Ants an issue?

Sunsanvil Fri Jun 19, 2015 7:33 am

For the first time in 4 years ants have clearly setup shop in one of our beds. They are teny tiny brown ones. Could they be farming aphids on us?

**AtlantaMarie** Fri Jun 19, 2015 8:23 am

Oh, yes, they certainly could... What's planted in that box?

yolos Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:48 am

I was watching ants crawling up and down on my pink eye purple hull peas last night. There were aphids at the top of the plant and ants crawling up and down but I never saw aphids attached to the ants so I am not sure the aphids brought the ants or if the ants were just there to get the honey dew from the aphids.

**Kelejan** Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:58 am

What can be done about them? I noticed some little brown ants for the first time and they BITE. Mad

mollyhespra Fri Jun 19, 2015 11:10 am

Aphids can fly and aren't reliant upon ants to bring them to a plant.

Are you seing Aphids close to the ant nest, Sunsanvil?

I, personally, welcome ants into my garden because they get into all the teeny tiny nooks & crannies that I can't possibly get into. More than once, they've alerted me to a problem which I may not have found had it not been for them.

It doesn't take them long to move on, though, once the business of planting, cultivating, watering, etc. gets going. They don't like having their homes disturbed.

If you have biting ants, you may want to encourage them to move on, but don't just assume automatically that they're farming aphids on you.

**Kelejan** Fri Jun 19, 2015 11:13 am

I will be doing some watering in a bit, Molly, so I will be checking for aphids.

CapeCoddess Fri Jun 19, 2015 1:01 pm

mollyhespra wrote:
I, personally, welcome ants into my garden because they get into all the teeny tiny nooks & crannies that I can't possibly get into. More than once, they've alerted me to a problem which I may not have found had it not been for them.

What kind of problem, Molly? My whole property is loaded with ants this year, even the SFG's.

CC

Cajun Cappy Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:14 pm

Ants are definitely a issue at our house. They are the biting red fire ant variety and when it rains lots as it has been they head for high ground that being garden boxes flower beds even pots. I have in the past broadcast ant poison all over the yard, but I hate doing it cause it dont only kill the fire ants but other things as well. I poison just the mounds and that works pretty well but in or rainy times they aren't in mounds and can make playing in the garden a very painful deal if you are not extra careful.

momvet Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:22 pm

I have lots of ants. Haven't had to soak my beds too often, but when I did last weekend, there was a stream of them. I have had a lot of aphids on my cucumbers and nasturtiums, but almost all are in a bed separate from the one I saw the invasion. I sprayed the scurrying ants with an organic Neem spray. It is hot now so if they are in the beds, I am not seeing them. Interested in all replies to this thread.

Windmere Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:45 pm

I am not sure if there is any science to this, but I have noticed that ants are only interested in beds/pots where there is a low amount of moisture. Once I regularly water again, they seem to move on to places unknown.s

Cajun Cappy Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:25 pm

That makes perfect sense to me. They head to our boxes cause they are drier than our soggy yards so it stands to reason in drier areas they would leave a well watered bed for the same reason cept in reverse tongue

Sponsored content

Ants an issue?

Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?

Re: Ants an issue?


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.