One of my plant pots is home to an ants nest -what can I do?

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I have a beautiful climber (Virginia Creeper I think ,-it is green then goes red about late Oct and the leaves fall off)
It's in a huge pot at the side of our brick shed with a trellis .

When I water it (as I have to do in hot weather) hundreds of ants scurry about , today there are flying ants too .
Normally I'd use boiling water to kill a nest . but the plant wouldn't survive that .

In late autumn I'll cut it back and repot it .
But for now can I di anything ?

It's only this pot .

I've had success with those disc-shaped ant bait trap things. Put one on the surface of the soil. You need to keep it dry and remove it when it is raining or when you water the plant though.

Can't you just leave them? Flying ants only last a day or two anyway.

This really. Ants usually appear where it's drier. So water a bit more snd they'll move. Its probably a sign the compost is a bit worn out so not holding water the same way as it fid when fresh. But tbey probably aren't doing any harm.

I'd leave them alone. Are they doing any harm?
Ants are amazing little creatures - watch them sometimes!

I also wouldn't have thought to do anything. Also, they'll eat up any larvae your plant might have, so that's helpful!

Just leave it.

These are the killer things we’ve used. Ours were right by the front door though.

amzn.to/3WhHO8y

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/ants

Why are some people so obsessed with killing things?

They're not doing any harm. Leave them alone.

We had some in a lemon tree pot in our house, I really wanted to leave them be and tried all the natural solutions I could find but they just kept multiplying. After having them running in lines all over the living room for a week or so I gave up and put one of these in the pot- https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/ant-clear-ant-bait-station-twin-pack?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=21008851150&cq_term=&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&cq_plt=gp&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwqMO0BhA8EiwAFTLgIJ6gz0_hUnYYFrR6u4g7oZ7CFHjONFkmLvBbZ-vYkn0dm8mQR3vwlBoCedYQAvD_BwE

They cleared within a few days.

I wouldn't have worried if it had been outside... however, we now have another issue. They have taken a liking to our car! The keep running along the charging cable and seem to party around the charging port and the joins around that area. Some mornings the whole car is covered. Hosing them off only seems to remove them for a few hours, they seem to cling on for long journeys. Haven't seen any inside.
Tried moving the above ant bait station outside and sitting it on the charger cable but it's not helping!! So hope someone has some other bright ideas!

Ah , if the plant isn't bothered then I'll leave them in there . I didn't know if they'd be eating the plant roots or something .

It will get re-potted after this year growing season.

They won't be eating the roots, but they will be disturbing the soil around them and creating air pockets in the pot, which could cause some of the roots to die back. Ants also actively farm aphids and milk them for their sugary secretions (ugh), and are known to carry them from plant to plant and protect them from predators.

We have ant nests in our lawn and in the rockery and I leave them alone, but they are a real nuisance if they get into pots or the brickwork around doorways. We once had a flying ant day inside the house. That was not a pleasant experience.

If you're planning to repot it; just get a big tray//sheet & tip the soil out & leg it. The ants will move on & the birds will have a field day! Once they've gone, repot with new soil.
Otherwise just leave them be if the plant doesn't appear to be affected.

For those saying ants do no harm, keep an eye on potted plants. We lost both blueberry bushes as the ants removed the soil from around the roots and the plants 'suffocated'.

I had to repot this week for that reason- but my plant was already very stressed.

It needs to be moister, so topdress with something that'll hold the water, stand in a saucer if you can, and water much more often. Drench it, then use an inverted bottle to help top it up.

The ant runs let the roots dry out and make it harder to keep the soil damp.

I topped mine with very wormy compost from my wormery. It's keeping it moist and hopefully the worms will be working the soil into the roots b

This. I hate this obsession with killing things and boiling water? Wtf.

Do you know when you attack an ants nest, all the adult ants rally to protect and save the young ants

They're not doing you, or your plant, any harm so just leave them be

I agree that it probably means the soil is too dry in the pot. Ants like dry soil. So if you water regularly and thoroughly to drench the soil and keep it damp the ants may move on.

Stand the pot in a tray, fill the tray with water and heavily water the pot. The soil is clearly too dry; ants won’t nest in damp soil.

I completely agree keep the soil / compost well watered and fingers crossed they should be off. Ants only move in where the soil or compost is dry making it easier for them to burrow around.

I recently had ants move in to a worm bin and after a couple of doses of water the were off 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜

@thesustainablegardener ditto - we had ants in the compost bin earlier this year - I managed to move them on by making it wetter!

I will disagree with this we had ant nests in the lawn when my DC were little - red ants - which bit my DD repeatedly .
The boiling water came out for them

I;m not "obsessed with killing things"

These ones in my plant are making holes in the compost and I know they tunnel so yes , the roots are most likely in air pockets ,
I'll just keep watering .

The ones in the lawn were definately causing harm.

The pot and plant may be too big and unweildy for this but I have de-anted pots by completely submerging them (plant and all) for a day or two. The ants come up to the surface and climb the plant and eventually leave. The nest may also be partly in the ground under the pot too though, which might make them more likely to move back.

I do agree with you wanting to evict the ants as the excessive air and disturbance round the roots can end up really stressing the plant I find. (The plant can go a kind of pinky colour and stop growing).

However if you keep watering it may survive the summer, in which case I still recommend submerging the rootball as part of the repotting process for the best chance of complete relocation of these valuable but mis-located insects 😁

The pot is too big but it's sitting on a concrete ledge at the base of the shed .
Once I cut it back to a manageable size the spent compost can go in the compost bin - with the ants if the birds don't want them.

It's only this pot , I have other potted plants , they've moved in on this one .

I lost a glorious rose this summer to ants. Repotted but it was too late to save the roots.

Little buggers have moved into a huge potted rose but I’ve been spraying the aphids they farm with soapy water and numbers of both are declining.

Will water more, but try soapy spray or blasting aphids off with a hose too.