Author Topic: How to prevent ants going up your trees  (Read 2708 times)

laidbackdood

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How to prevent ants going up your trees
« on: September 01, 2018, 12:15:17 PM »
Its the start of spring in Western Australia  and all the bugs start thinking about it.....ants climb up your trees and farm aphids with them.....which suck the sap from all that fresh new growth....This is a non toxic way of keeping those ants out of your trees....
Tools you will need= masking tape and vaseline.
Wind the tape from the top to bottom ...sticking it to the trunk....at the bottom...do a half twist and go back up to where you started.....finish it off........then smear vaseline along its length.....ants will not go beyond....i use longer because it also acts to protect the trunk from the harsh sun but shorter is ok as well.....works a treat....now i await the leafminer !




































Millet

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2018, 04:21:44 PM »
Thanks.  How log does the Vaseline stay sticky?

loneroc1

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2018, 07:04:20 PM »
Howdy, (or g'day if you prefer). Instead of using tape how about painting the trunk? At least a ring around it.  Then apply Vaseline or tangle foot without damaging the trunk? Anyone try it that way?

In my greenhouse, ants move around soft brown scale and to a lesser extent aphids.  I'd have to cover the grease in any case because I don't want my lizards getting stuck.  Steve H

brian

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2018, 09:51:40 PM »
I had done something similar with Tanglefoot.  It worked, but it was an awful sticky mess.  I found regular borax traps combined with trying to eliminate the scale directly was more effective.  Using petroleum jelly instead of tanglefoot sounds more manageable, and I'd be willing to try it. 

laidbackdood

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2018, 01:49:04 PM »
There is a guy in eastern australia who paints the whole trunk white on potted citrus to protect them from sunburn.....just water based exterior white.....looks funny though.....they stay sticky for ages but it does go a bit ugly(dark after a while) but it does the job.......we get small ants and bull ants as well.....they bloody hurt.....but my mate gets infested with the ants....they live in the rootball and are all over his trees.

laidbackdood

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2018, 01:52:50 PM »
There is a guy in eastern australia who paints the whole trunk white on potted citrus to protect them from sunburn.....just water based exterior white.....looks funny though.....they stay sticky for ages but it does go a bit ugly(dark after a while) but it does the job.......we get small ants and bull ants as well.....they bloody hurt.....but my mate gets infested with the ants....they live in the rootball and are all over his trees.....but leafminer are the biggest prob over here........but i have managed to get very fast new growth on a few of my trees.....that close up of the new growth(other post of my trees) went from bud to full leaf in about 3 weeks !....leaves are clean and nearly full size with no sign of leafminer yet because its still cold....6C at night and 19C days but things will warm up soon and when they do......the miner will come out.....so i will be spraying very soon with neem oil.

EricSC

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2020, 05:18:59 PM »
I had done something similar with Tanglefoot.  It worked, but it was an awful sticky mess.  I found regular borax traps combined with trying to eliminate the scale directly was more effective.  Using petroleum jelly instead of tanglefoot sounds more manageable, and I'd be willing to try it. 

Hi, Brian,  How was the effects of applying petroleum jelly on trunk to stop the ants.  Does it work?  Or did it cause any other problems?

brian

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2020, 09:25:29 PM »
I used tanglefoot not vaseline, though I see no reason why vaseline would not work similarly.  Both never dry out.

Tanglefoot works, but I stopped using it because:
* it is a sticky mess, and hard to apply without making a mess (even wearing gloves)
* any place that branches touch the ground or other trees ants will find a path in anyway.  If you have an outdoor orchard you could avoid this but in a dense greenhouse it is impossible
* I read that applying tanglefoot directly to the trunk can harm the tree, so I put painters tape on first.  BTW, I strongly recommend against every using masking tape for anything because it is worse than painters tape in every way and only the tiniest bit cheaper
* tape applied around a tree trunk is surprisingly strong to the point I worried it was constricting the trunk as it grew.  Within a couple months it seemed overly tight.  You could vertically score the tape but then you have to worry about damaging the trunk and introducing disease

I am glad you brought up this post though because I have some trees I care little about and I want to try applying tanglefoot directly to the trunk and see if it causes any harm.  If it is harmless I may go back to using it.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2020, 09:29:53 PM by brian »

EricSC

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2020, 12:30:56 AM »
Brian,
Really appreciate your summary.  Ants work so hard 7/24 without pay to clean up everything but they cause so much problems on fruit tress.
Will look forward to hearing your evaluations of Tanglefoot.  It would be great if you can also evaluate Vaseline at the same time.  The reason is that a couple of discussions on Web mentioned that Vaseline applied on trunk cause some trees to die.

Forester

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2020, 06:17:07 AM »
I do something similar, but I use burlap and birch tar.
❀ Sergey ❀

laidbackdood

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2020, 09:58:03 AM »
saw a vid the other day ...the guy just used packing tape and would that around the wrong way on the base of trunk......that would stay sticky for quite a while without the need for vaseline......I am going to give it a go soon......once i see the ants getting active.

EricSC

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2020, 05:32:27 PM »
I do something similar, but I use burlap and birch tar.
I have burlap but didn't use it because Vaseline can penetrate it.

sea4

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2020, 06:03:14 PM »

* I read that applying tanglefoot directly to the trunk can harm the tree, so I put painters tape on first.  BTW, I strongly recommend against every using masking tape for anything because it is worse than painters tape in every way and only the tiniest bit cheaper
* tape applied around a tree trunk is surprisingly strong to the point I worried it was constricting the trunk as it grew.  Within a couple months it seemed overly tight.  You could vertically score the tape but then you have to worry about damaging the trunk and introducing disease
 
I agree, painters tape is so much better.
Interesting point about it getting tight after a while. Floral tape I think has a bit more stretch but I don't know if it comes in wide widths. Landscape flagging tape is pretty flimsy but has some stretch.
I've used the sticky traps laid on the ground around my indoor plants, and the ants do not stick to those cards. Haven't had big issues with scale but I do get ants in the rootball, or setting up camp in the drip tray.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2020, 06:07:08 PM by sea4 »

spaugh

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2020, 08:04:46 PM »
Use flagging tape, its stretchable and doesn't stick when you take it off.  Also works great for grafting with over the graft tape to pull grafts tighter.  And many other uses in the garden. 
Brad Spaugh

slopat

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2020, 11:24:03 PM »
Now I can justify to my wife the impulse purchase with free prime shipping! ~$1something plus tax delivered... just took a few weeks. :)

Nice tip. Also, would dousing tape with peppermint and neem oils help deter more pests?




Use flagging tape, its stretchable and doesn't stick when you take it off.  Also works great for grafting ...

spaugh

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Re: How to prevent ants going up your trees
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2020, 10:33:28 PM »
The best brand of flagging tape is called presco Texas flagging tape.  It is pretty strong and has just the right stretch for grafting.  Works good on dragonfruit too.  They sell it on eBay in 6 packs. 
Brad Spaugh