North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Idell Weydemeyer <iwgarden@earthlink.net>]

Hi--
glad it worked for you--ants/aphids are such pesky devils--

idell

-----Original Message-----
From: "Richard J. Ossolinski"
Sent: Jun 1, 2010 4:31 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Ants/aphids

Idell,

Can't believe I hadn't heard (or at least don't remember hearing) of this solution before now, but here's a resounding "thank you" for an easy fix that so far seems to have been 100% effective - a minor nuisance well worth the effort!

Richard

Gouldsboro, ME  Zone 5

On May 19, 2010, at 4:05 PM, Idell Weydemeyer wrote:

What I do to get rid of ants and aphids on fruit trees --works very well. Since they are "farmed" by ants, I wrap a piece of green stretchy florist tape around the trunk until I have a band about 2" wide then cover it with Tanglefoot. The ants cannot cross that so drop out of the tree. I then cut off the worse of the damage ---curled leaves with aphids inside. The other thing is to not let anything touch the tree--such as grass, a wire or a wall because the ants can get up that and attack the tree again.

 

I don't know if you have tried ant stakes in the yard or not-- I don't know if that would work.

 

Idell

 

---

From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Caren Kirk
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 11:29 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Termites in apple nursery

 

Dan I would beware.  I just had a really bad experience with a beautiful ornamental cherry I had and a colony of ants.  They were very determined aphid farmers and it practically destroyed the tree. In the end I decided to cut it down and encourage one of its suckers to take it's place as the damage was so bad.

 

I know I am not experienced and aphids can be controlled, but that's what I know now. The damage happened so quickly, it really surprised me though. They are still trying to attack the sucker, but I am watching them every day now I've learnt my lesson.

 

By the way, I tried many things to get rid of the ants (cornstarch, silicon dioxide, etc). Haven't resorted to my mother in law's trick of digging up the whole colony and drowning them because I think that would probably mean removing most of my front yard! Only thing that has worked is planting mint near them, but then they just temporarily move to another area.

 

GOOD LUCK!

 

Caren Kirk

----- Original Message -----

From: Dan Nave

To: North American Fruit Explorers

Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 6:39 PM

Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Termites in apple nursery

 

I have a similar situation.  I planted a bare root chokecherry tree (small) near an ant colony of some type of large black ants.  I'm not sure what type they are.  They seem to have taken up house in the loosened dirt where I planted the chokecherry.  Will they kill off the plant?  There is nothing growing in the immediate area where they have their colony...

Dan



Chris Garriss wrote:

I decided to resend stand alone this rather than "burying" it in a thread of another email.

I have some newly grated (this spring, currently in 5 gallon nursery pots) apple trees that are doing well.  However, I noticed yesterday that some termites have taken up residence in in a couple of the pots.  I've no experience dealing with termites, and have always presumed they were interested in dead wood, lumber, etc.  Will they attack the rootstock roots even though they are growing vigorously?  And, what can I use to get rid of them without damaging the trees?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,
Chris
Zone 7 NC (trees will be planted Zone 6 in the fall)