape. Cover paper tape with pine tar. Keeps caterpillars out too.
Called Tanglefoot.
Caterpillars eggs are laid by moths and butterfly or the white ones that resemble butterfly’s
Thank you for your good information. I hope your tips will also work on my fig trees here in Korea. I'll try them to my trees from this year.
Thanks for watching! Best of luck.
Great video, very good explanation and then demonstration was super helpful
Ant wars help too. Introducing one colony to another, via shovel.
One idea is with the collar... You know bandage ace wraps? The kind for sprained ankles, etc.? It stretches. So if you place it on the trunk and place the tape on it, without overlapping the tape, it will add protection, without girdling the trees. To keep a consistent ring, place two rings (one on top of the other).
I read that applying a coating of vaselin around the tree trunk works as well
Ady Lee I would imagine that could work, but we get a lot of rain here in the southeast. I was trying to find a solution that I don’t have to reapply every rainstorm. So far, this has held up to the rain.
Thank you so much for that advice I've got heaps of coffee grounds which I get from a local coffeehouse house. I've got DE which I get from the local produce for my chooks, and packing tape I also have. So I will take up your advice and use these things. I'm impressed with your delivery, as some waffle on 2 to 3 minutes and say absolutely nothing. Where as you are to the point and very concise as I said you before thank you very much. I do not know if this is true but I read where if you put espresso coffee grounds on the ground, it will kill slugs and snails I giving them a heart attack. The temperature is that hot where I live we do not have those two pests. We makeup for it I having cane toads and fire ants which were both imported. The cane toads we're boarding to Australia for the cane Beatles. The toads have done irreparable damage by other animals and birds eating them and dying. The fire ants were accidentally introduced about 25 to 30 years ago
Thank you, I'm glad you like the delivery. I spend a lot of time editing myself to get to the point. Regarding your problem with snails and slugs, I suggest checking out my Amazon Storefront in the Pest Control section. I'm not sure if you can order from it given you're in Australia and I'm in the US, but it will at least show you the sample product called Snail Bait. The active ingredient is iron phosphate. Iron phosphate is very attractive to slugs and snails. They eat it and their insides rupture and they die. The best part is you just sprinkle it around your plants and you don't have to worry about harming any pollinators or good flying insects since it involves no spraying.
This is a great channel. Thank you very much.. I started a figs business last year and I am caring for 270 fig trees; Please accept my sincere thanks for the excellent information and knowledge you share with use I learned so much from you.
Regards,
Maalim
Saudi Arabia
That is so great to hear! Best of luck with all your trees. And thank you for watching!
Excellent video and tips thank you.
One thing I do is put little dishes of honey and yeast around the garden. The ants take it back to the nest and the yeast makes the larvae burst, thus destroying the nest future. Quite effective at reducing ant numbers and harmless to other creatures.
Interesting. I found a great ant bait product from Andro, but it's quite toxic. It does work well, though...ants where I live are relentless because my yard is basically on top of beach sand.
❤👍👍
Brewers yeast or bread making yeast??? Great suggestion. I will definitely try this....just curious which type of yeast.
@@annfairfax9797 I always used simple sachets of yeast from the supermarket, I guess it was bread.
What about the bees . Are they harmed ?
Depends on which ants, Formica rufa, also known as the red wood ant, southern wood ant, or horse ant, is very key in controlling aphids on fruit farms. Natures balance.....make a point of studying a little more on the eco systems of these bugs and reduce dependency on deadly chemicals
Thank you for your advice. It sounds more like I was thinking. I watched littlest big farm. It was awesome. I learned so much from that movie.
Each time I listen to your videos I learn more. Thank you. 😊
I'm glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching.
Thanks. Will definitely try it
I Love the way you explain things! Thanks for your posts!
Thanks for watching!
Sharing is caring. I'll let the ants have some food too. Give them something else to eat like leftovers chicken, bread. They will leave your trees alone.
@@LaoSoftware Not really, in the Southwest they seem to be everywhere at one time, which can be a headache.
I tried the packing tape collar. It's effective. The ants are still there, so I will try the diatomaceous earth. Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful! It seems so silly that it would work, but it really does!
Mix some ant bait with a tablespoon of jam or jelly.. let them take that back to the colony.
I have done the same thing with boric acid. It kills the colony FAST!
the 1st two, i know, but the tape... is a new one, and thank you!
Thanks for watching!
Great video! I use to work in an urban entomology lab our ant tubs were painted with wax on the rims so the ants could not escape. I think this method would work for your potted trees. ❤
Which type of wax
Wow! Thanks for the information! I was having problems with ants eating my cherry trees and peach trees....I hope this will work! I'll let you know...
Thanks for watching!
use ashes from a fire pit to get rid of ants. it works phenomenally well ants will straight up vacate the area nearly instantly and its far cheaper then coffee grounds or diatemacious earth, especially if you have a fire pit. then its free 😆, the ashes work for quite a long period of time as well i spread them early spring and they are still repelling ants nearly 4 months later
I was wondering..... Don't the ants just move to another spot in your yard?
Ash also repels snails and slugs effectively.
@@prasutifreislich6363 So my slugs and ants shouldn't be a problem this year. I thought the lack of rain and heat was the reason I hadn't seen slugs but it's been snowing ash here for weeks so perhaps that's part of it. Haven't seen a slug in over a month and the ants aren't very active either.
Great for potassium too
How long does the ash stay around enough to be effective when watering?
Good tips i have a box garden during summer,
thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for watching!
I've been saying several times this summer I need to do something about the ants, they are worse than year than before. Fortunately, we rarely get rain in the summer. But I'm not sure if I can implement all of these tips with so many trees. I surely can't drink enough coffee to meet my needs but maybe the DE is worth a shot. Thanks for speaking slow and clearly for me so I can understand you well.
There may be several things you can do. My trees aren't nearly as advanced as yours, but it seems that ants can't quite make it over barriers. When my trees get larger, I'm going to experiment by tying bungee cords around them and see if they can get over them, sort of like a moat. But for you, since you're rainless for ~3 months, yea, I'd coat the trunks in DE as a test. Thanks for watching, Harvey.
DE is very indiscriminate and will kill almost every insect it touches . I would try the borax/honey method first .
Get coffee grounds from restaraunts, coffee houses and neighbors...
Thanks for letting me io know
Thanks for watching!
noted!!!
Great video...thanks for helping others....you make a better earth!
Thank you! I try to encourage as many new gardeners as possible.
Thank you for another informative video….just found you by chance yesterday and that’s all I’ve been doing is watching your past videos. I also live in Wilmington and have a four year fig tree that I have not pruned back and is now approximately 9’ Can I take maybe 3’ off of it come January?
I'm glad you found me, neighbor! Taking 3 feet off a fig tree is no challenge at all. All my espalier fig trees are about 10 feet tall right now, and I'll be cutting them back down to 18 inches in January. Figs can take very hard pruning, especially in climates with long warm seasons like ours provided you feed them enough fertilizer to bounce back next season.
Edit: My original advice comment, I have decided to delete. Although intended to be helpful, the method I suggested of using petroleum jelly on the bark surface is controversial and potentially problematic for the health of the tree, as evident in the response comments received. I will be unsubscribing to this comment thread due to the high volume of responses. I wish everyone the best success in their endeavors.
Its also a toxic plastic to humans so I'd never think of putting it on a tree ;-)
It will eventually kill your tree.
@@petersam4182 I am seeing some research online that says it can burn the bark in Summer, so maybe it is a bad idea to use it excessively. Many people do like to collar the base of their pots or trunks in Spring to prevent ants and slugs from crossing the barrier. It contains wax and purified hydrocarbons, safe for covering clean wounds on both skin and plant grafts. What are your reasons why you think it will kill a tree?
@@radrickdavis I did it ad overtime the bark got black and died, my trees started to wither and die.
Yes in a cut it helps because we are not plants. I would advise using other methods.
@@petersam4182 Thanks for the response. One of my bonsai citrus died too. Very hard to grow in my climate without a greenhouse. Maybe the jelly is why it died. I think mine died because of winter stress when it has to adapt to indoors (less light, dry air, waterlogged and rootbound). Still learning. At least it kept the ants off.
I have found that mixing borax and sugar equal amounts in water then soaking cotton balls and placing them in a container with small holes ,then placing the containers around the area I want to protect, works. I've been told that they suck up the water and take it back to their nest, which can kill the entire colony. Works for me
This is what I would consider an "offensive" strategy against ants. As gardeners, we should be trying to kill ant colonies. I spread bifenthrin granules every other month on my lawn and that generally keeps my ant colony problem to a minimum. However, there are always rogue ants searching for new food sources. If they find your trees, they'll call in their friends to build new colonies. This is where you want a "defensive" approach like in this video so the ants never find your trees. The best strategy is to include both an offensive and defensive stragey.
Very informative and helpful. Luv it.
Extremely helpful video! Thank you very much!!!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching.
Cucumber work well for weeks. Use all of the green part. Place the skins @ the base of the plants . Might want to see if it works around fruit tree. Like you said not one ant on my flowering plant the next day. PS any old or part of cucumber.
I used polyfill wrapped around the truck and after that, I noticed a massive drop in the number of ants getting onto the trees...I wrapped about 10 to 15 cms in height of it.
It really works. They can't seem to climb over obstructions.
Thanks for the tip! I use coffee grounds to keep pill bugs from eating my strawberries! I didn't know it would protect my fruit trees too!!
Thank you for your tips!
Thanks for watching!
This method worked great for my fig tree! Prior to doing this, I was getting ants in all of my figs as soon as they started to ripen. It's been 2 weeks since using this method, figs are ripening and have had no ants. Thanks!
Glad to hear it helped! Thank you for watching.
@Truth Only Yes, I used all three.
I used organza bags of appropriate size to keep the bugs off each individual fig. If u are loaded with figs u will need many organza net bags (They aren't expensive). U just slide over the fig and pull the drawstring over the stem. I even used organza bags to keep squirrels away by rubbing Habanero Juice all over the out side of the bag and letting it dry. It worked.
We in India apply Black Tar by melting it first in atin & apply a ring about one foot in height around The tree. You may do two rings from the base and after another 3 feet the second one. The stickiness of the tower TAR stops the ants from climbing up to the fruits and if they succeed in the first ring the second ring takes care of their further progress. Hope it works for you in theory it is exactly like your duck tape reverse application in.
Useful and informative. Thanks
Thanks for watching!
Dale's bed is awesome! Will definitely try the diatomaceous earth, never heard of it, but we have it at our local Lowe's. Here in NC, like Florida, the ants are ferocious!
Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener For some reason I was thinking you were in Florida. I am right up the road from you in Sneads Ferry. Thanks for the info, I enjoy the channel!
I did that with ducktape( i also used double-sided tape) around my fig tree and it works,note check if the sticky on tape stay sticky otherwise replace the tape.But after a wile i notice that ants go on fig tree and i saw they walk on wall next to my fig tree because leaves from fig tree touch the wall.(little rascals)So check if the leaves dont touch ground or other plants,trees or walls......Also corn flower mixed with powder sugar (1 on 1) helps if you trow that next to nest of ants.they eat the sugar and also some corn flower,they cannot digest the corn flour and it will kill ants.In combo with your tips ,the ants will surrender,if they still can! 🤣
I've found that as well. They will crawl up leaves and branches touching the ground, they'll crawl up stakes and across string if you stake and tie your trees...you certainly need to cover all your bases!
tape only works so well- I did that and still had ants getting through- and after it rains too you have to re wrap!
Thanks. Going to try the cornflour and sugar. I haven't been able to source borax so this is a safe for me alternative. Thank you.
@@tiger38able diatomaceous earth will help to!
@@TheMillennialGardener diatomaceous earth will help to.
Wonderful to have the fruits and very i formative that your lecture is. Thanks!
Jeong Kim thanks for watching!
Ants help pollinate the plants. Don't kill all of them off. Birds and other creatures eat ants as well so be careful.
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They sell adhesive spray that you can spray directly onto the trunk of the tree and its easy to continue reapplying as needed.
Great advice! Thank you
Green Man thanks for watching!
Amend the soil, repel the ants, and keep poisons out of the people food. Nature wins, people win! I like this!
Very interesting video. Ants in the soil have destroyed a pepper and a tomato plants in my greenhouse. Congratulation for your great channel (funny too with your dog testing tomatoes :-). Impressed by all your fig trees. Greetings from Europe (Belgium)
Thanks for watching from so far away! I appreciate it.
Just sub'd yesterday and now come back. Its hard to buy home w backyard for planting here in San Jose CA- so expensive- but your works r so inviting, those fig trees... aww 😍
Thanks for subscribing. You can get more land here, but the climate is very hard to grow figs because of the rain. Lots of people in California grow in containers because of the small yards. The figs you can ripen in your climate will be MUCH better than mine.
@Nga Nguyen Buy cheap land in the country.Set up a tiny home,then build a house later when you have enough money.ln the meantime plant fruit and vegetables.
Great tips man and the explanations !!
eyewaves thanks for watching!
Here are some additional strategies. To kill the little buggers, get some Opti-guard ant gel. I swear by it, put a bunch around where they are, they carry it back to the nest and 2 days later, bye bye ants. Also, white vinegar is another pheromone disruptor to ants, I use it along with essential oils such as lemon or peppermint. For rats, you can also put small jars with long wicks with potent peppermint essential oil. You have to put it early in the season and the rats will avoid the area, if they already know there's food, then its worthless. Also, I've put olive oil around the trunk like you've done with the tape, same strategy. Its worked for me. One last thing that works on every critter out there is taking the hottest pepper you have, boiling it for a few minutes along with garlic. Put the water in a spray bottle or spray tank along with a little bit of soap, which acts as a binding agent, and spray it around. Just like you're suggestions MG, rain and time does away with it. Effective against everything from ants to deer. My uncle lived in the woods and used that to keep everything away, he used habaneros and garlic. You just want potent stuff. You can also use spray oil as your binding agent, works a tad bit better IMHO. Another good video MG, thanks. I gave it a thumbs up. I'm flying out to Wilmington next week to check things out and make sure I can take the heat and humidity if I end up moving out there.
It's extremely hot right now. Peak heat and humidity. Dew point has consistently been between 76-81, highs between 91-95. It's steamy. Thanks for watching.
The problem with peppers is that as a spray it is dangerous as it will come back at you when you spray it so better ware full protective gear. If it lands on your skin or eyes it burns, even handling it is dangerous so better were disposable gloves. I gave up on peppers for this reason just too easy to get it on you.
From one millennial gardener to another, thank you for this video.
Just wish I would have found you sooner.
I'm glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching. I appreciate it.
I think Pine Tar from the feed store also works. It has a strong smell and is very sticky. You can also use it after pruning to prevent disease and infection.