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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] leaf cutter ants

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: George Anna Clark <esac@laneta.apc.org>
  • To: Mike Barnett <dreadlox@cwjamaica.com>, permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] leaf cutter ants
  • Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 12:45:07 -0600

Hi Mike, enjoyed yours as well, always do (especially on fish pond
security)...


Have you ever thought of trying neem oil to repel them?
What about using a very strong essential oil...that messes up their
smell...garlic eucalyptus, peppermint, lemongrass

these two are new, will try them .... I'm also interspersing neem trees in the live fence around the farm - thinking at some point I will make my own neem oil (right... sometime around 2 am after making organic peanut butter and hummus...), but have recently been told the trees work as a physical barrier for the white fly as well. We'll see in a few years, boy do they grow fast. Absolutely love dry conditions.

Injecting Boiling water into the nest..??

tried that... I think you need a very large swimming pool full of boiling water

Black Plastic barrier around the field...?
they're inside the field (and outside as well, of course)

Sand around tree trunks?
I think perhaps I did many moons ago -just in case, will try it again. Have tried ash and lime, though, also inside their holes... Also tried stick-em stuff that I use on the plastic yellow cards for the white flies (which capture about 1 out of 10,000 white flies, by the way, and more beneficials than I like) around the trunk, they didn't even feel it.

Scent barrier around trees/plants that you want...
I'm working on that - I'm thinking lemongrass is working (yet another excuse to grow it)...

boric acid as a deterrent?

verrrrry interesting.


beneficial fungii, bacteria that attacks the ants, their eggs, or the rotting food
stores?....check out quassia (active ingredient quassine) to spray around your good plants..

great ideas, any volunteer research students out there who would like to study these in Mexico for your thesis??

Natural pest? (Rent-an-anteater??)
Honest to god I tried this once. Well, I bought the anteater (you can go to a certain tree on the side of the highway sort of in the middle of nowhere and buy live anteaters -sometimes- not always available...) I let him (her?) loose in the field and never saw it again, with no noticeable drop in the population... I suppose I would have to start an anteater farm.... I do have iguanas living in my roof (they like the heat but I suspect they've also discovered the cat food), but perhaps they sleep when the ants are active ?? (which is one reason why chickens and ducks don't work)

Anyone have similar ideas from keeping away goats out of my plants??
Any tried and true ideas? Offline ideas welcome too...

The only thing that occurs to me is barbecue... (sorry...)

good luck and thanks again!
george anna





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