Perhaps something else is damaging the stems and the ants are just attracted to the exposed juices. This damage could be occurring at night.

Have you tried treating with pyrethrin, neem oil or something like Captain Jack’s Dead bug Brew?

i agree with The Logician in that the ants aren’t likely responsible for the damage. They are probably just taking advantage of it. Some other kind of insect is responsible.

I haven't seen any other bugs around my plants. I'll sneak out there at night and see if anything else could be causing the damage but I really don't think so at this point. There was no damage until the ants showed up and it's just getting worse :(

Jamie Outlaw, I am looking into pyrtherin and Captain Jack's now. The only reason I haven't used neem is because I don't have any on hand, I'll probably start with that since it has multiple uses

Ants - except for fire ants - are generally regarded as garden beneficials. They have little to no interest in your plants but they do police pest insects such as aphids, beetle larvae, and slugs. So I agree with the above that something else is doing the damage not the ants.

I honestly can't see much damage in the photos except for a bunch of broken leaf stems (not ant damage) and 3 brown stem 'munch' injuries (2nd photo) that is also not ant damage. Both those types of damage are far more common with cutworms or some other form of caterpillar type insect.

Dave

Hmm so maybe caterpillars are coming in the night the enjoy the plants. It is definitely chunks, almost like pits in the stems which is cause the stems to break. Now I almost feel bad for the ants for harassing them all the time lol.

Would neem still help to get rid of caterpillars?

Will the ants eat the potatoes growing in the ground?

Slugs and snails work at night but most caterpillars and beetle larvae are daytime workers. Some cutworms and army worms will return to the soil during the heat of the day and then re-emerge when it cools off.

But they can all be very hard to find on the plants sometimes as they range is size from tiny to large and often have a color that blends in. Sometimes they can be found on the underside of the leaves.

Neem might help some - although it can also kill beneficials - and it isn't the most effective caterpillar control, Bt is 10x better and only affects caterpillars. But careful inspection and hand-picking is the most effective - especially with such few plants.

Since this is your first garden please keep in mind that organic gardening has its own set of "rules and regulations" and is far more complex then simply avoiding using synthetics. One of those "rules" is learning to accept and tolerate some less than perfect plants, to accept some damage. And your photos show minimal.

OG has a complex and lengthy learning curve. For example it is just as easy to go overboard with organic controls as it is with synthetic chemicals. They both kill and damage beneficials. Destroy the balance with all sorts of homemade sprays and concoctions and you only make things worse. Also please understand that fish fertilizer, while far from the only or even best organic fert available, is highly attractive to many garden pests due to the odor.

Dave

Ants will NOT eat the potatoes forming in the ground :-)

Thanks gardengal! That's what I'm most concerned about.

Dave if the damage seems minimal that's great news and I won't worry about it too much. Because this is my first vegetable garden I'm still unsure what to worry about and what the plants can deal with. I'm trying to just let the garden "do it's thing" and not mess with the natural balance of things which is why I hesitate to use synthetics but I also don't want to let all my work go down the tubes because of a hungry slug :D

I'm going to go out tonight and see if I can find slugs or snails etc on the plants since I haven't seen any caterpillars.

I really appreciate the advice and reassurance you all have given me!

" and not mess with the natural balance of things which is why I hesitate to use synthetics"

Then you will also want to take it easy on the

- peppermint essential oil mixed with water (at different strengths)

- seventh generation citrus dish soap and water

- combination of peppermint and dish soap

- diatomaceous earth around and on the plants at the risk of hurting other valuable insects

As they can have just as much negative effect on the balance as synthetics. Any of them can kill also beneficials, negatively affect soil bacteria levels and damage plants.

Dave

I agree with the others that the ants are taking advantage. I don’t think of ants as beneficial, however, given their tight relationship to aphids (ie they breed them like milk cows). I have personally witnessed this on my artichokes and it’s absolutely maddening. I would suspect a) slugs because I don’t know where you are but I am listening to yet another torrential downpour in DC and the slugs are booooming or b) caterpillars. It’s early here for that but I have found some little guys this week. I usually put out some sluggo and beer traps for the slugs and do a spray of thuricide (bacillus thuriengensis, which is organic) because I can tolerate a little damage but those cabbage moth larvae can clear you out in a couple of days. I also hand-check and just kind of wipe off any actual bugs I find on the undersides of the leaves. Or c) ha, captain obvious? Potato bugs? I don’t know much about potato bugs but you should consider that as an option too. They can decimate a plant in nothing flat. They look like stripey ladybugs. Ladybugs will eat the larvae so there is always the option of buying ladybugs. :)

I've never seen slug or snail damage which chews through a stem like that. Ime they head straight for the softest juiciest leaves, not the tough stems. And I don't think they're that keen on potato foliage although the ones we have here burrow into tubers and can destroy them with their tunnelling.

We do have lots of rolly pollies (pill bugs)! I had no idea they could damage plants. I'm going to do the beer thing today .. I meant to go outside last night and check for slugs but I forgot and fell asleep lol

Do I just put plain beer in a low wall dish?

doodlelou how do you deal with the ants on the artichokes, if you don't mind to share with us?

My suggestion would be to go outside at night around 10 or 11 p.m. and take a look. You'd be surprised at how many creatures are active in your garden at night, on/around your plants, munching leaves, etc.

I saw a toad eating ants in a sidewalk crack last night.

Hi there--sorry about the lag. In re ants on artichokes:

I used to knock them off with a hose. I also sprayed with neem oil and insecticidal soap periodically to kill aphids and whiteflies so the ants would be less interested. This was when I lived in northern California, though, and so the artichokes were constantly in a favorable climate and therefore capable of regeneration. So if things got really bad pest-wise, I could chop them down and they would come back just fine.

FWIW, diatomaceous earth didn't work. The ants just walked right across the line. I also had terro (borax) traps near their swarm sites and that helped some too. My son, who was 3-5 at the time we lived in that house, used to like to pee on the ant trails "to confuse them." I don't know if that worked :D but they certainly do follow scent trails so it might have helped! When it comes to aphids and whiteflies, I'm open to any and all solutions. :)

In my garden, fire ants are eating potatoes! They make holes, tunnels in tubers, and destroy them. They like Idaho, Russet, and the most of all any purple potatoes. I do nothing about this problem, because if they are already there , they already have damaged tubers, and they attack only 1 or 2 plants in potato bed. So, I just consider it as a rent payment which you can't avoid.

It is ants, here in Kentucky anyway. The eat the roots and potatoes are fine just real small because the plants die way to soon for potatoes to mature. I sprinkled seven dust in the hole when I planted them, and 2 more times afterward I sprinkled on the leaves& ground just before a light rain. It more than doubled my harvest.

I live in Georgia and on what we refer to as ant mountain. NOTHING we do repels them, kills them, deters them. They absolutely eat my veggies and damage my potato crop. I quit growing potatoes years ago because nothing we did helped. Just wasted my time and money. We laugh every time i see someone write ants don't eat the plants. Georgia ants didn't get the memo.

No they are fire ants they are boring into our potatoes also

call your county extension

and ask what pectisides will kill them and not ruin your crop

diatomaceous earth is organic. It might be where they chose to build a nest. I have found plants ants normally leave alone getting literally ate to death when an identical plant 1 foot away is completely unscathed. Point is if they give up on that location you might be ok. We do not have fire ants in Ohio so this might not work.