Ants nesting in my pachanois pot....

[Guest Mesqualero]

Yeah as the subject suggests i have some ants who have decided my Pachanois pot is a good place to start a new colony, I am thinking that this can onle be a bad thing so I think I will repot very soon.... The cactus itself has actually started to lean slightly so i think the Ants are having a good go....

what would be a good potting mix for pachanois and what should i not do when repotting

[tripp'n]

Just put your pot in a bucket of water for a couple of hours. This should drown those ants. I had the same problem with one of my Pachanois and one of my HBWR. The pot in water trick worked for me.

[Guest Mesqualero]

So just put the pot, plant and all, in a bucket of water and leave it for a few hours?

cool thanks

[tripp'n]

Thats it.

make sure their is enough water to end up pretty-much level with the top of the soil in the pot.

Also Reville gave me some good advice,

Put your pots onto a table with each leg in a bucket/container of water.

No crawlies,Ants,Snails,Slugs, Can get past the water barrier to your plants, Works well, Thanks Rev.

[This message has been edited by tripp'n (edited 27 February 2002).]

[Guest Mesqualero]

Found out what the ants were after... they were trying to get at the the larvae that had attatched themselves to the root system of my poor plant... now i don't know if they are bad or good but when i see a big cluster (probably about 20-30 larvae) all ferreted away in the deepest parts of my plants root systems I get them out quick smart.....

I took it out of the pot picked all the buggers out of the roots.The larvae were about two inches and had a browny orange head and little mandibles obviously desgined to chomp at roots and when they chew they have this black ooze stuff that comes out their mouth.

So plant is repotted.. with some new mix hope it didnt get too much of a shock, only time will tell

**update**

yeah did some research and the most likely perpetrator is the "white grub"

[This message has been edited by Mesqualero (edited 27 February 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Mesqualero (edited 27 February 2002).]