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Vegetable Gardening

Ants in my...plants!

diggerdee zone 6 CT

14 years ago

I just went out to my vegetable garden for the first time in a few days, and it is completely overrun by ants! I can see where there are coming from, an anthill near a squash plant. There are so many that out of the corner of my eye the ground seems to be constantly moving, and if I stand still for a minute, they start crawling up me. Yuck! I'm all itchy and creepy-crawly just sitting here writing this!

My first question is, will they do any damage to the vegetables? That's the most important thing.

I can't seem to find an ID for them. They are large but not huge. The back end is black, and the rest of the body is reddish brown.

I'd like to get rid of them even if they are not harmful, just so I can sit down or even stand still for a minute without getting crawled on. I garden organically, so if anyone has any suggestions.

I thought of boiling water, but that seems so cruel. I guess though if I want them gone I have to be harsh, huh?

Thank you,

Dee

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Comments (4)

riley17
14 years ago
Hey, I have the same problem.
I IDed my ants as Allegheny Mound Ants. Google them and see if they match.
ediej1209 AL Zn 7
14 years ago
There's no "nice" way to kill. My Mom always used the boiling water method. We found a huge colony (looked like something out of a horror flick!) yesterday not far from my tomato patch and because I was freaking out my DH found a can of Raid Wasp & Hornet and sprayed directly down into the colony's opening. It was far enough away that we didn't have any drift onto any of the tomato plants and it seems to have actually killed them. The queen came out and flopped over about 5 minutes after he sprayed. I don't know if they would actually have caused any damage, but given the concentration I wasn't going to take any chances!
Edie
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Just wanted to add some more thoughts on D.E. as to why it is so useful for the above purpose as well as many others. Insects don't have the ability to clot (unlike humans)their internal fluid (blood) there for if they get pricked they will literally bleed to death no matter how small the cuts are. D.E. can even be applied in a sprayer (with a small squirt of dishsoap to help stick it to plants or other surfaces) if kept agitated so as not to clog the nozzle. Then when it dries it will be reactivated. It will wash off so will need to be reapplied if rain or over head watering is used. The one thing I always remind folks about DE is that it is a dust and needs to be handled carefully so as not to breathe it into your lungs. (not a good thing). Use a standard dust mask if air borne dust is a possibility. Not trying to horn in Al, just offer more info on the subject.:) Happy Growing David
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Ant, bamboo and aphids do go hand in hand the majority of the time. If you have any indication of black sooty mold than this would definitely inidcate aphids. Ants "farm" the aphids for the secretion they leave behind as the suck on the leaves, which at the same time causes the sooty mold. There is simply no other reason in my opinion that the ants would be "seeking out" your bamboo unless they made there home in the rhizomes. I would treat the plant with some Bayer Tree and Shrub http://www.bayeradvanced.com/garden/products/details.cfm?id=12 just to be certain and use a seperate product for the ants. Here is a link that might be useful: This Stuff Works
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I also had squirrels who buried things and dug in my pots. They are very hard to discourage. I had some success with laying cut branches from evergreens on top of the soil. Maybe the sharp ends of the pine needles hurts their paws? When ants invaded some pots a year or two ago I flushed the soil with water and that helped drive them out a bit. Finally, though, I had to pull the plant from the pot, wash away all of the soil from the roots and repot in fresh soil. Fortunately, they only got in a few pots. Good luck with your plants, Elsie
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Comments (2)
Check your plants for aphids. A lot of the time the ants are attracted to the "honeydew" produced by the aphids. Also check the soil just to make sure they have not decided that your nice lovely potting mixture in a good place to build a nest or mound. If they are fire ants then you will want to get rid of them asap! Ouch...
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digdirt2
14 years ago
If you will do a search for 'ants' here you will find that this question has often been discussed before and the consensus is that unless these are fire ants then they pose no threat to your garden. They may however be a good indication that you have an aphid problem as the ants are very attracted to the aphids.

Dave
diggerdee zone 6 CT
Original Author
14 years ago
Gee, Riley, I sure hope they're NOT Allegheny Mound ants! This is what I found in a quick google search:

"...the ants also act as pests by killing vegetation within 40 to 50 feet (15 m) of their mounds. The ants inject formic acid into surrounding plants, killing small trees and shrubs..."

"...A 5 month-old mound can be about 2 feet wide and 8 inches tall..."

The picture of them does kind of look like my ants, but the mound is not that big at all, even though it must be relatively new.

After I stopped feeling so creepy-crawly, I went back out for another look. They don't seem to be at all interested in the vegetable plants. The squash, zucchini, cukes and tomatoes had hardly any ants on them, if any at all. They seemed much more interested it making a trail, which I lost in the grass, and also in climbing up and down the sides of the cinderblock bed walls.

I guess if that's all they do it won't be so bad. I'll keep an eye on them. I really hate to kill them if they are not destructive, even if they do creep me out.

Edie, my DH's first reaction was literally "I'll get the can!" I told him he couldn't spray because the anthill was so close to the squash plant. He goes a bit overboard anyway - I keep telling him he can't kill every ant on the planet. Since we had carpenter ants in the house, he's a bit touchy about ants in general, lol.

I'll do a bit more research and keep an eye on them and on my plants, and take it from there. Thank you all for your help!

Dee

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