Ants in strawberries!

[caroline7758]

I had to throw away half the strawberries I picked this evening because they had ants inside. Are they a "primary predator" or do they crawl into holes made by slugs? I also wonder whether growing through weed-suppressing fabric as I have this year has created a nice habitat for them?

[caroline7758]

[pumkinlover]

I got an ants nest under the fabric mulch and a number of nasty bites a few years ago. This year they are Everywhere. 

[caroline7758]

Having googled pictures of ant damage I think all the damage I've been blaming slugs for is probably down to ants. Just wondering whether it's worth taking the fabric off to expose the ants. Or is there something I can water on to the patch to get rid of the ants?

[ancellsfarmer]

Take a plastic box or jar with a lid(such as a Stork margarine box (washed out) Cut small slits along the sides. Put a few drops of Nippon ant control syrup in the box. Place under the net and top up with a few more drops at intervals (every other day?). You will find that the ants will feed on the syrup and carry back to neutralise the colony. Hopefully within  four or five days, your strawbs will be safe.

[Hector]

I had them in my Blueberry containers and used Nemasys No Ant nematode ( water in). It apparently makes them move elsewhere versus killing. So far so good.

[johhnyco15]

with all the pests weather,fungus,blight and everything else us allotmenteers have to deal with its a wonder we evertake anything home other than the hump  ant stop is another good make

[small]

My strawberry patch is about the only place in my plot and garden where there isn't an ant's nest. They're in the tomato pots in the greenhouse, in the asparagus bed, and as for the block paving round the house, well the only solution is going to be relaying it in the winter. Ants, slugs, torrential damaging rain, what a season.

[Crystalmoon]

Hi I had a problem earlier in the season with ants moving into my strawberry pots. I used Borax mixed with icing sugar in equal parts & it has got rid off them all. I bought the Borax a few years ago from Boots the chemist. A little goes along way. I placed the mixture into old plastic squash bottles then placed the bottles around the areas infested with ants. In theory the ants can't separate the Borax from the icing sugar so feed it to their Queen who dies. I tried everything else possible before resorting to killing the nests this way but there are just so many ants everywhere this year I had to kill some off. xJane 

[ancellsfarmer]

Does anyone have a recipe for this borax/sugar tip? Ratio of borax/sugar is what is required. Borax is available from stockists of Dri-Pak products, but where do you find a proper hardware shop these days! I use it as a flux for fire welding, in the forge.

[Crystalmoon]

Hi Ancellsfarmer I just mix the icing sugar & borax in equal amounts so depending on how much you need just ensure you use the same amount of each in the mix so that the ants can't separate the icing sugar from the borax. I used half ounce of each per plastic bottle as my whole plot seemed to be one giant ants nest. I don't seem to have any nests on the areas of my plot that I am working anymore but there does seem to be a lot of ant activity in one of my black composters this week but I don't mind them being in there as long as they aren't causing damage to anything I am growing. xJane 

[John85]

You can also use aspartame instead of borax and that is available at the supermarket as a sweatener

[Vinlander]

Does anyone have a recipe for this borax/sugar tip? Ratio of borax/sugar is what is required. Borax is available from stockists of Dri-Pak products, but where do you find a proper hardware shop these days! I use it as a flux for fire welding, in the forge.

Dri-Pak is clearly described as a borax substitute - there is no borax, borate, or boron in it at all. It won't kill any ants at all - it is a milder form of washing soda - and alkaline so the taste will tip off the ants anyway.

Try this search on Google: "sodium borate uk -substitute -phosphate" - it brings up various sites selling real borax. Prices vary a LOT eg. between a totally mad £77 per kilo (in 50g packs) and a very reasonable £2.50 per kilo (in 25Kg packs)

The URL below is the latter supplier and also seems to have sensible prices for smaller quantities (£5.95 for 1Kg post free):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Borax-Sodium-Tetraborate-Decahydrate-99-9-Lab-Grade-500g-1KG-2KG-5KG-10KG-25KG-/321094621563?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Cheers.