Ants

Farmette · May 23, 2010

Last year I had lots of small ants in my tomato garden. On the advice of T'ville members I sprinkled diatomaceous earth on top of the soil. This seemed to help somewhat.
This year I will be planting root crops in a raised bed which has many of these same small ants in the soil. The questions are:
1. Is there anything better that you know of to get rid of these ants that is okay to use in a garden?
2. If I use diatomaceous earth or anuthing else, should I mix it into the soil or will that hurt the root crops?
Thanks

Timmah! · May 24, 2010

try a mixture of borax & sugar placed strategically. Gets rid of sugar ants, anyway.

kygreg · May 24, 2010

Read a couple of days ago there are 1,000,000 ants for every person on earth. but don't let that discourage you. Wonder who did the count?

b54red · May 24, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by kygreg

Read a couple of days ago there are 1,000,000 ants for every person on earth. but don't let that discourage you. Wonder who did the count?

Who ever did it they sure count faster than me.

mensplace · May 24, 2010

Surely points out the dangers of alien species coming to the U.S.. From what I read about fire ants, it seems that once they are here, they are here to stay...with miles of interconnected tunnels beneath our own properties, so even if you kill a few, they WILL be back. Remember C5A's flying at treetop level in the
60's dropping fire ant bait...it didn't work. Funny thing is, I never see the large, black ants anymore. Now in Atlanta, we already have coyotes, armadillos, feral boars and more. Can pythons, anacondas, monitor lizards and others be far behind? I do remember the impact of cotton boll weevils and kudzu is everywhere along with the occasional piranha. Surely hope we never see the African ants...African bees are enough of a threat!

dustdevil · May 24, 2010

I suppose every time one moved they had to start the count all over again...

Farmette · May 24, 2010

I guess I am wondering if any of you have loads of ants in your soil. Like, I'm not afraid of ants, but I don't want them crawling up my arms when I am working in the garden. Yuk!

kath · May 24, 2010

I have way too many ants, Farmette, and they are especially problematic around my strawberry plants. They seem to like to take up residence all around the crown of the plants and the soil is raised up about 1.5-2" in that area and they are all over the stems, which means when I'm picking berries, they are all over me as well.

I have put out the boric acid traps and they are always crawling all over them, but have yet to see a visible reduction in #'s. I am sprinkling diatomaceous earth today, as the rains seem to have stopped and am hoping that will help. I empathize with you!
Oh, and you should sprinkle the d.e. on top of the soil and replenish after rains. Won't hurt your root crops, but worms don't like it.
My recipe for boric acid is 1c. water, 2 T. sugar, 1T. boric acid, 1 egg white. Put it in jar lids with cotton balls in them. Good for ants that like sugar and/or protein.

Mojo · May 24, 2010

On the other hand, fire ants make VERY good sentries. They will keep your bed free of caterpillars and slugs, and will make life miserable for stink bugs. Just know where the nests are before you go to work.

kygreg · May 24, 2010

I bet whoever did the official ant count had a govt grant.

b54red · May 25, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo

On the other hand, fire ants make VERY good sentries. They will keep your bed free of caterpillars and slugs, and will make life miserable for stink bugs. Just know where the nests are before you go to work.

They will also crawl all over your okra plants and sting the heck out of you when you start picking it.

Farmette · May 26, 2010

Well, I planted some more things today and while enjoyable, I could have had a much better time without the ants. It makes me wonder if there are certain types of soils that are more prone or friendly to ants.

ddsack · May 27, 2010

Farmette, we live in a forested area near a lake, and there are all sizes of ants all over. I think they prefer sandy soil where tunnels are more easily built, but they can be anywhere. No fire ants up here, so at least we don't have to worry about getting stung, though I have gotten a pinch from an ant once in a very great while.

I don't worry about ants since they are not damaging any garden plants. We have ant hills all over, even in cracks in our tarred driveway and and cracks in the cement porch pad. I am just amazed how they can tunnel so far under solid surfaces. I think trying to eradicate them is a losing proposition, or the toxic substances you'd have to use would be very detrimental to other creatures and the environment.

Compared to mosquitos, deer flies, stinging flies and gnats, and deer ticks, I do not mind the insects that just go about their business without trying to inflict pain and suffering on me!

There is some kind of ground spider that I always disturb when turning up the soil in my beds, they clutch onto a round white ball of eggs, that is almost as big as they are. I always scoop them up in a trowel or glove and put them in a bed I'm not working in. I figure they are there for a reason, maybe to catch aphids or other "undesirables". The only thing I am vicious about killing are the cut worm caterpillers -- I take it very personally when they decapitate a plant that I have babied for two months.

Farmette · May 27, 2010

Now that you put it that way, I guess ants aren't so bad. I too do not like the cutworms.

bohica · May 27, 2010

Farmett, the main thing to be apprehensive about with ants on your plants is Aphids. Ants actually "Farm" Aphids, they will transport them from plant to plant, helping them to build colonies. The ants in return live off of the secretions from the Aphids known as Nectar, a sweet, sticky substance.....yeck.
Aphids in turn will suck the life out of your plants, multiplying rapidly.
In my opinion....get rid of them.

May 23, 2010	#1
Farmette Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 985	Ants Last year I had lots of small ants in my tomato garden. On the advice of T'ville members I sprinkled diatomaceous earth on top of the soil. This seemed to help somewhat. This year I will be planting root crops in a raised bed which has many of these same small ants in the soil. The questions are: 1. Is there anything better that you know of to get rid of these ants that is okay to use in a garden? 2. If I use diatomaceous earth or anuthing else, should I mix it into the soil or will that hurt the root crops? Thanks

May 24, 2010	#9
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	On the other hand, fire ants make VERY good sentries. They will keep your bed free of caterpillars and slugs, and will make life miserable for stink bugs. Just know where the nests are before you go to work. __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

May 27, 2010	#13
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	Farmette, we live in a forested area near a lake, and there are all sizes of ants all over. I think they prefer sandy soil where tunnels are more easily built, but they can be anywhere. No fire ants up here, so at least we don't have to worry about getting stung, though I have gotten a pinch from an ant once in a very great while. I don't worry about ants since they are not damaging any garden plants. We have ant hills all over, even in cracks in our tarred driveway and and cracks in the cement porch pad. I am just amazed how they can tunnel so far under solid surfaces. I think trying to eradicate them is a losing proposition, or the toxic substances you'd have to use would be very detrimental to other creatures and the environment. Compared to mosquitos, deer flies, stinging flies and gnats, and deer ticks, I do not mind the insects that just go about their business without trying to inflict pain and suffering on me! There is some kind of ground spider that I always disturb when turning up the soil in my beds, they clutch onto a round white ball of eggs, that is almost as big as they are. I always scoop them up in a trowel or glove and put them in a bed I'm not working in. I figure they are there for a reason, maybe to catch aphids or other "undesirables". The only thing I am vicious about killing are the cut worm caterpillers -- I take it very personally when they decapitate a plant that I have babied for two months. __________________ Dee **************

May 24, 2010	#2
Timmah! Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky 6a Posts: 754	try a mixture of borax & sugar placed strategically. Gets rid of sugar ants, anyway.

May 24, 2010	#3
kygreg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: kentucky Posts: 1,019	Read a couple of days ago there are 1,000,000 ants for every person on earth. but don't let that discourage you. Wonder who did the count?

May 24, 2010	#5
mensplace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: USA Posts: 1,013	Surely points out the dangers of alien species coming to the U.S.. From what I read about fire ants, it seems that once they are here, they are here to stay...with miles of interconnected tunnels beneath our own properties, so even if you kill a few, they WILL be back. Remember C5A's flying at treetop level in the 60's dropping fire ant bait...it didn't work. Funny thing is, I never see the large, black ants anymore. Now in Atlanta, we already have coyotes, armadillos, feral boars and more. Can pythons, anacondas, monitor lizards and others be far behind? I do remember the impact of cotton boll weevils and kudzu is everywhere along with the occasional piranha. Surely hope we never see the African ants...African bees are enough of a threat!

May 24, 2010	#6
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	I suppose every time one moved they had to start the count all over again...

May 24, 2010	#8
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I have way too many ants, Farmette, and they are especially problematic around my strawberry plants. They seem to like to take up residence all around the crown of the plants and the soil is raised up about 1.5-2" in that area and they are all over the stems, which means when I'm picking berries, they are all over me as well. I have put out the boric acid traps and they are always crawling all over them, but have yet to see a visible reduction in #'s. I am sprinkling diatomaceous earth today, as the rains seem to have stopped and am hoping that will help. I empathize with you! Oh, and you should sprinkle the d.e. on top of the soil and replenish after rains. Won't hurt your root crops, but worms don't like it. My recipe for boric acid is 1c. water, 2 T. sugar, 1T. boric acid, 1 egg white. Put it in jar lids with cotton balls in them. Good for ants that like sugar and/or protein.

May 26, 2010	#12
Farmette Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 985	Well, I planted some more things today and while enjoyable, I could have had a much better time without the ants. It makes me wonder if there are certain types of soils that are more prone or friendly to ants.

May 27, 2010	#15
bohica Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: NY Posts: 113	Farmett, the main thing to be apprehensive about with ants on your plants is Aphids. Ants actually "Farm" Aphids, they will transport them from plant to plant, helping them to build colonies. The ants in return live off of the secretions from the Aphids known as Nectar, a sweet, sticky substance.....yeck. Aphids in turn will suck the life out of your plants, multiplying rapidly. In my opinion....get rid of them.