bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Oak leaf Phylloxeran[Oak leaf aphids]

" have a "problem" with ants and my oaks. I see ants on other trees - maybe one or two - but for some reason, they all love my two oaks. I must have shaken off about 50 ants from each tree earlier."

Ants are usually a symptom, not the disease. Ants actively "farm" aphids and scale insects. They will move and tend these other insects to harvest the sugar-rich secretions produced by them. You might watch where those ants are going on the tree. They will usually move towards the ends of branches to tend their "farms" of sugar making critters.

Take a look on the twigs and stems of the oak for aphids (underneath leaves and on leaf stalks and especially new growth. Also look closely at the stems and thinner bark of new growth for scale (they look like little limpet mines). I'd bet you find either one or the other. If it's aphids, intesne blasts from a water hose from underneath the tree aimed upwards will dislodge them. The scale has to be picked off by hand. This can take some doing, since the ants will try to replace the insects you remove, but once you get most of them off the plant, the ants will mostly give up and move on.

Another thing you can do is to look around the base of the plant for the ants' home and destroy it.

5-Jul-2005	#8
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	" have a "problem" with ants and my oaks. I see ants on other trees - maybe one or two - but for some reason, they all love my two oaks. I must have shaken off about 50 ants from each tree earlier." Ants are usually a symptom, not the disease. Ants actively "farm" aphids and scale insects. They will move and tend these other insects to harvest the sugar-rich secretions produced by them. You might watch where those ants are going on the tree. They will usually move towards the ends of branches to tend their "farms" of sugar making critters. Take a look on the twigs and stems of the oak for aphids (underneath leaves and on leaf stalks and especially new growth. Also look closely at the stems and thinner bark of new growth for scale (they look like little limpet mines). I'd bet you find either one or the other. If it's aphids, intesne blasts from a water hose from underneath the tree aimed upwards will dislodge them. The scale has to be picked off by hand. This can take some doing, since the ants will try to replace the insects you remove, but once you get most of them off the plant, the ants will mostly give up and move on. Another thing you can do is to look around the base of the plant for the ants' home and destroy it.