Ants found my seedlings.... What to do?

[luke]

A few ants have found my seedlings. Will this be a problem?

If so, solutions?

[clkeiper]

I would suggest a very close look to see if they are harvesting aphid sap....They will milk the aphids for the sweet secretions and make their own little farm and if they are you need to get rid of the aphids, then the ants will go away. Watch for aggressive ants at the same time. They will protect the aphids if that is what they are doing. I have had ants jump at me and on me when the aphids were infesting my sunflower by the door last year. all you had to do was brush the foliage and they jumped at the spot nearest where you touched the plant.

[luke]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

I would suggest a very close look to see if they are harvesting aphid sap....They will milk the aphids for the sweet secretions and make their own little farm and if they are you need to get rid of the aphids, then the ants will go away. Watch for aggressive ants at the same time. They will protect the aphids if that is what they are doing. I have had ants jump at me and on me when the aphids were infesting my sunflower by the door last year. all you had to do was brush the foliage and they jumped at the spot nearest where you touched the plant.

Wow. When you are good you are good.

Here's the deal... I've overwintered some pepper plants in the same utility room, so yes, I do have aphids. Just noticed them on the seedlings this morning.

Now, I've seen the recommendations for D.E. I've never used it, and I can also use other means to kill pests. Please tell me what is optimal for seedlings in a +/-125 sf utility room (fogger, spray, etc.). The seeds were planted two weeks ago.

I appreciate a quick response -- I'm actually travelling to a nearby city today, and my options to purchase would be better.

[amideutch]

diatomaceous earth. It's organic and you should find it at most garden centers. Ami

[biscgolf]

yep... diatomaceous earth.

[kurt]

Follow the ants,I use amdro.Ants will take bait to the queen/queens and youngins.We get a lot of ants and different species to boot.

[Cole_Robbie]

I use Terro, the liquid poison you put on little pieces of cardboard.

[clkeiper]

Ahhh, glad you looked closely. Getting rid of the aphids will get rid of the ants, but the ants themselves usually don't harm the plants. I have overwintered aphids, unintentionally, myself. A spray of soapy water will do a good job at knocking down the aphids, but there will be a re-infestation at a later point when the eggs start hatching. So then the DE will be a great dusting for controlling the new aphids or try a spray that will last a couple weeks as the new eggs hatch, if you aren't concerned about being organic.

[livinonfaith]

While the ants won't harm the plants directly, they will make colonies in bags of potting soil.

Then when I used the soil, my plants died, maybe from some sort of chemical from the ants?

So, yeah, I started getting serious about getting rid of them. Potting soil is too expensive to lose it to a bunch of ants.

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

While the ants won't harm the plants directly, they will make colonies in bags of potting soil.

Then when I used the soil, my plants died, maybe from some sort of chemical from the ants?

So, yeah, I started getting serious about getting rid of them. Potting soil is too expensive to lose it to a bunch of ants.

Yeah, they will do that. I wasn't thinking about them in the soil...up here the ants aren't generally on the garden or colonizing in the greenhouse or compost bin. The ants probably destroyed the root system. tunneling and carrying the soil out of the root area literally dehydrating it to death.

[luke]

Bag of potting soil in the room as well. Thanks for all the comments and advice.