Kniphofia and ANTS

Thomas Moore

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Jul 21, 1997, 3:00:00 AM7/21/97

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Soon after my Kniphofia (red hot poker) bloomed ANTS began climbing the
stalks and getting (and staying) into the little flowers. I assume they
were after the nectar. Has anyone else had this problem? What can I do
about it?

Thanks,

Tom

p.s. I am writing from Middleboro, MA - not far from Cape Cod.

Steve Rehrauer

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Jul 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM7/22/97

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In <01bc961f$323f67e0$b58074cf@primate>, "Thomas Moore" <tecm...@worldnet.att.net> says:
>Soon after my Kniphofia (red hot poker) bloomed ANTS began climbing the
>stalks and getting (and staying) into the little flowers. I assume they
>were after the nectar. Has anyone else had this problem? What can I do
>about it?

Not that I've noticed. But then, I don't see what the problem is. Are
they damaging the flowers (I doubt)? Or just hanging out?

It's possible they're aphid-herding. A severe aphid infestation will
weaken the plants. If that's the case and you're concerned, use an
insecticidal soap spray, or better yet, just hose the plants down.
The latter won't bother the ants much but will knock down the aphids,
most of which will not survice to reach the flowers again.

But if the ants are just hanging out, why not just un-alarm yourself and
leave them be? These ARE garden-variety _ants_ we're talking about, yes?
Not brain-sucking radioactive hive-termites from Bargus 9? --Steve
--
All software is bug-free, assuming | Steve rehr...@apollo.hp.com
sufficiently clever definitions of | Massachusetts Language Lab
"feature" and "expected behaviour". | USDA Zone 5, more or less

Frank Schierenberg

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Jul 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM7/22/97

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Commercial ant killer can be duplicated very easily and inexpensively from
the listed ingedients by yourself. Commercial liquid ant killer is a light
sugar sirup mixed with 5% Borax (Borax is available wherever laundry
detergent is sold). It's actually not so much a poison as it just
indigestible to ants and thus plugs up the ant's digestive system.

Frank

Thomas Moore <tecm...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in article
<01bc961f$323f67e0$b58074cf@primate>...

> Soon after my Kniphofia (red hot poker) bloomed ANTS began climbing the
> stalks and getting (and staying) into the little flowers. I assume they
> were after the nectar. Has anyone else had this problem? What can I do
> about it?
>

Dave Kliman

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Jul 28, 1997, 3:00:00 AM7/28/97

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In article <01bc96d4$5b665ec0$LocalHost@default>, "Frank Schierenberg"
<fa...@netrover.com> wrote:

why bother killing the ants? when they climb on my hummingbird feeders and
oriole feeders, the tufted titmice, oreols and hummingbirds love to eat 'em
up! Just today, I watched as a tufted titmouse spent 15 minutes eating ants
off my oreole feeder. Even goldfinches seem to eat insects if the insects
are right on the flowers from which the birds are getting seeds.

As long as you have enough birds in your yard, the ants won't be a problem.
Go organic! no poisons needed in our ecosystem. or at least on your red hot
poker plants.

-Dave

--
Dave Kliman |"The greatest service which can be rendered to any
home.pb.net/~dkliman| country is to add a useful plant to its culture."
Long Island, Zone 7| --Thomas Jefferson
Sunset Zone 34 | {rid my e-mail addr of bad plant to reply.}

Robert Mitchell

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Jul 28, 1997, 3:00:00 AM7/28/97

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sounds like you need more birds.