I must do doing this wrong or using the incorrect duct tape. I applied the tape backward in several places about two days ago but the ants just walk across it.
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I am going to try fly paper strips.
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i think the uv light or dust maybe coats the ducks tape to the point where it no longer sticks enough.
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Maybe smear some Vaseline or Tanglefoot on it and see what they do.
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Agreed. Tanglefoot will stop them
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I tried using the duct tape myself. Works great until morning dew hits it. I bought the tangle foot this year.
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Try “Dave’s insanity sauce “ or a equivalent crazy hot sauce .
Painted on the trunk.
It would stop a determined 1ft. Wide column of leaf cutter ants in their tracks that really wanted to eat a favorite tree overnight , in southern Belize .A very formidable opponent !
I have not tried it on the ants up here, don’t have too many ant problems , except in the house,
I feed those a borax bait .
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Just don’t anyone put Tanglefoot directly on young bark. I did and paid the price- girdled trees. It worked for me fine years ago on older trees- say 15 to 20 years old but I won’t even do that ever again.
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Duct tape works fine for blocking ants indoors where the tape maintains its tackiness.
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I like to use a couple wraps of flagging tape around the trunk and then smear tanglefoot on the flagging tape. I just made sure not to leave it on too long. It’s pretty stretchy but didn’t want to risk girdling the tree.
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ive mixed in some cayenne pepper in cheap petroleum jelly. even if it gets coated with dust, the pepper still deters them. i put some cheap masking tape then the p. jelly on that. touch up the p. jelly occasionally. it stays on for quite some time.
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I’m cosidering using a coat of petroleum jelly or tangle foot and I think they would be effective. My concern is keeping it off the tree trunk over a long period of time. Does rain splash it off onto the trunk or soil?
it doesnt here but at your temps it might be a good idea to put a 2nd ring of tape below it and keep a eye on it. i wouldnt think it would damage anything but thats just a guess.
Bill,
Rain/Water does not bother Tangle Foot. That thing does not run. It is like super glue.
The wrap you use needs to be plastic-based like gardening tape, electric tape, strips of plastic grocery bags, etc. I would avoid masking tape.
If you were forgetful like me and left masking tape smeared with Tangle Foot on tree trunks too long (like into the fall), it was impossible to take masking tap off. It was as if Tangle Foot was painted right on the trunk. Not a pretty sight. Fortunately, I never did it on young trees.
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Thank you. That is the information I needed.
One more thing. Wrap a trunk at least a foot or higher above ground. If you do it too low to the ground, debris including pieces of cut grass would stick to Tangle Foot, cover the smeared surface and render the wrap ineffective.
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Good tip
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I’m considering trying Tanglefoot for ants and PC (that might be climbing up trunks). Then I remembered watching a couple of my cats having a great time climbing trees in the orchard yesterday. I found the top 16" of the central leader of my Buford pear broke off a couple of mornings ago… I am attributing the damage to the cats. Anyway… any one know what happens when cat meets Tanglefoot?
Might this be set down to púcas? From experience I can say that they damage trees a surprising distance from the ground though they seem to prefer staying low and out of sight. One would not normally think an immaterial creature could cause such mischief.
The Earth hath bubbles, as the Water ha’s,
And these are of them: whither are they vanish’d?
Into the Ayre: and what seem’d corporall,
Melted, as breath into the Winde.
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