I have basil growing in pots, black plastic sort of window box things With legs Nice looking containers Large containers and long In the pots, two of them I have various types of basil, Rosemary, Lavender, and something else I forget what it is Right near my kitchen door so I can just cut off what I need and when One type of the basil, of course my favourite kind, gets holes in the leaves and I have figured out , and seen what it is Even though in pots and not overwatered. It is Earwigs. Have even seen one , no two, times when I have cut some leaves for adding to whatever. I do put coffee grounds in both of the pots and egg shells What I have taken to doing, and I know this sounds, a bit yuk is just washing off the leaves I want to use and chopping them up I figure, that commercially that is what would happen so this year I have been doing this Main thing is to be sure not to have any bugs in what I use and wind up chopping them up into my salad. That for sure would be YUK I do have lots of basil though and am thinking to maybe plant some seeds and have myself another crop before the big freeze Never can have to much basil that is for sure.

Hello, Pictures would really help to narrow this down. You are saying it looks like they are being bitten off and then you mention discoloration and the presence of ants. You may have many things going on here. Discoloration inside blossoms can be due to insects like thrips. Thrips are so small that you could easily miss them. To me they appear to be moving splinters. But, the only pests aside from birds and small mammals that can eat something as big as a melon blossom would seem to be slugs/snails/worms/beetles. I encourage you to put out yellow sticky cards to catch the perpetrator or try to catch them in a spot-light at night. Without a proper ID, it is hard to tell someone what to do about the problem. Because, even if you try to use a remay.....at this point you could just be trapping the pest in with the crop. I also encourage you to research cucumber beetles. Here, They are very destructive pests and are often found inside squash blossoms/cucurbitaceae.

It might be helpful to check at night, after dark, with a flashlight. Things like vine weevils and slugs might be around. Also take the inner pot out and examine underneath, including the drain hole. If you can lift the root ball out of the inner pot intact have a look there too. Any grubs? The edges of the damage look healed, so it is possible the creature that did it has gone. Is it still happening?

It's only certain species of Alstroemeria that are thuggish........and to the point where they are almost invasive. Most of the widely colored modern hybrids are quite well behaved and not as hardy as the species as well. Most are only rated to zone 7 or 8. Many years ago, before I gained much wisdom in my gardening career, I planted some alstros I probably got from a plant sale. Boy howdy!! Those things took off like a house afire!! Took over one planting bed and then made tracks for the neighbors. And they are virtually impossible to remove. Any small piece of root will start another plant. We finally moved.