ants

[Maidenheadtaff]

i seem to have lots of ants all over my rhurbarb and beetroot in pots.they don't appear to be doing any damage at the moment but they must be there for a reason, and the veg have no escape as they are in pots.Can i do anything?

[Maidenheadtaff]

[gruesome]

seems to be the year of the ANT never seen so many in one small allotment plot.
Have discovered 6 different nests. The Ants i've come across seem to prefer rotting material than live growth.

[cornykev]

I took off the dalek cover on one of my compost bins and there was  millions of the buggers on the compost.  :o :-\ :'( :'( :'( ;D ;D ;D

[manicscousers]

they're not farming greenfly, are they..they take them to the tasty tips and milk them..we seem to have had loads this year  :(  :)

[Rosyred]

Are they ok in the compost bin as mine is swarming with them too?

[cornykev]

I've just come back 3million 760 thousand and four, I'll be itching and scratching all night.  :'(  ;D ;D ;D

[greenscrump]

I'm pretty sure they don't do any harm- aerate the soil and so on,  but they do farm aphids which is amazing really, apparently they even  take them inside their nests to protect them if necessary.  They milk them by brushing them with their antenae to make the aphids produce a milky sweet sap which the ants love.  Anyway, the aphids are a pain....  ::)

[emmy1978]

Did a post t'other day to say my plot is swarming in ants. Today i lifted some old planks we have lying about to find squillions of ants and little oval eggs - kind of a dark cream colour. When I went back a little later they had covered the eggs with soil. Are these ant eggs? Or is it the aphid farm? Or both???!!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

They're ant pupae. This time of year they're raising queens and males, which are considerably bigger than the workers, and the pupae are, as you saw, quite conspicuous.

[Rohaise]

Me too .....in the porch ,in the greenhouse, and like you, in all the veg beds.
Shouldn,t we use ant powder on them ? Thankfully none indoors ....yet!
  Rohaise

[Tulipa]

I have some indoors  :( - what is the best stuff to use now?  I haven't had them for years but spotted them today and thought about this thread!  I am grateful for any suggestions, thanks.

[sarah]

i have loads this year aswell, including in the compost bin. i dont mind them too much they are interesting to watch when you uncover the eggs (or pupae) they get busy busy busy and move them to safety. i dont like it when they crawl up yer legs though. no no.

[emmy1978]

I do like ants, they are very clever industrious little creatures and like Sarah says interesting to watch them protecting their eggs. I just go into kill mode when I think the plants are threatened.  ;D As long as they don't start an aphid farm I'm ok with them!!!
I'll go down tomorrow and inform them of their reprieve!

[milkybardave]

I think the little buggers are farming away on my parsnips!

What can I do??  Do I use something to kill off the aphids? Anyone got a dozen ladybirds???

[manicscousers]

I have some indoors  :( - what is the best stuff to use now?  I haven't had them for years but spotted them today and thought about this thread!  I am grateful for any suggestions, thanks.

borax, mixed with icing sugar, bit of water, in a saucer..push it under somewhere safe and leave them to it  :)

[gingerninja38]

if there are ants in your compost heap it's too dry.
also if you want to kill them pour boiling water on them, they don't like that at all. i must have at least 20 red ant nests on my plot and i have been bitten to death! >:(  it's a daily battle round our way.