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Post by Dramaphile on Jun 1, 2017 6:52:42 GMT -6
Did some weeding yesterday evening in my raised beds and discovered that a colony of ants is making themselves at home. They look like normal black ants. Are ants harmful in a vegetable garden? I have root veggies, greens, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumber plants, if that makes a difference. If they are harmful, how the hell do I get rid of them without harming my veggies?
On the upside, my garden looks awesome! We got a bunch of rain and my plants have all gotten much bigger over the past few days. Need to go get a couple of tomato cages before my tomatoes and cukes get any bigger!
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mapleme
Amethyst
Posts: 6,050 Likes: 16,038
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Post by mapleme on Jun 1, 2017 7:28:56 GMT -6
Did some weeding yesterday evening in my raised beds and discovered that a colony of ants is making themselves at home. They look like normal black ants. Are ants harmful in a vegetable garden? I have root veggies, greens, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumber plants, if that makes a difference. If they are harmful, how the hell do I get rid of them without harming my veggies? On the upside, my garden looks awesome! We got a bunch of rain and my plants have all gotten much bigger over the past few days. Need to go get a couple of tomato cages before my tomatoes and cukes get any bigger! I actually have no idea if ants are harmful to a garden (helpful, I know), but don't think that they are. That said, if you want to get rid of them, getting an ant treatment around the perimeter of your house is cheap, easy and helps keep ants out of your house. I have an exterminator come spray the perimeter of my house once a year for $99. It's fantastic.
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Post by brandiewine11 on Jun 1, 2017 7:30:43 GMT -6
Make a mix of borax and powdered sugar (or anything else sweet) and put small containers around the ants. They will eat both and the borax will kill them. They will also take it back to the queen.
Ants themselves are mostly fine but can attract other things that eat your plants. Ants also eat the fruits (like my strawberries) so I aim to eradicate them quickly.
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Post by Dramaphile on Jun 1, 2017 8:10:17 GMT -6
Make a mix of borax and powdered sugar (or anything else sweet) and put small containers around the ants. They will eat both and the borax will kill them. They will also take it back to the queen. Ants themselves are mostly fine but can attract other things that eat your plants. Ants also eat the fruits (like my strawberries) so I aim to eradicate them quickly. Is it ok for there to be borax in my soil? They're colonizing in my raised beds, right next to my veggie plants, so they'd be taking the borax into the soil.
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Post by ovenrack on Jun 1, 2017 8:19:14 GMT -6
Diatomaceous earth! Sprinkle it around. It is useless when wet, but reapplications for a bit should help a lot.
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tj
Moderator
Posts: 9,912 Likes: 24,842
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Post by tj on Jun 1, 2017 8:32:16 GMT -6
Burn it down.
(Don't burn it down.)
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Post by brandiewine11 on Jun 1, 2017 8:40:45 GMT -6
Yes, it's fine. They will eat it and the amount is very miniscule.
I always forget about DE like OR said, but that works too. Just takes a little longer.
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Post by Dramaphile on Jun 1, 2017 8:46:30 GMT -6
Diatomaceous earth! Sprinkle it around. It is useless when wet, but reapplications for a bit should help a lot. Oooh, I have a bag left from when I tried to use it indoors when we had ants last year. Totally forgot about it. I'll put some out tonight
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rockies
Bronze
Posts: 171 Likes: 372
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Post by rockies on Jun 1, 2017 22:06:42 GMT -6
I had some in a large flower pot last year that I found when I started planting. We drowned most of them and then I used red pepper flakes sprinkled in the soil and around the pot for the rest.
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