HelpfulGardener.com

Hello,
I'm new here and this is my first post. I am very new to gardening and I have an ant problem. I have a cedar tree seeding in a pot outside. I noticed yesterday that my pot has been overrun with ants. They are very aggressive and attack and bite if I even tap the pot. They are excavating the dirt out of the container. There is a big mound of dirt around the plant.

I read on a few sites to try borax ant killer. I put some of the liquid down, and the ants immediately buried the bait. What does that mean? Are they going to eat it later? My little tree comes inside during cold weather, and I can't bring it in with all the ants. What should I do?!

I and my tree thanks you!

You are on the right track, boron is the right tool. I might try some borax powder in water and water it in; that should move them on... a teaspoon or so in a cup... stir and apply

HG

So, it won't hurt the tree? I was concerned that any poison might kill my tree.

In a container, all you have to do is make life uncomfortable for them. Just flooding it with water usually does the trick for me. I just let a hose run into the container for a day, or until the soil is thoroughly flooded. It won't hurt most plants, but I've seen ants go streaming out, each one carrying a pupa.