Question
Hi. I have some plants out on the patio that will need to come in
for the winter.  Some small brown ants seem to have taken up
residence in the pots.  I don't want to kill them, but I'd like them
to relocate before I bring the containers in.  I'm in Indiana, so I
have a couple months to work with still - I probably won't need
to bring them in until October.  Should I repot the plants or
flood the ants, maybe both, or something else altogether?  I am
definitely a live-and-let-live kind of person, but I don't need a
couple hundred new roommates. Thanks so much.  

Answer
You definitely need to repot them all, and the ants might be raising aphids on the undersides of the leaves.  If so, use rotonone (an organic insecticide) for the aphids first, it is a powder, so you can just dust it on and shake the plant.  Do it at sunset, when the beneficial insects won't be out. Then transplant them into new potting soil and use rotonone again, just to be sure the ants are gone. Rotonone is available at most nurseries.