Pulling up a weed anywhere seems to disturb an ant nest and they pour out in masses, which they didn't do before. Ants are a natural part of the living environment. No doubt they prefer a nicely tended garden which contains flowers. Ants - clever little creatures but quite a nuisance too if they're in the wrong place! An ant infestation of your beloved pot plants is not good; ants will disturb the plants roots and possibly end up killing the plant. Some ants feed on aphids, others like nectar. Some ants eat other insects, including garden pests. Plants provide all of these. The ants are making nests in the planting medium. This messes with the roots. There is a good possibility that the ants are aphid ranchers. The ants eat the aphids' excreted "honeydew," which is a sugar concentrate from the plant's sap. If they are not ranching, they are getting food from another source and that probably has something to do with the garden. The ants must be eliminated. There is only one thing to do: get rid of them and stop them from returning. If the plants are special, then they should be isolated so that the ants cannot get to other plants. A moat can be made using a tray several inches high. Place something like a block of wood to elevate the pot in the middle of the tray. Add water to the tray and the ants are trapped. Although it may seem like they are everywhere, once you follow the trails you will probably find that the ants are only colonizing a few containers. If the plants in them are not special, it may be easiest to destroy them to resolve the ant issue. Cinnamon is both repugnant and fatal to ants. As you sprinkle it or water it into the soil you will see the ants scurrying out of their nests. Ants are also susceptible to pyrethrum drenches and other biological insecticides. With a spoon, sprinkle ground cinnamon, which can be purchased at any herb shop or grocery store, on the top of the planting medium. Then make a drench using two rounded tablespoons of ground cinnamon per gallon of hot water. Let the water cool to room temperature then add a liquid pyrethrum insecticide into the solution as directed. For more control ideas, check out the site below: Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com