Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Branching Out]

Yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon bumping my early cold tolerant tomatoes up to 2 gallon pots, a slow but fun process. Along the way I noticed that we have a serious ant infestation in and around where I am keeping the tomato and pepper seedlings so I got out my home made Borax ant bait and placed some in each tomato pot. I used egg shells and waxy leaves to hold the liquid bait; that way there is no plastic to keep track of. Overnight a lot of the bait was taken, so I refilled the little shells this morning and added more bait stations. The tiny ants LOVE it.

The Borax ant bait: Place 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of Borax and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Boil mixture for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Let it cool, then place the mixture near anthills and areas they frequent.

 

[Branching Out]

My kind of Mother's Day-- an afternoon spent moving 100 tomato starts from 1 1/2" soil blocks in to small pots. In the end I had to stop because the sun went down and it got dark--and I ran out of tall pots. So far I have 27 varieties of tomatoes that have been bumped up. I am using my friend's system of assigning a number to each variety, and then marking that number on the container. It really makes it easy to keep track.

And as Heirloomgal mentioned it is very interesting to note the differences between the cultivars when you grow them out side by side. Some tomatoes such as 'Siberian' are only 3" tall at 5 weeks old, while others types started on the same tray are already 8" tall. I notice that the cherry tomato plants often start out slender and lanky, and tomatoes with 'potato' leaf form seem kind of sparse in the leaf department at the beginning. Dwarf tomatoes can often be very sturdy, like small shrubs. It will be a lot of fun to watch them all develop, and to learn more about the differences between the different types as the season progresses.

I am also growing out many different varieties of dwarf shelling peas, to see what might do well in our area. They are all in large containers, shown in the background in the photo below.

 

[flowerbug]

yeah, i have to keep an eye out for ants getting too close to the house and the larger ant colonies like the red and carpenter ants i try to keep away too because they can get in the walls of the house. i'm constantly aware of them trying to set up shop, but also because i've studied ants for 50 years and i know how successful they can be in invading. so far we've had a few infestations get right into the house and that was interesting and also not much fun to experience (when the roof leaked more they had a spot up high that they took over for a month before we baited them and took out the colony).

and i just went through another round of finding a small scouting group and perhaps a young queen of carpenter ants trying to come in through the front (which is not often that happens). we keep so much baking supplies on hand that any ants that i find in the house are instant alerts because if they ever do get going in some of the cupboards there's many many lbs of goodies they'd love to feast upon.

i just found another large black or red ant colony that i'll need to bait.

as a kid i would spend hours on a metal legged chair watching black and red ants fight it out (the red ants always won and took slaves back to their colony).

 

[Branching Out]

yeah, i have to keep an eye out for ants getting too close to the house and the larger ant colonies like the red and carpenter ants i try to keep away too because they can get in the walls of the house. i'm constantly aware of them trying to set up shop, but also because i've studied ants for 50 years and i know how successful they can be in invading. so far we've had a few infestations get right into the house and that was interesting and also not much fun to experience (when the roof leaked more they had a spot up high that they took over for a month before we baited them and took out the colony).

and i just went through another round of finding a small scouting group and perhaps a young queen of carpenter ants trying to come in through the front (which is not often that happens). we keep so much baking supplies on hand that any ants that i find in the house are instant alerts because if they ever do get going in some of the cupboards there's many many lbs of goodies they'd love to feast upon.

i just found another large black or red ant colony that i'll need to bait.

as a kid i would spend hours on a metal legged chair watching black and red ants fight it out (the red ants always won and took slaves back to their colony).

Is there a trick to baiting carpenter ants Flowerbug? When watering at a neighbours house I saw the biggest one ever, walking down the paved back alley. Those black ants are so huge! And I just received a message from a friend who has carpenter ants invading her basement.

The ants that I have are primarily the little tiny sugar ants, and we will never be rid of them as one side of our back yard is a hundred foot long and very tall retaining wall made of split granite and cement. The wall is almost 50 years old and full of crevices around each granite stone, so basically a huge ant colony. I think I will keep baiting as much as I can though, to at least keep them out of my potted seedlings. I grow lots of peonies too, and they are also attractants for the ants.

 

[Zeedman]

and i just went through another round of finding a small scouting group and perhaps a young queen of carpenter ants trying to come in through the front (which is not often that happens).

There is a huge carpenter ant colony in an old box elder tree in front of my house, and new queens spread out from there every year looking for new territory... inevitably, they explore the house. Locating & baiting one of their runs usually kills them within a few days, but there may be multiple incursions in the course of the summer. Other than a sugar ant outbreak one year (which probably rode in on infested fruit pies) we had no other ant problems. I suspect that the carpenter ant population is so high that other ants can't establish a foothold.

The biggest problem that I have with the carpenter ants is that they quickly infest my fire wood stacks. They then hibernate in their hidden lairs... and awaken when I bring in fire wood for the winter. It's amazing how many can hide in one piece of wood.

 

[ducks4you]

Guess there is ONE reason I can be glad that my 110yo house doesn't have a fireplace.
I burn outdoors, in my firepit.

 

[digitS']

It's amazing how many can hide in one piece of wood.

And, that is likely their location in the box elder — in the trunk. I once had what I thought was a “carpenter” nest in the greenhouse insulation. There was a near constant “guard” at the entrance. I cut a section of the foam board out to access and replace. Honeycombed with holes and ONE guarding 🐜. He was an obvious failure at attracting companions.

“Sugar” ants are the tiny ones? That is certainly a more polite name than what I have been using .

One or two ants were showing up indoors daily during late Winter weeks; they were medium size and both winged and otherwise. I was concerned that I would again have to spray a “barrier” bug spray around the foundation of the house as I did once before. Now, not one 🐜 in the house for weeks and weeks! They may still be very close but are directing their activities to the outdoors. Lucky for the moment, maybe.

 

[heirloomgal]

There is a huge carpenter ant colony in an old box elder tree in front of my house, and new queens spread out from there every year looking for new territory... inevitably, they explore the house. Locating & baiting one of their runs usually kills them within a few days, but there may be multiple incursions in the course of the summer. Other than a sugar ant outbreak one year (which probably rode in on infested fruit pies) we had no other ant problems. I suspect that the carpenter ant population is so high that other ants can't establish a foothold.

The biggest problem that I have with the carpenter ants is that they quickly infest my fire wood stacks. They then hibernate in their hidden lairs... and awaken when I bring in fire wood for the winter. It's amazing how many can hide in one piece of wood.

I can't believe the bugs there are down south! I've never even heard let alone seen any of this stuff! We do have ants, but nothing notable. Mosquitoes, blackflies in early summer. I guess hornets and wasps are around, my dog was stung last year by the underground ones, but that is really just bad luck. There is NOTHING that comes in the houses here bugwise. Just the odd mouse in fall.

 

[flowerbug]

Is there a trick to baiting carpenter ants Flowerbug? When watering at a neighbours house I saw the biggest one ever, walking down the paved back alley. Those black ants are so huge! And I just received a message from a friend who has carpenter ants invading her basement.

the borax and sugar solution should do it, but to really help that along make sure any easy water sources near their nest remain empty so they will be extra thirsty.

 

[Branching Out]

And, that is likely their location in the box elder — in the trunk. I once had what I thought was a “carpenter” nest in the greenhouse insulation. There was a near constant “guard” at the entrance. I cut a section of the foam board out to access and replace. Honeycombed with holes and ONE guarding 🐜. He was an obvious failure at attracting companions.

“Sugar” ants are the tiny ones? That is certainly a more polite name than what I have been using .

One or two ants were showing up indoors daily during late Winter weeks; they were medium size and both winged and otherwise. I was concerned that I would again have to spray a “barrier” bug spray around the foundation of the house as I did once before. Now, not one 🐜 in the house for weeks and weeks! They may still be very close but are directing their activities to the outdoors. Lucky for the moment, maybe.

the borax and sugar solution should do it, but to really help that along make sure any easy water sources near their nest remain empty so they will be extra thirsty.

Good advice. Thank you!