Suffocating your pests! CO2 as a pesticide.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Has anyone here ever attempted to suffocate a pest on a potted plant...with only using C02, carbon dioxide...either from a tank, or dry ice?

I've always wanted to suffocate some ants in the root ball of my plant...I wonder if I could bag the rootball and suffocate them?

I wonder If I'll kill beneficial organisms as well?

and I suppose the plant can't make oxygen fast enough to keep the ants alive??

I wonder if this would work for mealys, scale...and such..??

[CoPlantNut]

Yes, I've tried that in the past in an attempt to control mealybug...  It seemed to kill the plant I was treating long before it killed off all the insects.  Attempts to drown ants don't work that well either.

For ants specifically, I'd put some diatomaceous earth dust in the pot to get rid of them.  It may require several treatments; new generations of ants keep hatching...

   Kevin

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I've successfully drowned ants.

They were on a miracle fruit...and I put it underwater totally for about 48hrs.

The ants were gone for months...until they eventually repopulated.

Thanks for posting CoPlantNut.

No one else seems to care about this thread!

[Tim]

I haven't specifically used it for this purpose but have you ever used baby powder against ants?  I use it here & there around the house but never tried with plants.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

heard of baking soda suffocating ant piles (but didn't want to mess with ph so I never put any in pots)

Is this what talc does?

[Tim]

I've only used it as barriers, never tried to see what actually happens when you dump it on them. 

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi,

You guy's should use coffee grounds to repel the ant's! They will be packing in no time

''Baby power'' doesn't work very well for me! Only last few days...then they are back again

[nullzero]

I learned to live with ants, they seem to be in a couple of the bigger containers. They don't really bother me until they start mining the aphids. Aphids don't last long though there are to many hungry predators.

[CoPlantNut]

I learned to live with ants, they seem to be in a couple of the bigger containers. They don't really bother me until they start mining the aphids. Aphids don't last long though there are to many hungry predators.

You don't have to haul your container plants inside your house though... I don't want to let ants get established in my basement.

Coffee grounds don't seem to repel Colorado ants; I spread some around my in-ground blueberries in an attempt to help acidify the soil and now I have little ant hills constructed of coffee grounds.  Could be that some species of ants aren't repelled by coffee; hopefully I'm not super-charging them with caffeine.

   Kevin

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I wonder if a tacky substance could be used to stop ants...repeated applications, until they are gone..then wipe of applied substance?? or maybe it would biodegrade??

TO bad we can't harness to power of the sundew...and apply it to any species we wish.

I learned to live with ants, they seem to be in a couple of the bigger containers. They don't really bother me until they start mining the aphids. Aphids don't last long though there are to many hungry predators.

You don't have to haul your container plants inside your house though... I don't want to let ants get established in my basement.

Coffee grounds don't seem to repel Colorado ants; I spread some around my in-ground blueberries in an attempt to help acidify the soil and now I have little ant hills constructed of coffee grounds.  Could be that some species of ants aren't repelled by coffee; hopefully I'm not super-charging them with caffeine.

   Kevin

[CoPlantNut]

I'm a big fan of natural controls as I believe you also are...  Sundews and butterworts wouldn't take out a whole ant colony though.  Perhaps you just need a new pet:



   Kevin

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I'm a big fan of natural controls as I believe you also are...  Sundews and butterworts wouldn't take out a whole ant colony though.  Perhaps you just need a new pet:



   Kevin

is that long nosed hairy fellow for hire?? I could see him tearing my root balls to shreds, like a termite mound...looking for ants!

haha!

[BluePalm]

I have coffee grounds in all of my potted lychees and the ants trudge through it like it is nothing...

[Tropicdude]

Has anyone tried beneficial fungi for pests?  in some of the garden forums, people have had success with making beneficial bacteria and fungal teas, that nourish plants and deter pests and diseases.

one thing i have come across, which apparently isn't new. is to spray bug juice, on or around your plants.  basically bug juice is a concoction of a bunch of dead bugs you want to repel. seems bugs wont go around plants that smell like death of their species.

so who knows maybe there is some fungus out there, that will give ants a fatal case of athletes foot. or crotch itch