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Horus

Ant jizz and Cactus

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At the front entrance of our new farm cottage there is a hill with some lovely feature rocks, that at first sight I visualised as a cactus terrace. 

I planted out the ground level to see how the plants coped with the winter frost. All good.

When I went to do the upper level, the underneath of the first rock I moved was fully covered in Fire ants, their attack trained frontline defensive troops, little buggers started flooding out from the hill.

so I spent 6 mths contemplating things and meditating upon interacting with the fearsome biters.

Finally the day came to attempt excavating the hill, in the least disruptive fashion, and minimal ant casualties. 

The fucking hill was an ant Metropolis, Fire ants and their helper minions, it was full on.

But I was not bitten , so that was a good omen. I put the "guardians" rock back over the main entrance and made things nice for the guys. 

Then I planted cactus on the ant metropolis and they are thriving!

Whatever ant piss or Jism the Cactus roots  have grown into, they apparently love it.

The fire ants are probably having a cactus circle every full moon, cause everything is very happy. 

Ants and cacti could be "a thing". 

 

These pics are a few months old, the terrace has now come out of another winter powering, very healthy plants, I will update with current pics soon. 

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Thanks for that warning Halcyon.

ive not ID'd them, I just generically call them that cause they are red and burn like crazy when they bite. 

Its pristine bush, so I doubt they are some introduced nasty. 

I will take a good look next weekend. 

Cheers. 

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I have been bitten by Fire ants in Texas. Nasty things and an even nastier bite. I don't know if it   happens in every case but the bites on me formed a blister within about 12 hours. Looked much like I had very hot oil or fat flicked on my skin. 

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If you could catch one temporarily, like in a glass jar or even a glass vial would be better and take a macro photo???. At the moment true Fire ants have been discovered in just a few tiny pockets around Brisbane a few years ago and the authorities are spending millions to try and eradicate them. ( if memory serves ) . They are the cane toad of the ant world. If they get established in Australia it would be horrible.

 

Based on your three facts: 1) you're near Newcastle? 2) they are red 3) disturbing the nest results in a defensive/aggressive swarm I'm gonna have a guess at "Bulldog Ant"... they are quite large and usually forage alone but move the rock their nest is under or, say, rake up some leaves too close to their burrow and BAM! 50 of 'em come spilling out...

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Ooh and Yes, ants are very good for plants: they aerate the soil with their tunnelling and soil Nitrogen levels have been shown to be elevated in and around ant colonies...

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Just want to compliment you on your garden, it looks great!

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what has been selected for the cacti terrace?

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10 hours ago, freakazoid said:

Ooh and Yes, ants are very good for plants: they aerate the soil with their tunnelling and soil Nitrogen levels have been shown to be elevated in and around ant colonies...

Unless of course they are farming mealies or aphids on the plants you are trying to grow...

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I think this is the best topic title I have seen all year! I bet it comes up as the first google result for a search on "ant jizz"...

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Hey Glaukus,

 

Ant Jizz is the bizz,

to help your cactus grow.

So get those roots a soakin,

in that wholesome anty blow.

 

Hey Doublebenno ,

Im too old to remember all the species.

I will take a better pic on the weekend, there are a few showy pieces, and a big Icaro, a cherished gift from Toast.

Some san-pedro from a peruvian shaman my bro trained with.

And thyme,oregano, mint etc along the front to flow over, and soften the edges. 

There is a benchmark though that relates to this story.

I had a whole bunch of cuttings from a plant, that according to legend, came over 80 years ago on the container full of cactus,aloe and succulents that have become some of the standards in Australian gardens. This Bridgie is huge, Ive used it Ceremonially for the last 4 yrs with literally 100's of punters and have witnessed amazing healing and journeys.

Anyhow a bunch of tip cuttings all the same, were planted at the same time, but in different parts of the garden.

The ones on the ant hill are thriving the best.

Yeah,aerated soil and nitrogen, sounds like the answer. Its a thing !

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Now thats what I call "on topic" 

And thats why I love this forum, brilliant ant jizz porn waterboy !

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very nice landscaping.

 

and oh, I hate ants 

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Just had a thought. I know some species of ant have a symbiotic relationship with fungi. Some even farm it for food. In turn the fungi break down materials to produce fertile soil and also deliver nutrients to plants. Would be interesting to know if and what species of fungi may have relations with cacti.

 

Also the fungi could feed off the ant jizz. Its the circle of life!

Edited by Fungal Forest
fun
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I dunno if they're always beneficial, I repotted a few cacti recently which had ant nests (just reglar little black ants) in them and it seemed like the fungi they had been farming had made the soil water-repellent. So maybe it depends on the fungus?

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I know its not in line with the general vibe of this thread but if you do decide you want to kill them I recommend boric acid, I got some from the US on ebay, theres a  quarry near California from memory, few years since I used it, came as a nice big suss looking bag of white powder, I bought a pound of it and that was total overkill.

 

At my old joint I had areas of the garden that were just no go zones due to jumping jacks (dunno the proper name). I have a shocking memory and id find myself thinking I was lazy for not cleaning up certain areas of the garden, once a year or so id hook into them and would suddenly remember..oh yeah, that's why I don't garden there.

 

I only did one area on a hillside where I was building a rockwall terrace kind of thing and it worked a treat, never saw an ant there again. just mix the powder with some water, and maybe some sugar, i don't think ratios are too important, and place some jar lids filled with the water around the place. give it a fortnight or so. it works by dehydrating them to death and they take it back to the nests and it infects everything. same as ant rid really but more affordable and technically it is organic, its just quarried. albeit on the other side of the world.

 

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Thanks for that warning Halcyon.

ive not ID'd them, I just generically call them that cause they are red and burn like crazy when they bite.

See if they crawl or if they hop/jump. I reckon they're probably Hoppy Joes (which I'm under the impression are aussie native). Aggro little fuckers'

 

 

 

At my old joint I had areas of the garden that were just no go zones due to jumping jacks (dunno the proper name).

Hoppy Joes the locals call em up north - Once bit 10 minute burn then a 48 hour itch.

My mum gets them at her place, bit further up than Kempsey. They smash your feet up if your in thongs the mongrels... lol

 

 

- The title and the short paragraph made me laugh hard. Nice one Horus, lololol

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Yeah, the ants in my Cactus terrace are Bull ants, not fire.

Got a few jumping ant holes, we love the name Hoopy Joe.

Amazing what they can do, and how they operate.

My GF took some good pics, check out those pincers.

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Haha, they look like the bastards mate! Impressive camera work from the gf too, almost makes them look cute. :wink:

That's a fantastic theory if their shit/piss/load is making your cacti go off their heads. Very interesting. I wonder if you could buy Aussie Native ant nests designed for release in your garden?

 

The terrace(s) look unreal by the way man. Good on yous two!

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