Ants are attacking my Bonsai

Question

I have a 5 year old tea tree bonsai that I keep in the house. As I was watering it I discovered that it has some ants, I don't think that they are necessarily attacking my tree but I know they could hurt it or kill it. I don't want to hurt my tree but killing them by hand is proving near to impossible. Anyone know how to best get rid of these ants, and keep my tree healthy? Please help I LOVE my tree.

Answer 1

They must be looking for food to take back to their formicary. I would place a shallow dish (margarine lid) near the plant and put some corn meal or grits into it to make food more readily available. I know that it may seem gross but they carry it back to the nest, eat it and feed it to the queen. They cannot digest this food and it kills them. Once, the queen has eaten it and died she can't lay any eggs. It takes time but it has seemed to work for me.

Answer 2

take a basin about a little bit bigger than your bonsai and then put water half way in that basin(regular tap water) and then get a bowl and turn it upside down put it right in the middle of that basin with water in it then check your bonsai make sure it doesn't have ants in there(check very carefully and thoroughly) after making sure there's no more ants put it right on top of the upside down bowl. Goodluck and hopefully it works.

Answer 3

Ants are not the problem, aphids and other insects are a bigger problem.  Ants do farm and cultivate aphids and other soft bodied insects which may harm your tree.  I found a product called "Ant Bait" at a local home improvement store.  Ant Bait is similar to a roach motel and very effective.  As for other insects and preventative maintenance you might want to check into "Safer Soap" or something that is safe and effective indoors.