Tomato Plant & Fire Ants?

AlittleSalt · April 4, 2017

This one is long. There is a real question as the title implies - and it is an experiment. I really like experimenting with plants.

Late last fall, there was a volunteer tomato plant that I dug up with the intent to see if I could overwinter it just for something to do. It died a few weeks after transplant. I had transplanted it in potting mix in a 3-4 gallon pot. It served two purposes - I didn't know what to do with the odd sized pot, and I got to use up some potting mix that I really didn't care for. (A personal opinion - so I won't mention a brand name). Anyway, I left the pot out thinking I would just dump the potting mix in the compost bin or something like that eventually. (I was being lazy from lack of interest.) That's the history of the pot and planting mix.

Two days ago, I was going through backup tomato plants when I thought, "Why not plant one in that pot?" I watered the plant in the party cup and went to plant it. Stuck my hand shovel in the potting mix and quickly saw that pot was full of fire ants! So I planted the tomato plant anyway.

Anyone who has fireants can tell you the dangers of them. For anyone who has not encountered a fireant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant sort of explains them.

I looked at it right at sundown tonight, and that tomato plant looks better/healthier than it ever did in the party cup. It brings up a lot of questions and ideas.

Could those fire ants be providing air to the roots by their burrowing?
Is that air a good thing for the tomato plant roots?
Can I compare what an ant colony is doing to what earthworms do?

April 4, 2017	#1
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Tomato Plant & Fire Ants? This one is long. There is a real question as the title implies - and it is an experiment. I really like experimenting with plants. Late last fall, there was a volunteer tomato plant that I dug up with the intent to see if I could overwinter it just for something to do. It died a few weeks after transplant. I had transplanted it in potting mix in a 3-4 gallon pot. It served two purposes - I didn't know what to do with the odd sized pot, and I got to use up some potting mix that I really didn't care for. (A personal opinion - so I won't mention a brand name). Anyway, I left the pot out thinking I would just dump the potting mix in the compost bin or something like that eventually. (I was being lazy from lack of interest.) That's the history of the pot and planting mix. Two days ago, I was going through backup tomato plants when I thought, "Why not plant one in that pot?" I watered the plant in the party cup and went to plant it. Stuck my hand shovel in the potting mix and quickly saw that pot was full of fire ants! So I planted the tomato plant anyway. Anyone who has fireants can tell you the dangers of them. For anyone who has not encountered a fireant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant sort of explains them. I looked at it right at sundown tonight, and that tomato plant looks better/healthier than it ever did in the party cup. It brings up a lot of questions and ideas. Could those fire ants be providing air to the roots by their burrowing? Is that air a good thing for the tomato plant roots? Can I compare what an ant colony is doing to what earthworms do?