Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks Marc. Ive got an infestation of tiny, tiny ants which seem to reside inside of the IBC grow bed frames. Im positive the little bastards are running a affid syndicate of some kind. They are destructive and organised...

Could be argentine ants or one of our many natives, both are small and can form nests above ground. I have had argentine ants make a nest in the air intake for my car's ventilation system and the small natives in the washing on the line!! All in a matter of hours.

if you can get them to take the antex bait (low toxicity) it is the safest way to control the nests and the bifenthrin (high toxicity) is a good barrier treatment to stop them getting back in there. You can also spray the nests if you can find them with bifenthrin. You can get it in one of those handy sprayers from you fave hardware store.

If you are interested in getting them ID you can send me some ants stuck to some sticky tape. I can also let you know if they are part of your aphid problem.

LOL

I've had success with leek seedlings , planted them day 1 when I first built the system , toook about a year to get to harvest size then they flowered and died straight after

Cheers marc, Ill try the antex and if that fails Ill move onto the harder stuff. PM my your addy and if all else fails Ill send you some of the little guys.



From the standpipe I mean...

From the looks of it its a suck it and see. I will definitely have to have a go and see what happens.
Now I just have to get a system up and running when I get back from swanning around the Philippines and Japan.

LOL, missed that one

I can't wait till my bumper crop of three (3) leeks are ready for harvest

had great luck with all my leeks

here are a few pics...

jT

Yep it works really well, great method for spring onions too, you will be surprised how quickly they start to grow back.

Borax, icing sugar and water mixed together works well too, as do flames!
Every now and then small black ants decide my power shed is a nice place to live, in particular the 4kW inverter, they generally arrive via a data cable I have strung across through a coupe of trees to the house. If you can dab a fair number of them with the mix, they die and are taken back into the nest, killing more of them.

I keep an eye out for them every day, after they did manage to set up shop in another inverter about 5 years ago, repairs for that cost me $1000 ;(

If your growbeds are on stands smear some petroleum jelly around the legs as the ants dont like crossing it.
Borax, honey and sugar mixed does a good job of knocking out nests