Ants on Succulents? Here’s What to Do

You just bought some amazing beautiful succulents at your local nursery or even better online with free shipping. Your succulents have been growing super healthy and happy and they just look so amazing!

However, you notice your succulents have nasty ants crawling around all over them! Why is this happening?!? Nobody likes ants, especially on your beautiful succulents that make your house or garden look amazing!

How do we get rid of these nasty ants on your succulents and how do we prevent these nasty ants? By the end of this article, you will exactly know how to get rid of ants crawling all over your beautiful succulents. You will also learn how to prevent ants from crawling on your succulents ever again.

Let’s begin!

Why Do Your Succulents Have Ants On Them?

Pests

Your succulents most likely have ants of them because some type of pests such as mealybugs are attacking the succulents. Ants have appeared because mealybugs produce sweet substances that’s kind of like honey when they are attacking the succulent. The mealybugs crawl on the dirt and on the stems and leaves of the succulent, leaving little trails of this sweet honey-like substance.

As you know, anything sweet will attract ants! Your succulent will be covered with this sweet substance, then ants will show up ready to eat that substance.

Now are ants bad for your succulents? No, ants will not harm succulents, just a few little ants on your succulents here and there will not cause health issues for the succulent. They are just so gross and not attractive at all! You want your succulents to look amazing and beautiful, not have a bunch of gross ants crawling on them! So let’s remove them!

Soil is Molding Or Something In it Is Attracting Them

Another reason why your succulent has ants could be because of the soil. The soil could have mold/bacteria already grown in the soil, attracting the ants. Also there could be some type of insect or something that’s dead inside the soil, this will also attract the ants.

This happens a lot because a lot of growers have no clue what’s going on with the succulent soil they are using. Soil can easily get moldy or have something die in it which will easily attract the ants to check it out.

How to Remove Ants on Succulents?

To remove the ants from your succulent, move the succulent to a safe area that you don’t care about getting a little messy. After you do this, buy ant traps on amazon, and set it near the succulent. The ants will get way more attractive to the trap than the succulent and they will surely go away.

If you don’t want to get an ant trap then you can definitely wash the succulent gently with water. I recommend using a water sprayer that will gently spray the ants so you don’t damage the leaves of the succulent. Make sure you don’t use too much water because if you overwater it then there’s a chance root rot can occur.

Repot / Use New Soil

Now if you really want these ants to disappear and leave your succulent alone, then you could consider repotting your succulent. You should consider repotting it and potting it in a new pot and in new soil.

Gently unpot the succulent and maybe let it sit out for about 1-2 days. If you want to use the same pot then go ahead, just make sure to take the old soil out and throw it away. Also wash the pot with soap and water then dry it.

Once you do this then repot the succulent in the clean pot with fresh new fast/well draining succulent soil. It’s very important to use fast/well draining succulent soil so it drain fast and keeps the soil dry, this will help prevent root rot. After repotting then make sure to water it immediately and then water once a week or when the soil looks or feels completely dry.

Use Well-Draining Succulent Soil

To prevent ants from attacking your succulent make sure to use well-drained succulent soil. It's very important that you use well-drained succulent soil so the soil doesn't stay soaked with water for several days. If you overwater the succulent and the soil stays wet and not dry for several days, then mold and bacteria will grow and appear. The mold and bacteria will then attack the roots of the succulent giving it root rot. Root rot is known as the #1 most common reason why a succulent will die.

To avoid mold/bacteria and root rot, you must use well-drained succulent soil. Well-drained succulent soil will keep the soil dry at a very fast rate preventing mold/bacteria and root rot from appearing. Any succulent grower expert will tell you that you need well-drained succulent soil, it's definitely a requirement for growing this succulent and every single other succulent out there.

We recommend using arguably the best succulent soil out there "Ramsey Succulent Soil"

Ramsey Succulent soil is arguably the best succulent soil on the market simply because it gets the job done and is loaded with nutrients.

Ramsey Succulent Soil has ingredients such as perlite, sand, and seaweed. Perlite and sand are known as the best ingredients out there if you want your soil well-drained. The perlite and sand will soak up all the excess water that your succulent does not need, preventing the soil from staying soaking wet for several days. So yes, Ramsey Succulent Soil will prevent mold/bacteria and root rot (the #1 most common reason why a succulent will die) simply because there will be no excess water.

That's not all tho.

What makes Ramsey Succulent Soil arguably the best are the nutrients that's in the soil. These nutrients will help your succulents grow bigger, faster, and healthier.

Ramsey Succulent Soil has seaweed fertilizer, which has 60 trace minerals and nutrients. Yes, your succulents will be absorbing 60 trace minerals and nutrients. This will make your succulents grow bigger, faster, and healthier without a doubt. Compared to other succulent soil, this succulent soil will make a huge huge difference for your plants. Don't believe us? Check out this picture below. You can definitely tell which succulent soil is better for your succulents.

Ramsey Succulent Soil: Click here to Purchase

How To Prevent Ants 

To prevent ants from crawling on your succulent we suggest a couple things:

Keep The Growing Area Clean

Make sure to just keep the growing area clean. Make sure there’s no food left behind, or spill sugary drinks near it. 

Keep An Eye On The Soil

Make sure to keep an eye out on the soil. If the soil looks like mold or bacteria is growing then definitely consider repotting the succulent and changing the soil to fresh soil. Also make sure to check on the soil for anything that has died in the soil that will attract ants.

Grow Away From Fruits

Make sure that you don’t grow your succulent near any bowl of sweets such as bananas, strawberries, etc. Sometimes these fruits begin to rot and smell, and then ants will come. Once they attack the fruits then they sure will come after your succulent next.

That’s it!

That’s all we have for you today! Ants on succulents are becoming super common when growing succulents, and more succulent growers are struggling with it. It’s not a big deal, they won’t hurt your succulents, but I understand! They are nasty and you don’t want them on your beautiful succulents! 

They are simply there only because they are attracted to something! Something sweet or something that smells good to them. Make sure to check the soil, and the growing area for anything that could be attracting them. You will figure it out and you will for sure stop those nasty ants from crawling on your succulents!

We hope we helped you out today and we hope you solve this ant problem! We know you will, just make sure to follow the steps and take action! Best of luck!

Thank you for visiting our website and reading our article. We hope we brought value, and great information to you today. Our goal is to help fellow succulent lovers like you! Any questions or if you’d like more tips email us or comment below! 

If you are interested in buying live succulents, soil, cuttings, etc. We have them available here on our website. Go to our homepage, or click the links in our articles for more information.

We thank you so much for your time.

Thank You!

Ramsey Succulents

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