Coconut and Ants!

[ZPalms]

A couple days ago I went to water my coconut and noticed ants came crawling out of the coconut and some of the leave arms, how do I get rid of the ants and not harm the coconut?

[JohnAndSancho]

Terro organic ant baits 

[ZPalms]

5 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Terro organic ant baits 

That won't attract more ants will it like a cycle of buy, kill, buy, kill?

Edited September 7, 2022 by ZPalms

[96720]

I use amdro but I don’t know if it is something that would be absorbed by the palm 

[JohnAndSancho]

34 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

That won't attract more ants will it like a cycle of buy, kill, buy, kill?

I don't think so. I've used them in the office for sugar ants. I've given them to friends and neighbors for their patio gardens. I wanted to use something my dog couldn't get into and they worked for me.  

[idontknowhatnametuse]

I put detergent in mine when I saw ants and termites in the coconut.

[ZPalms]

33 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I don't think so. I've used them in the office for sugar ants. I've given them to friends and neighbors for their patio gardens. I wanted to use something my dog couldn't get into and they worked for me.  

I could place these on the ground around the coconut and give them a try when I can get some

 

37 minutes ago, 96720 said:

I use amdro but I don’t know if it is something that would be absorbed by the palm 

I'm unsure 🤔

 

19 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

I put detergent in mine when I saw ants and termites in the coconut.

How do you apply this? I have unscented and dye free detergent

[idontknowhatnametuse]

40 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

I could place these on the ground around the coconut and give them a try when I can get some

 

I'm unsure 🤔

 

How do you apply this? I have unscented and dye free detergent

It can be detergent or anything with borax

[ZPalms]

Just now, idontknowhatnametuse said:

It can be detergent or anything with borax

Do you just pour it on the palm or do you put it in water and spray it?

[idontknowhatnametuse]

First you pour it in the coconut. Prevent pouring it in the palm. Then water it.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

It wont harm the palm anyways. Here's my coconut palm that got attacked by ants today.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Those lines in the fruit are where the ants were carving

[ZPalms]

14 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Those lines in the fruit are where the ants were carving

I'm scared to use it because my coconut has a hole in it from growing and the nut is cracking and the pants are hiding in the leaves arms and in the hole

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Just now, ZPalms said:

I'm scared to use it because my coconut has a hole in it from growing and the nut is cracking and the pants are hiding in the leaves arms and in the hole

Do you have any photos of it?

[ZPalms]

54 minutes ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Do you have any photos of it?

I don't have any photos of it specifically but on my coconut forum post I have a photo you can see the crack from the coconut starting to split from growing, I'll go get a picture in a bit if I can, It's dark outside

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Got it.

By the way is the palm growing or is it dormant? Mine stayed dormant for 3 weeks or so after I applied detergent. And then it started growing.

[ZPalms]

3 hours ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

Got it.

By the way is the palm growing or is it dormant? Mine stayed dormant for 3 weeks or so after I applied detergent. And then it started growing.

Its still growing, never stops. I'm scared of soap going into the soil and throwing it off

[idontknowhatnametuse]

6 hours ago, ZPalms said:

Its still growing, never stops. I'm scared of soap going into the soil and throwing it off

if it's still growing that's a good sign. At that age ants aren't really a problem for coconuts anymore since the seed itself is no longer needed at all. My golden Malayan dwarf, Green Malayan Dwarf and another unknown tall variety used to have ants all the time, however I never saw them affecting the palms or damaging them.

 

another solution that I don't think would be needed at all is burying the coconut more.

[Alan_Tampa]

Don't go nuts with borax. Useful amounts of boron and harmful amounts of boron are not that far apart. 

[ZPalms]

9 hours ago, idontknowhatnametuse said:

if it's still growing that's a good sign. At that age ants aren't really a problem for coconuts anymore since the seed itself is no longer needed at all. My golden Malayan dwarf, Green Malayan Dwarf and another unknown tall variety used to have ants all the time, however I never saw them affecting the palms or damaging them.

 

another solution that I don't think would be needed at all is burying the coconut more.

 

7 hours ago, Alan_Tampa said:

Don't go nuts with borax. Useful amounts of boron and harmful amounts of boron are not that far apart. 

I don't think I need anything else, It seems like ant activity has subsided,  I knocked and banged on the trunk and pot a little bit and so far not many ants really made an appearance with all the aggiatation I was doing, I put insecticidal soap and neem oil and fungicide 3 on the nut and the cracks in the coconut and the trunk of the tree, along with ground cinnamon on Tuesday. I put down an ant trap at the base of the pot, so any ants that find that bait and take it back to the nest should kill their queen and colony collapse. 

I'm hoping that means I'm in the clear or at least on the winning end of this fight, but you are right about the coconut, I don't think it's in use anymore. It's attached but not its life support anymore. The ant population in my yard needs to drop anyway. There has recently been an increase in ant activity in the areas that I use, probably because I brought life to an area that didn't get much activity before, and now that I'm planting and adding water and stuff, it's like paradise for them.

Edited September 8, 2022 by ZPalms

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, ZPalms said:

 

I don't think I need anything else, It seems like ant activity has subsided,  I knocked and banged on the trunk and pot a little bit and so far not many ants really made an appearance with all the aggiatation I was doing, I put insecticidal soap and neem oil and fungicide 3 on the nut and the cracks in the coconut and the trunk of the tree, along with ground cinnamon on Tuesday. I put down an ant trap at the base of the pot, so any ants that find that bait and take it back to the nest should kill their queen and colony collapse. 

I'm hoping that means I'm in the clear or at least on the winning end of this fight, but you are right about the coconut, I don't think it's in use anymore. It's attached but not its life support anymore. The ant population in my yard needs to drop anyway. There has recently been an increase in ant activity in the areas that I use, probably because I brought life to an area that didn't get much activity before, and now that I'm planting and adding water and stuff, it's like paradise for them.

Time to get a pet aardvark. 

[ZPalms]

2 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Time to get a pet aardvark. 

Would be amazing!!!! My grandmas yard is much worse aardvarks would be in heaven to have a endless buffet 😂