Watch this Before Building a Hugelkultur Bed
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
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In this video I will explain what went terribly wrong with the hugelkultur raised bed I made.
Welcome to my channel, Our Tropical Soil, where you can learn how to grow food in the tropics!
Hugelkultur beds are a great way to create a very fertile area to grow food in. I was excited to try one and decided to build a raised bed that was filled halfway with logs and other organic matter. I never stopped to consider wether any ants would be making nests in these logs. Long story short they made a nest. The ants in the logs were a carpenter ant that I was already having problems with from before. It was farming scales and aphids on some of my plants. By giving the ants an ideal location to make a nest their numbers were able to increase and I was having more and more problems with the aphids and scales. I still believe hugelkultur beds are a great way to increase fertility, but I if I ever try and make another one I will only be using small sticks and not logs.
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I also have ant problems. Fire ants love to nest in my raised beds and hugelkulter bed. I like to mix a gallon of water with a cup of orange oil and drench the nest. This has worked for me
Nice! Thanks for the tip. I have orange oil.
i will try this on my bed of fire ants! thank you
Little bastards. They always get into my raised bed here in TX
Diatomaceous Earth
Ants in the tropics are your primary producers of high quality soil. They literally work to breakdown materials into soil. Ants in the tropics are like worms in the temperate zones. You need to figure how to work with them, not kill them. Raise other predators like dragonflies and preying mantis for aphids. The Ants are your workers converting hugelkulture mound into soil faster. It's how hugelkulture works, partnering with fungi, ants and worms.
Wow, almost exactly a year later..
I think I know what went wrong with your hugelkultur bed. The logs should not have been a hospitable environment for those ants. They should have been soggy and decomposing, and they probably weren't. You actually describe the problem yourself when you mention the layering. Many people forget to include a small layer of soil in between each individual layer. So, you wanted to have something like: Logs, soil, straw, soil, branches, soil, leaves, soil, etc. When you build your Hugel like that, it makes sure that water penetrates through all layers. Especially that bottom layer of logs needs good stuffing with soil to fill up all the gaps - If you do not build your Hugel like that, a thick layer of leaves for example, maybe not really mixed in with any soil, may actually block water from reaching the bottom of the Hugel. - Having said all that, you could have done everything perfectly fine, but maybe you're in a dry region and if that Hugel becomes too dry, it will not have functioned as it should.
Perhaps this can help future Hugelkultur builders.
Great advice, and yes I think maybe layering on more soil and other organic matter could have helped to prevent the ants access to the wood. South Florida is actually very wet during the summer. We do have a very dry period form about March to May. The issue is that the Florida Carpenter Ant loves rotting wood. They make nests in anything wet and soft. I use logs as steps and the dryer more harder wood they don't touch but as soon as I have a log that is a mushy mess then they come in and make a nest in there. But I do think maybe if the wood would have been buried in deeper then maybe the ants would have never had been able to gain access to it. However, I have seen the ants running into underground tunnels all over the place.
@@OurTropicalSoil Oh wow, yea if you're dealing with ants that specifically like wood, then you're in for a fight..
Well, your video was a great warning because I never considered this problem. So I will definitely keep it in mind when building the next Hugel. Thank you.
Thank you! I have been getting rid of any decaying wood overtime and I stopped burying any piece of wood that is thicker than a few inches a cross. The ant problem has significantly decreased :)
These are great in snow country.
Keep them soggy and snowy. Mold yes, ants no.
TheBushdoctor68 I’m building my first hugelkultur beds this year and was wondering if layering composted manure over the wood layer would help with breaking down the wood? Ur help would be greatly appreciated!❤️
We had a problem with ants and other pests in our garden. We were able to control them by putting vaseline along the areas we wanted to protect. We put it along the hummingbird feeder hanger as well and it stopped them. Wrap tape around the base of your tree that is several inches wide and then load the tape with vaseline. Check it once a week or more and apply as needed. We also coated pieces of yellow paper with vaseline and tied them on strings around the garden to trap the white flies. That also helped as they are attracted to yellow and they get stuck to the cards. Good luck!
I like how you talked about the relationship between ants & aphids.
Reminded me of how I panicked when I saw ants crawling on my Japanese maple. I laughed when you talked about carpenter ants & their role & where they live. You spoke like you really know their ecosystem. Nature is amazing & we humans are still learning.
I think that it's better to use whatever natural gardening methods people have used in your area going back thousands of years. Those people had it all figured out a long time ago - exactly what works in your specific environment with all of the local insects, plants, and animals. Hugelkultur was developed in Germany and Eastern Europe where the environment is vastly different from the tropics. Maybe see if you can talk to someone whose family has continued a traditional way of gardening in your climate.
That is a great idea! There seems to be very limited information about what the Native Americans that lived in South Florida were doing. I need to look further into it.
It also hasn’t been used very long , deff not even a 100 year old technique. Theres no scientific proof that this is a effective method of growing and causes more problems than it does good.
@@lisasmith7194 I mean the specific method isn’t that ancient but just think, ancient peoples burying stuff with the plants is basically the same things. When the Wampanoags planted the fish with the corn, that was like hugelkultur.
@@lisasmith7194 another example is the Aztecs building Chinampas. Layering mud and things to create huge gardens in the middle of a lake.
I love this suggestion!
Thanks for the good advice! I used hardwoods in my huglkulture beds (sunken beds), and had some insect problems, box elder bugs coming out where I buried box elder wood, and the bugs were sucking juice out of the squash vines. Aspen wood seemed to work the best, as it breaks down into a really spongy mass, holding a lot of water and mycorrhizae love it. I didn't try pine because I thought it would be too high a carbon: nitrogen ratio, and with your experience I definitely will keep pine out of the beds! I did try oak too, but that's extremely slow to break down, it might be down at the bottom like ship's timbers for eons. Thanks again for the advice on avoiding pine in the huglkulture beds!! 🌱
Hello new Permaculture fan here. I never see the downsides of this method so this was very informative. I plan on moving to South Florida when the pandemic ends to see and work on these tropical fruits! Love your channel!
Glad it was helpful! I have found that using small chunks of wood the size of a fist or two has worked well and there have not been any ant colonies.
I grew up there. How is or did that decision work out for you? Too congested for my liking. Things will continue getting back. I would not want to live in such a highly dense population, especially when people run low or out of food. Bad times are coming.
Cinnamon, lemon juice, vinegar, and brewed coffee grounds are all natural ant repellents. You can put any of these around the perimeter of your garden bed.
THANK YOU for bringing this concern up. I had a pine tree cut down in my yard, and have been considering turning the logs into a Hugelkultur bed, but I definitely have carpenter ants and don't want to give them a free palace. I'll definitely need to think more about this. I wonder if there's a way to deter the ants from the wood.
I appreciate the way you communicate. Very clear, with feeling and information, at a quick enough pace to get to the point etc. I started a mound yesterday using cuttings from my yard and soil. You've told me some important things. Thank you!!
Keep in mind Soursop trees are notorious for attracting ants, something about the scent and sap attract them. The flowers also get fertilised by the ants so they shouldn't be removed. I've had Soursop trees with multiple ants nests in it, and nearby fruit trees have no ants at all.
The ants are helping to break down the wood, it's all part of how nature works. Of course, you have a problem with ants farming aphids/scale on your trees. A big part of permaculture is observing what happens and considering all the connections between the elements in your garden ecosystem, and how you can adapt or harness each challenge that shows up. Labelling it as a good or bad idea misses the point of working with nature, which is that this is just how it works and there is nothing wrong or right about it.
That's all I can add, there are a lot of great comments on here with useful advice, and I agree with them. I just wanted to throw in another perspective to balance all the people telling you how to "fix" the "problem". Maybe you could harness this by giving the ants a sacrificial tree that they really like and having a place where you can give them any wood that you want broken down in a hurry. It could be your wood processing facility. Just a thought.
Thank you for your insight! Yes the ants do help break down the softer wood by creating tunnels in it. I hadn't thought about having a sacrificial tree. That would be interesting to do. But I think a set up like that would be best located far away from any of the trees that you'd want to keep the ants off. Then you can throw a bunch of logs around the sacrificial tree and let the ants go crazy with scales and the logs. It is strange because I moved the logs somewhere else (they weren't buried by soil this time) and they haven't been colonized by those specific ants again despite it being nearby. As that wood is broken down by other ants (these aren't damaging our plants) and fungi we have been breaking it up and mixing it in with the mulch. I am thinking that maybe the buried logs provide a really ideal home for that ant species and their population can explode. Then, if there is no predator insect to control their numbers the colony gets so large that they inflict too much damage on the trees. Just a thought. I don't bother the ants unless they are farming aphids/scales on my plants or they are going into our house.
The obstacle is the way
Also one thing to consider the concrete blocks will leech out lime and change the pH of your soil. Grass clippings also break down way too fast to be included and anything compostable.,unless the clippings are turned regularly. Thanks for your video.
Thank you for the tips. I hadn't thought about the concrete blocks leaching lime.
I am pretty sure that the type of ant I have in my garden is the Florida Carpenter Ant. If you want to learn more about them you can read this article here. entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/fl_carpenter_ants.htm I would encourage any of you to do your research about your local ant species before using logs in the garden. If there is an ant species that can be problematic then maybe it is best to only use sticks or wood chips to build your hugelkuktur beds. Save the logs as stepping stones or garden bed borders. In these locations they are easier to access in case they get infested with ants.
Maybe try growing mint in and around the beds? Ants hate it.
Tropics is a differant kettle of fish ,than what most of us deal with.I think you should use a smaller diameter branches in the heap as well as layering soil in between, as its an "activator" it sets the composting process in motion.Another thing to consider is ,not to look at the hugelkulture beds as a long term bed ,look at it as a short term ,6 month to a year bed ,more like a compost pile that you grow food in rather than something different and special.I love in the subtropics ,new south Wales Australia, very wet wet season very dry dry season. I've learnt to be flexible ,with my approach, including at times ,turning over my compost beds , like when there was an extreme wet season that included floods in town ,and fungal issues in my garden.,
I'm also in south Florida and have had the best success using log wood as mulch on top of the soil instead of buried. I laid the wood down and just covered it with mulch. The mulch seems to keep the wood too wet for the ants to enjoy. The solid wood also lasts much longer than mulch by itself. I saw you got wood chips and would suggest you stockpile wood pieces on top of the mulch then next mulch delivery put it on top of the log wood. I do see some ants too but they haven't made many big problems. I do have sprinklers and think that the ants like it on the dry side so maybe in more moist areas they will not become such a problem in wood. Just remember that all the wood chip mulch you put down will be gone by next summer you will need more by then and you will be quickly building soil. One foot of mulch equals about 4 inches of soil after one year but that will decompose farther and get eaten by worms to about 1 inch, so about 10 to 1 in the end. So, by the time you add 10 feet of mulch you will build 1 foot of soil! Good luck to you.
Yes solid wood lasts much longer! The hot and wet summers here make everything decompose very quickly. Thank you for that great explanation of how much soil I will be left with. I think topping off the garden with mulch every year is a good idea. I also want to grow other species that can be used for chop and drop to also add mulch and fertility to the soil. The pile of soft wood we have doesn't have the ants anymore. My father and I pulled the wood out yesterday and found that a lot of it was almost decomposed to soil! I saved some in a bucket for later where I am gonna use it to help fill up some raised beds we made.
When i have ant problems, i sprinkles cinnamon around the beds as well as lay some ant traps (borax, sugar, and water)
Thank you for the tip!
@@OurTropicalSoil glad to help
borax always works but i dont know if it will hurt what u grow
@@cvictor8999 you put the mixture inside a container or water bottle with a couple holes just big enough for ants to crawl inside and put the lid or cap back on. I place them throughout the gardens and window sills or anywhere there might be a problem. Keep out of reach of children and pets though as it a poison
The way I was taught was to use longer and thinner branches, fresh green wood from just trimmed trees.
Green wood isn’t attractive to carpenter ants, they prefer older, drier wood. The maximum diameter of a branch I was told should be 4”, but closer to 3” is better.
We have a lot of carpenter ants where I live and doing it this way has never caused an issue.
I was also taught to put a layer of soil in between each layer and to water each layer well. Doing this ensures that the wood decays without drying out and making an apartment complex for the ants.🥰
Thanks for the info. I have been doing something similar. Using thinner branches and small chunks of wood about the size of a fist and have not had an issue. :)
We experienced the exact same problem on multiple fruit trees in our backyard orchard. Ants create symbiotic relationships with bugs that feed off fruit trees, slowing and stunting growth and production.
We put tape around the base trunk of each affected tree. This stopped the ants climbing up the trees and all the sucking pest problems went away.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Didn't think about it. Will consider it when planning garden beds
I live in the sub tropics of Australia (Brisbane). We get 1200mm water average in a year, 2/3s of it falls in the 6 mths around summer.
I have built raised beds (mound gardens = hugelkultur) thus: dig down 1-1.5 feet, go to nearby native bushland and collect lots of fallen rotting branches up to 2 inches in diameter), place in hole, cover with fresh green cuttings from shrubs, then add some of the soil back, add cardboard and newspaper, then more green (lawn clippings and shrub cuttings, then more soil, horse manure, then compost, then more horse manure, then newspaper 10 pages thick, then mulch on top (organic sugarcane mulch). This way, I am adding all the ingredients you use to make a compost pile (green, brown, water, air...and manure as an accelerator). Because the branches from the forest are already decomposed a lot, and because of the manure, I get much more heat out of these mounds. The heat helps the rate of growth of kale, spinach, and asian greens I plant through our winter, where temps drop to 3-10C overnight. I like the mounds because the rain here comes in bucket loads via tropical storms, and ground level vegetables can get damaged by the heavy down pours that do not drain well for 3-4 days. The mounds also do hold water more evenly, and I don't have to water as much.
Either way, the vegetables are doing really well.
Many say you should not add fresh horse manure to edible veges beds, but I have not had a problem, though I only do leafy greens on the mounds, and wash everything before eating. Further, after applying the manure, the smell is gone within a week, so I am presuming there is little to no anaerobic bacteria.
Wow this was a lot of good information. Thank you for sharing!
Same here in Brasil. My deep Hugelkultur beds with a lot of mulch on top do very well, while the normal beds with compost dry out and become very compacted after one season.
I am always happy when ants or termites start to live in my beds (although I have to take care not to disturb them during planting/ harvesting. Mad ants can bite ferociously.) They enrich the soil and provide extra drainage by all the tiny tunnels they dig.
Yes, ants can be a nuisance when they milk the aphids, but I use Neem oil to benignly get rid of any sucking insect. And when the soil improves by more activity of micro-organisms, the sugar content of the leafs gets to high for aphids etc.
My grandfather grew the hugest watermelons planting where mass's of old tree's roots where rotting in the ground. The decomposing roots seemed to be helping hold water and nutrients in our incredibly sandy soil. It wasn't a raised-bed-like situation. They were grown on slightly sunken ground actually. I have no luck with raised beds. They become bone dry daily in the heat. Slightly Sunken beds work better if anything because they hold moisture well between rain showers. Even for most of the rainy season I ended up having to water the raised bed way too often by hand. Hand watering is my absolute least favorite garden chore especially during the hot rainy season. The raised bed worked well for the one rainest month out of the year where it rains reliably once every single day. But for the rest of the summer where it rains once every two to three days it didn't work at all. A super deep raised bed may have worked better. I'm in St. Petersburg FL.
Yes I have heard that raised beds are better for areas with compacted soil that doesn't drain well. In Florida our soil is so sandy and fast draining. That sounds awesome about your grandfather growing the huge watermelons. I actually have 2 watermelons on a vine now. They are the sugar baby variety. They are almost ready to be harvested. I am excited!!!! Mulching helps a ton with the watering. I dig back and the soil is not bone dry. I water every couple of days. I try and water my seedlings daily for the first week or two after being transplanted or seeded. I just water them with a watering can. Then if it hasn't raised in a while I water everything with the hose. My goal is to never water any of the mature plants because the soil holds the moisture because of the mulch.
Did you used mulch on top of your raised bed ? Like wood chips.
This help alot at keeping moisture in your soil.
@@simonl4693 , yes I mulched the bed. I mulch every corner of my yard haha. Or use groundcover. I can't stand seeing bare soil.
I mulch also. Helps so much :)
@@asupremum1246 Did you use potting soil to fill your raised bed? Compost that is mulched shouldn't dry out too fast. Is your mulch 3 inches deep or close?
I will watch for ants, but just love the idea of using the hügelkultur method! Just finished my last beds today, hope they turn out without pests.
Yes I love the hügelkultur method too! Very good way to use up large logs and add fertility to your beds.
When you build a Hugelkkltur bed it needs to be controlled its humidity.
We need to cover them with a plastic sheet for at least a year so it can't be too wet or too dry. (Don’t forget to make little holes in the plastic)
We don't water them for the first three months, you just water them just enough to cover the soil on the day you build one.
Three months after you build a bed, punch holes in a plastic to sow anything you want.
Also, degrading logs require a little bit of the air, so it's important to dig each side of the bed to let them easier to breath.(but don't expose them)
For soft wood in Hugelkultur it has to be buried deep.
As for ants you can make a Cayenne, lemon and cinnamon based tea to feed to your plants, then top the soil with Food grade diatomaceous earth.
Or just plant peppermint as a perimeter because they hate all that stuff
I have peppermint and ant keep crawling all over them. It's so annoying. Maybe certain ants don't mind peppermint
Peppermint works on cockroaches but never heard that for ants.
Aphids hate Cinnamon. And ants don't like the strong smell of Cinnamon. So mix Cinnamon powder with weather and spray your plants. Also throw Cinnamon around your plants and bed. You can also throw Cinnamon in the bottom of your bed around the wood. Cinnamon is a anti fungal. It is also a good root starter for plants. Bone meal and blood meal might attract fungus and mildew
I had same problem, add a nice little bait and it is all good now, added baseline around the tree trunk to prevent ants from climbing 👍
That is good that the problem is resolved? Do you mean vaseline? I hadn't thought of that! Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for the honest assessment. Also, now I know ants farm aphids. I always thought it was happenstance that they found the aphids then milked them. I wonder if they actually know what they are doing. Ever try tansy to make them move on?
Thanks for watching. Yeah very cool the world of insects and their relationships. Ants also farm scales too. and no I advent tried tansy.
Thanks for the tip! I plan on making a large garden in the near future and I need to keep an eye out for pests
I am glad you found it helpful :)
Great thoughts in your video. Thank you!! I've already had to relocate and use diatomaceous earth on very large ant nests formed in railroad ties on the area beneath my pecan trees. What a nightmare. Doing anything to give the ants an even bigger home is definitely a huge NONO for me. I had the railroad ties along my chain link fence to keep weeds off my fence and my little dog from digging under. Thankfully my dog was very mature and over his Houdini years.
I hope you were able to control the ant nests! I would think that using wood chips or other very thin small sticks would work for a hugelkultur bed also. The small would I think would prevent ant nests. Its worth a try. Small wood is a great way to fill up raised beds. :)
Thanks for this video!! I was already expecting the ants in logs and rotting wood would be a big problem but this is my confirmation thanks
I am glad you found it helpful. For me the large pieces of wood is what is the problem. Think branches and small chunks of wood do not attract the ants. I have bene using these to fill up my raised beds and it has worked well with no ant problems. :)
What about termites ? Won’t the raised beds with dead wood attract them ?
You are right. Small sticks cut in smaller pieces.
I believe it is the best way to prevent ant colonies.
Very interesting! Do you have a plan for the ants going forward?
I think the best thing to do would be to attempt and kill the colony of ants. I saw some poisons online that are sold specially for my kind of ant. I never got around to buying it though. I think the tree is also just stressed. I have had cranberry hibiscus planted in some areas with more sun and it never was affected. The one I have now that is getting affected is planted in shade. I think it is stressed and that is why its susceptible and I think that might also be the case with the soursop. The soursop loses its leaves during the winter. This isn't its ideal climate.
Thanks for the tips! I am sure New Zealand viewers can benefit from this.
Cool video! Your channel deserves a lot more love! I wish I had discovered it earlier!
Thx for the info, that gave me something to think about, just before digging our logs in. Here, where I live in Australia, have a problem with ants on every tree harvest this pesky aphids, I tackle that with various natural mixtures, some work & some don't, I just get rid of them in one section only for them to reappear on other trees or shrubs. I will check out my logs, don't think I will use for the garden. Perhaps the logs are too dry or not positioned deep enough making it a haven for ants? Whatever the reason, I'm glad I came across your post as it has probably saved me some hair pulling moments had I put those logs in. Thank you for sharing your experience re these pests
Thank you for watching! Yes I think it is a possibility that the logs were not buried deep enough. What we have done is created a log pile where we just leave them to decompose. As they decompose the logs break up into smaller pieces and this material I has found is good to bury into beds. Since the pieces are smaller the ant don't make nests in those once they are buried. We cut our logs into disks and just leave them there in a pile. If the ants make a nest in the log pile then it easier to take care of because the logs aren't buried with soil and don't have plants growing on top of them. I have found that this works best for my situation.
@@OurTropicalSoil that sounds like a good idea, I think I will try that too, makes sense to cut the wood up, decomposes quicker, & not allowing those ants to nest forever, yes will do that. Thank you, happy gardening & stay safe !
it seems like it is a very specific problem. The carpenter ants. To solve this possible issue, use sticks or thin logs instead for the hugl base? Also being sure that there is not an established ant colony in the logs you place, or in the fencing nearby.
Kristine Schilling Yes it seems what is best is to use thin sticks. I was reading more about the Florida carpenter ant and they don’t hollow out fresh dry wood. They will only go for wood that is rotting. If you google Florida carpenter ant I think the first link is the one I found really useful.
Hugel k was based on the idea that a dead tree had new growth around it (in the forest) why burying the wood came into being is a bit of a mystery as decaying products on surface are faster and probably chemically different than sub surface .?
Good to know! Thanks I was about to build one!
I have found that using small chunks of wood (no bigger than a fist) or thin branches and sticks prevents the problem. This is what I have been doing to fill up some of my raised beds and have had no problems with the Florida carpenter ant anymore!
Very interesting. I have always been concerned about using much wood in & around the garden specifically because of this. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I am glad you found it interesting :)
search youtube for "Organic Ant Control For Fruit Trees". You will find a video about applying tape and tree tanglefoot a non-toxic tree protectant for ants.
I have heard of this. I haven't boughten it though. I did try using duct tape. I wrapped it around the tree sticky side out and it did help keep the ants off. However, when it would rain it would get wet and be less effective and it would also get stick on it and leave stuck to it. I decided to take it off and the trunk under the tape was sort of damp. I am worried that by doing this in the hot wet summer weather the trunk will develop some fungal problems. I thought it would be best to do it higher up the tree to prevent the ants from getting to the very top and then the bottom would just be sprayed with the house every now and then. That way the bark can dry better and leaves and stuff won't get on it. I just need to get around to doing it.
@@OurTropicalSoil I use tangloot every year. It's the only thing that keep the ants from farming my apple and plum tree. I also have to be sure branches don't touch other trees or fences. One any funds another way on the tree. Then all the ants fund that route.
Ants don't cause problems on anything else. Luckily I read about other people having any issues with hogelkultre so I didn't stick to my first idea of putting wood in my raised beds
If you only do half the correct method when building; you get 1/2 the results. You have to haev more logs which will break down, and eventually need replacing or; you can be satisfied witha great mound of soil that you have to maintain.
I have this problem now too. Didn't even know it until i set to finally completely removing a series of the junk Brazilian pepper trees. Out of about 9 large trees they were all hollowed out and full of carpenter ants but the trees were alive until i sawed them all up. Now i find the ants moved into my garden under pots and such and in the mulch. Think they even moved into my wood frame shed, hopefully not my wood house Its a small urban area on the gulf coast of FL. But they are starting to farm aphids on my cranberry hibiscus and other plants like kale and brussel sprouts. I spray the ants were i find them and have treated the aphids several times but I'm losing the battle.
I am so sorry to hear that you have this issue! I still see the culprit ants here and there but they aren't too common anymore. I had them farming aphids too on my cranberry hibiscus and ended up cutting it down. They are still sometimes on the soursop tree but not really. I think the best thing to do would be to kill the queen so the ant colony dies. I think they sell some products online to do just that. Make sure it is for carpenter ants. This is what I want to do but I haven't gotten around to it. Killing a couple ants when you see them won't really do anything to the colony as the queen is still laying eggs.
Thank you for this video!!
Sara Fatyukhin Thank you for watching! I’m glad you enjoyed.
Good to know, thanks for the great info 😊
I am glad you found it helpful :)
That moment when the comments section get's straight to the point and saves you watching 10 minutes of video...
Thank you so much...i was actually about to put together 2 big raised beds tomorrow to do Hugel....since i live in the forest and have a lot of dead wood and all the needed stuff...meaning i also have carpenter ants...yes...those so thanks so much...i will no build them another place to stay....timing sometime do work in my favor....
I am glad you found my video helpful. Since making this video I have learned some new information. The carpenter ant I have is specific to Florida and it is called the Florida Carpenter Ant. Maybe you could do some research on ants that eat or live in wood in your area. Where are you located? Also, if you currently see ants inside any of the dead wood you have then there is a chance there will be ants inside of the hugelkultur bed.
Good to know
I am glad you found it helpful!
How often do you maintain your area
Thank you....I was looking for the downsides of this method...
I've never done hugelkultur where I live for this reason. If there's a rotten piece of wood, there's a fire ant mound beneath it. I don't want that in my vegetable garden.
That’s what animals do. It’s part of nature. Just use diatomaceous earth on the soul and tanglewood on the base of your plants. Also your bed isn’t nearly tall enough. You should build them up to 5-6 feet tall.
Thank you for the tips! Once we got rid of the logs the ant colony has died or moved elsewhere and left our soursop tree alone thankfully. I have DE but have really yet to use it.
@@OurTropicalSoil DE doesn't work with wet climates
Wouldn’t it be that the compost was not ready, so it attracted fungus on all the place and polluted de logs?
Well, aside from the ants, those power lines are horrible to be under. That doesn't help matters.
1:20 wood chips or logs have almost zero nutrients. when organic material is mixed with soil it allows the roots to easily grow and get access to the nutrients that are mostly in the soil. Organic mater in and of itself is not very nutritious.
Dang my brother used this method in his raised beds explained why he has issues with ants I forwarded this over to him. I have raised beds but use my compost piles to supliment my beds and don’t have this issue plus I use nemoil
I am sorry to hear that. I have since then continued using wood in my beds. However, I just stick to thin branches or small chunks of wood vs large logs. The large logs provide a perfect nest for ants.
Spray soap on the plants the aphids won't eat it
They don't like wet places. I think you got air pockets. Sometimes using leaves or even fine woodchips creates a water barrier. Kinda counterintuitive because you can see the surface get wet but dig underneath and it's bone dry. Leaves have a bad way of doing this and one reason I hesitate to use them. Woodchips should have a large variety of sizes, this creates water pathways. I know this because I bought a gas powered wood chipper. Problem with my chipper is chips are too fine. Not like the chips that arborist give. After I chip up a bunch of braches, all day one day, it rained. as dug in I was surprised to see dry just underneath. Guess what it was full of fire ants biting me pretty fierce. I should mention I chipped a few pieces of cactus plants that turned into green jello. Probably what fire ants where after. So yep, you got air pockets. So a solution might be mixing woodchips with leaves and sand, to avoid forming the watertight blanket.
Another thing, I live in Florida too. I started with Ruth Stout deep mulch (using hay). But nope, they say not to do this because farmers are using broad leaf pesticides that can ruin your garden for years because the poison is persistent. Not only that they feed that hay to livestock, it doesn't hurt them, but they poop the toxins making the manure toxic.
Another consideration is to spray your garden and trees with water soluble sulfur. Get one of the water hose spray attachments and mix a water, sulfur solution. the sprayer has adjustment to control how much solution per gallon sprays out. The sprayer also is great way to fertilize.
Wow great info, thank you! Yes, I have heard about the issue with hay being contaminated from David the Good! Crazy. I know what you mean about the leaves creating a barrier. I have tried mulching with them before and then it creates a thick mat on the ground that no water can trespass. I have found that using small chunks of wood instead of large logs in the raised beds has worked well. No bigger than two fists. It has prevented any ant colonies from forming and our soursop tree is doing great.
I'm sure you tried homemade organic foliar spray, no success ?
For the ants or the scales?
For the ants/aphids. But then you'll need to hand pollinate.
@@alsansoni5321 I am not a big fan of spraying stuff even homemade or organic stuff. Not because its bad for the plants but because it normally costs money. I think the easiest way to deal with the issue is not spraying the aphids but getting rid of the ants. Or maybe wrapping the trunk with an ant barrier so they can't get on the tree. Every time I have seen these scales I have seen them being farmed by ants so if the ants go I think there might be a few scales here and there but nothing major. Then perhaps some parasitic wasps can be used to kill off the rest of the population once the ants aren't defending them.
Did you try diatomaceous earth?
Leif Erikkson I have tried DE around the base of the plant. Didn’t help much. The tree is so big that putting the DE all over the tree is a huge hassle even if it was in spray form. I am thinking the best thing is to wrap something around the base of the trunk and use this product that’s meant to keep the ants from climbing the tree. I can’t remember the name of the product exactly. It seems to be the easiest solution.
@@OurTropicalSoil I don't know if it was for ants but I've seen something like what you're describing in my neighborhood.
If you have any Diamaceous Earth left absolutely douse those little fuckers with it lol It shreds their skin & they will bring the powder to the queen.
Also putting hay on your soil also will keep temps down & might attract beneficial bugs :) Hope that helps.
I have seen the wasps all over the tree so thats good! Thank you for your input! :)
Hi Melanie, you should give hugelkulture a second chance, but, remember that 🐔 chickens, gooses, quail, and so on, they all love Ants (specially the carpenter ones) transform your problem in profit 🤑🐓🐔🐣🐤🦃🦆🐜🐜🐜🐜😉
You have a point! Poultry can really handle the bug problems. I have continued using wood but I just stick to thin branches or small chunks of wood. I haven't had an issue with ants since. My soursop tree has fully recovered also. I think that if a certain area doesn't have an ant species that likes nesting in decaying logs then it shouldn't be a problem.
add charcoal to the soil beds...,microbes love it,and live in it...termites hate it(carbon-they can't eat-odor repels)ants either but not as effective...............................and neem meal.but some people are sensitive to it(plant uptake).plant spearmint near by,or containers(invasive).plant marigolds close...etc...
Thank you for all the tips!
@@OurTropicalSoil you are very welcome...dr.elain ingham/microbes and harley smith/microbes ps. radish is often planted as bait crop against some beetles(flea and cucumber)though i've not tried this one yet,read about it in a companion gardening guide. good luck and happy gardening.
Good information
Thanks
Hugel culture is german so its meant for colder conditon
Thank you for the information.
It's not. It's meant for us to grow everywhere including in poor soils.
@@cocaleaf2371 The original concept was German. European conditions do not have the same ant problems. You can use Hugel Kultur in warmer climates but you have to be aware of the possible issues with ants.
OK. Point taken...if you have carpenter ants, don't do hugelkulture! I wonder how the surrounding nature I'd doing it. I would follow that technique. Or, let the ants decompose the wood the first year. Then break down the logs into chips and start hugelkulturing.
This is what we have been doing now. We have a pile that we leave our logs in. They decompose and once the logs break up into smaller chunks that are no bigger than a fist we use them to fill up beds or large pots. It was been working well and we haven't had any ants making nests and farming aphids anymore.
Great video. Greetings from Germany. :-))
Thank you!
In this video, Mark lives in a similar climate to Florida, and has lots of ants in his raised beds....but as he says, they are not an issue.
czcams.com/video/8gX25ykVocs/video.html
I live about 15km from Mark.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing. I will watch it.
You'll have this problem in wooden raised beds too! After the beds are a couple of years old. Especially, if you live in an area that gets hurricanes. Those ants always go to higher ground. I even had ants get into the ears of corn! There was about 6 inches of water and I went out to harvest the corn. I pull an ear and out came tons of ants! And they float in water until they can find someone or something to get up on...I ran! Had fire ants kill my brother-in-laws beef calf from a hurricane.
Yes I find that smaller ants like to nest in raised beds. And they also nest inside the decaying wood of the raised bed. However, I haven't had the Florida carpenter ant nesting in there. Yeah the ants are crazy! So sorry to hear about the beef calf. Very sad.
@@OurTropicalSoil I always made sure that prior to a hurricane we put out bags of mulch in the chicken coops so that the chickens would have a large area to stand on so that the fire ants wouldn't climb up their legs and bite them to death!
Looks like the perfect environment for TERMITES!
Yes I would think it could attract termites but I have not had an issue with termites. I have only seen the Florida Carpenter Ant in the rotting wood.
@@OurTropicalSoil add charcoal to you beds...microbes love it(condos/pores)holds moisture,termites HATE IT-carbon,not wood,the odor repels them.ants don't like it either but not as effective.
Wow!...a great thought in this project, that I am just wanting to do, and have all the material already, and having so much trying to get rid off...and here I can just put it all to this purpose, and the landlord would mind a bit...lol!
And to your experience with ants, no carpenter ants about as I can see....and there is a medium size barn on the property, which I already plan to built it somewhat away from it too. So maybe just need to hope, of what, of what kind of ant is a good ant to keep the rodents away.....or, maybe that will be new concept in "How to train your Anteater today"...thank you very much for your sharing experience!
Thank you for watching! I hope your hugelkultur bed goes well! They are a great way to add nutrients to the soil. Just gotta watch out for those ants! :)
@@OurTropicalSoil How awesome this method is...can't figure how I never even came across this before on CZcams...lol. At my location, been here 12 years now, retired 10 years, renting in a 4 unit, and the landlord has me working the yard and all, with of course a little off the rent, and is in a suburb, busy section, and so with the many years of build up of leaves, and some dead trees, so much to try and catch up burning it, and the wind has got to be blowing in the right direction as not to blow over a road...lol. Also, we had a short summer last year, and 5 big major trees that leaves didn't fall off til the 2nd week in Dec., and the last leaf pickup was early Nov.
So I got all the resources to me for years to come too! Will be making another larger one in a different location just for flowers, which will be for next year.
And so, been working about a week on it, 90% ready, and the last with good soil that'll work on my monthly payday. This will be a vegetable garden....those are growing slowly, and still got seeds germinating.
Will have my post on this up this week, though not much of video content, I could have, but at 60, and doing this alone was a fun effort too. And I'm located up in Buffalo NY area.
Looking at other posts on this, I know mine not have the perfect recipe, but pretty darn close...the major chapter is going to be ward off the critters, and bugs of course. I also harbor squirrel and bird feeders...got vids posted of them too!
And just to add, I got a lot of friends on FB that are going to be shocked at what I built, and to relax in my man cave in the barn, and do a lot of smoking food too....
I know I wrote a lot here, but glad we connected on this Hugelkultur...thank you again!
Wow you have a lot of resources available to you! That is great. All of those trees pull up nutrients from all over the area and store it in their leaves. You just have to manage it and recycle those nutrients into your garden beds. I hope your plants all do well!!!!
@@OurTropicalSoil Thank you again!
Oh dang, have about 46 pictures showing the process up to some plants growing in it, and here I come to find out CZcams discontinued the photo slideshow feature, so not able to share it on here, got a chromebook, no Windows. Though I did do some videos of mid process I'll get up, and then there too, they discontinued creating multiple videos to just make it all in one...oh well, but sure am happy how it's turning out!
Hi Melon-y!
Hello!
Sounds like you need to get rid of the fence???
Yes, the fence is problematic but it is our neighbors fence so our options are limited. She also has a couple dogs so getting rid of the fence would mean dogs in my garden lol. Hopefully we replace it in the future with a new wooden one. We like the wooden fence near the house as it allows for privacy.
Interesting idea. After a quick google search it seems your options on Earth are the Arctic, the Antarctic, and a few islands (probably the deserted and lifeless ones).
LOL. Fertilization is not the same thing as fertility or releasing fertilizer...
I am not sure which sentence in specific I said but I do know that I many times use the words interchangeably. Basically what I call fertilizer is anything that gives nutrients to the soil. It can be synthetic store bought fertilizers, organic store bough fertilizer, manure, compost, or even mulch that slowly decomposes and increases soil fertility. What are your specific definitions for "fertilization," "fertility," and "releasing fertilizer?"
Nitrogen fixing beans strengthens the fungus colonies that can go through the wood to extract the water and nutrients also beans give sugar to see fungus to make it stronger any excess nitrogen that the fungus can create which the fungus does not need it will give to the surrounding plants Fungus is more like an animal than a plant it does not need nitrogen it does share with the other plans
Thank you for the detailed explanation :)
Carpenter ants consume decaying wood, so yeah, this method would be an issue if you have them. On the flipside, their poo is fertilizer. So they're like nightcrawlers, who grab a leaf, pull it into the hole as they munch, then poop that out. So it is when they start eating your HOUSE! I have tiny sugar ants burrowing under and mining out my concrete and destroying it. So yes-insects have their purpous. Mine mine concrete. 🤣
Use ash also!
Thank you for the tip!
probably the wood is not buried deep enough, ants probably don't like to be too deep underground, they probably like a lot of oxygen. the ants were doing you a favor by eating the scale insects/aphids
Ants don't eat aphids, they really do farm and defend them.
Yes, it is possible that burying the wood deeper will prevent it from being used by ants to make nests. The ants, however, were not eating the scales on the soursop tree. The ants take care of the scales or aphids and they "farm" them in order to obtain honeydew. Now that I have removed the nest the scale population on the soursop tree has significantly decreased.
Chickens eat ants
Good point
Grits.
For the ants?
@@OurTropicalSoil Yep. But you like an ecosystem, so I don't know if you want them to "disappear(die, lol)," naturally
@@myname7863 I am intending on poisoning them. Idk how I would use the grits I was googling it and it seems that its mean to be placed on the mound but I have no clue exactly where these ants are coming from. I don't mind the ants but then they start farming the aphids and scales it need to stop. lol
Just spread them. From what I gather, they'll eat them(and "choke") and or(ideally) take them back to the queen...
Or set up bait stations of 1:1 powdered sugar, baking soda(I try not to use poison)
We use these little packets that are from in home use. I think they use borax that apparently poisons ants. It works well. I wanted to use something like that for the carpenter ants. We have made our own bait like that with sugar and borax but it never worked. I think maybe its cause we use granular sugar and not powdered
Well made videos
Thank you!
Summary - this person did not follow hugelkultur but just buried a bunch of wood in the ground, creating a giant metroplex for bugs. Hugelkultur is a compost bed that is planted upon, just follow basic compost rules like layering and this won't happen.
Carpenter ants are large black ants. Seems like ants in your video are red and black.
Ok
I have issues with carpenter ants too!
Yaima Perez REALTOR They are a real hassle to deal with!
biochar and ruth stout method or mulch like you are doing. (keep in mind keep ducks) ducks are a permaculture person best friend. that and guinea fowl. if you are vegan adopt a pet duck people get them as pets and can't keep them.
Thank you for the tips! I have actually extensively looked into keeping some birds for the future. I am actually vegan too. I have looked into adopting some. It seems to be honestly a huge commitment. Its like having another pet. Hopefully one day I will do it but right now I am not set up for that.
Oh suck! Thanks for the 411!
why not simply get rid of the ants?
I did get rid of them by taking out their nest. The soursop tree has recovered and is doing well. We had a great harvest last year. It has very few scales or damage from other pests. Sometimes there are ants on it but their numbers are too small to cause any serious damage. :)
Naw it didn’t work because you misidentified the pest on the tree. Ants don’t farm scale. You need to have a cleared area around your trees. Hugelkulture had nothing to do with these issues.
Mantap
Yahshua - you know Him as Jesus - was born to a virgin, turned water to wine, taught, healed the sick, raised the dead, casted out demons, walked on water, calmed the storm, and fed a crowd of thousands with a few fish and a few loaves of bread on two separate occasions, among many other things. He was killed on the cross as payment for the sins of all mankind, three days later He rose from the dead. Forty days later He ascended into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father. He is returning very soon, but before He does, Satan, the devil, is coming to pretend to be Jesus/God (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 and Revelation 2:10). Satan is an angel, and he will have certain supernatural powers with which to try to fool everyone. He will, for example, be able to make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. He will only be on earth a short time before the real King of Kings, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, returns. When the real Jesus comes we will all be transformed into our spiritual bodies at the same moment. Jesus came in the flesh to offer forgiveness of sins and eternal life to anyone who believes and calls on His precious name!
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. - Romans 10:9 KJV
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. - Matthew 26:6-13 KJV
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
To anoint your self, the sick, or a building for spiritual protection:
Get a small bottle of olive oil and pour off a small amount into a smaller vessel like a vial or baby food jar. Use the rest of the bottle for cooking. Ask the Lord to bless your vial of oil in Jesus name. Anoint yourself with the oil by placing a dab of oil on tip of finger and touch it to your forehead, and ask the Lord to bless you/heal you. To anoint your home or other building: place a dab of oil on your finger and anoint the door posts and order all negativity and evil out of the house, and order that nothing negative or evil can enter into your home including piggybacking on a person entering, order it to be so in the name of Jesus. Anoint all potential entrances to your home. To anoint the sick: place oil on tip of finger and touch it to the head of the sick and say a prayer of healing over them in Jesus name. See James Chapter 5:14-15.,..,.,,.
You have problems whit ants noth whit a hugulkultur
Thankfully when I got dug of the logs the ant problem subsided greatly and now our soursop tree is doing well with minimal scale damage. Since then I have left logs to decompose above ground. Once they are more composed I break them up into smaller pieces. I use those small chunks along with thing branches to fill up raised beds. With this method we have not had ants building nests in the wood anymore.
"Watch this Before Building a Hugelkultur Bed" .... click bait culture is annoying. Thumbs Down.
Whoa, wait…. You use stuff around you…..that is NOT Permaculture! To really take it down to the lowest level, Permaculture is growing in a self sufficient, sustainable way. There are 12 principles we follow. It encompasses how we plant, what we plant, where we plant it. Slow, spread, sink water. Perennial plants, grown in the way nature would and SO much more! I own a permaculture farm. I hate to see it described the way she did. We want more permaculture farmers from city lots, which are REALLY, impressive to large farms!
I think you're my wife
i thought the idea of youtube was to show a video of one's experience.
I think the idea is about sharing videos in general.
@Eric Outram I am sorry you wasted your time watching the video. Next time maybe you could exit out after you realize it's not something you find benefit in?
You look so beautiful and can talk so much. I like your video and you so much
Thank you so much!
welcome
Kill the ants with sulfur powder. You spray it in the garden.
Re Ants: Great success with a Borax sugar syrup enclosed in a honey squeeze bottle with a snap lid with a small hole in the cap. Lay beside entrance to ant hill. 3 weeks entire colony gone. The enclosed bottle does not blow away or dry up. After that one is dead, move to another hill......1/2 summer 3 bottles with 1/2 cup syrup kills 6 or 8 ant hills. !!! NEXT: I recently learned that Diatomaceous Earth kills all insects....beetles, ants, cut worms, slugs.......Next Year will be my best weapon!!!!
This is also safe re kids & pets.
Thanks for sharing the info!