Why are Ants in my Plants, Pots and Soil?

Do you ever see ants running up the stems or along branches and leaves? What about your pot plants? Do you notice them in your potting mix? Or in your lawn making little mounds that blunt your mower blades?

Perhaps you’re wondering WHY they are there and WHAT they are doing? Are they causing damage or are they just annoying? If you want to know the answers and how to get rid of them naturally, read on.

Why are Ants in my Plants, Pots and Soil?

The answer is simple. Ants are extremely smart insects and ALWAYS have a good motive for inhabiting your plants, pots or soil. The two most likely reasons are for:

1. Food
2. Shelter

Seems reasonable enough, doesn’t it? We all need a roof over our heads and something to eat! Believe me, ants won’t expend energy doing anything unless there’s something in it for them.

If you see little black ants ON your plants, it’s likely because they have found a source of food. Ants are often a clue you have a bigger problem. Don’t shoot the messenger!  They are just the ‘couriers’ delivering you a message. They’ll take you straight to it. By being more observant, you’ll understand what they’re doing and why. Assuming they are harming your plant may be a BIG mistake because you only have part of the picture!

Most likely, if you look closely and follow their trail like a good detective, you’ll find it ends in sap-sucking insects like aphids, scale, mites, whiteflies or mealybugs. These pest insects are what you should be really looking for! Ants are your ‘tour guides’ and can detect the presence of these pests with their antennae. Smart hey?

So, instead of treating them as the enemy to be killed, learn to value their presence. Why? Because they have alerted you to the problem you really need to deal with! Micro gardening is about looking at details; learning to understand who, what, where and why things happen and ‘joining the dots.’

The Link between Ants, Pests and Disease

Common garden ants are attracted to these sap-sucking insects for a very good reason. They have ‘sweet tooths’ and know these pests leave behind a sugary reward that no self-respecting ant can resist!

These pest insects suck the sugary juices out of your plant, taking what they need for growth. At the same time, they are weakening your plant. If there are a lot of aphids present for example, your plant can suffer considerable damage in a relatively short time. Young leaves and flower buds are particularly vulnerable.

As these pest insects feed, they release a sweet ‘honeydew’ substance that sticks to your plant’s leaves or stems. Ants take this sugary syrup dessert as ‘payment’ for providing ‘bodyguard security protection services’ for these pests. Ants fiercely fend off any beneficial predators like ladybirds or hoverflies, that might turn up to feed on this free insect banquet. Of course, ants are going to defend their food pantry!

Ants protecting and guarding young aphids

It’s a pretty sweet ‘win-win’ arrangement for the ants and the pests, but not for you! If this is your problem, you need to remove the pest insects and the ants will disappear and find food elsewhere. If there are only a few aphids or scale and the problem is very minor, it’s likely your beneficial insects will keep the numbers under control. However, if there are lots of pest insects present, it’s a different story. Decision time!

If you ignore this issue, you may end up with more problems like black sooty mould. The honeydew provides the perfect environment for mould spores to grow and spread over the plant leaves. This black layer can slow or stop photosynthesis, so the plant can’t make enough energy to grow. This in turn, weakens your plant and can retard growth, flower and fruit production. A domino effect!

This citrus leaf has a heavy infestation of black sooty mould blocking sunlight

So be thankful the ants are on your plants – they are giving you the heads up!

How to Keep Ants Away from Plants Naturally

If you remove sap-sucking insects like aphids, scale and mealybugs from your plants, the ants will leave. If the food source disappears, they will too! These are some natural options.

1. A sharp spray of the hose should dislodge the sap suckers. You may need to repeat this several days in a row. This strategy may be enough to remove the majority and send them elsewhere. Or you can try hand-picking if there are only a few.

2. Encourage more natural predator insects. For example, ladybirds and hoverflies in greater numbers than ants, will help consume the pest insects.

Ladybird predator insect in a balanced food fight with one ant protecting many mature black aphids

Plant nectar and pollen-rich flowers in your garden to attract beneficial insects. They will be ‘in residence’ ready to come to your aid when needed.

3. Use an organic horticultural oil spray to smother the pest insects. This kills them naturally without harming the ants or other beneficial insects. I use EcoOil or EcoNeem only when absolutely necessary. Be patient. Sometimes you need to wait a few days for nature to get the balance right. Avoid petroleum-based horticultural oils. These are based on chemicals and unsafe for organic garden use.

How to Stop Ants on Trees

If you can prevent ants from crawling up the trunk or stem of a tree or shrub, they can’t play bodyguards to pest insects. So how do you stop them in their tracks? There are organic sticky but safe solutions such as fruit tree grease bands, tree wraps and barrier glues. These may be an option in your situation.

Ants in Pots and Your Soil

In your garden, ants are part of the overall ecosystem. They search for food; occasionally pollinate some plants; eat the eggs of some insects; distribute seeds; and are also a food source for larger insects, birds, lizards and frogs. They play many roles!

However, if you see ants in your potting mix or lawn, they’re likely there for another reason. They need a ‘house’, so the ant colony is making a nest to lay eggs and raise their families. Fair enough. If you watch them, they’re quite industrious and pretty good parents. They’ve chosen a dry, sheltered spot as home.

Anthill nest site in dry soil

In the garden or lawn, ant tunnels can actually help aerate your soil, improving drainage and soil structure. However, soil disturbance can encourage weed seeds to germinate and the mounds can blunt mower blades.

Ants can indirectly cause other problems. When they build their nests underneath plants, the soil they bring to the surface as mounds may bury smaller plants. Large colonies of ants can bring a lot of soil to the surface.

The bigger issue is that your plant roots may be disturbed and lose valuable moisture around the root zone. This is your next clue. Their presence may indicate those plants NEED WATERING.

Do you have Hydrophobic Potting Mix?

In pots, ants are a BIG problem because it’s very common to lose potting mix out the bottom. Their tunnels in the potting mix also create air pockets that can cause water to run straight through instead of soaking in slowly to benefit your plant.

Do a simple test. Count the seconds when watering, to see how quickly the water runs out the bottom. If it’s only a few seconds, you know your potting mix has dried out and needs to be thoroughly re-wet.

Do a watering test to see if your potting mix is absorbing moisture

Again, the presence of ants is simply a clue you have another problem and they are just taking advantage of it. Ant tunnels in pots usually means one thing. Your soil mix is dry. VERY DRY. Same in your lawn.

This may be an indication of a bigger issue – your potting mix could be hydrophobic. If the water is running through quickly, it has started to repel moisture. While re-wetting your potting mix is a short-term fix, you need to address this, or the same issue will keep happening. This problem is extremely common with bagged or commercial potting mixes. They start to repel water after time.

Hydrophobic soil or potting mix repels moisture

What’s the solution to hydrophobic soil? You can either:

1. Revitalize and refresh your old potting mix.
2. Repot with new potting mix or make your own moisture-holding recipe.

How to Remove Ants from Pots

Ants won’t nest in moist potting mix or wet soil. Fix that, and you’ll see them move house.

So, to remove ants that are nesting, simply make sure your pots or lawn are watered more often. Self-watering pots, a sprinkler, regular watering and a moisture-holding potting mix can all help deter ants.

To stop ants moving into pots, there’s an easy fix. Cut some fine flyscreen mesh to size and line your pot at the bottom before adding potting mix, so they can’t enter from the base. Sneaky!

You can also try sprinkling cayenne pepper or cinnamon on your pot mulch or rims to help deter them.

For small pots, you can add them to a bucket of water and submerge until air bubbles stop coming to the surface. Then remove. This should temporarily re-wet the potting mix and buy you time until you fix the problem properly.

If you can’t remove the potting mix easily or the pot or plant is too large, you may need to drench or soak the pot to re-moisten the soil and send them packing. A layer of mulch is essential to retain moisture in your pots.

Ants eat decayed organic matter helping to improve soil structure, aeration and drainage

Ants in your Compost

If you see ants in your compost, they may be recycling nutrients by eating decaying insects, helping your composting process. Or by now, you should have figured out the other reason they could be there. Because it’s too dry! Add water and you’ll see them leave.

So, if you have common garden ants in your plants, hopefully now you’ll put your ‘detective’ hat on, go follow the clues and solve the problem with ease!

Related Articles

• Imitate Nature for Higher Yields & Less Pests
• How to Prevent and Get Rid of Aphids Naturally
• Easy DIY Potting Mix Recipe
• Revitalising & Re-using Old Potting Mix
• How to Make Potting Mix at Home Guide

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© Copyright Anne Gibson, The Micro Gardener 2019. https://themicrogardener.com. All rights reserved.

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