Hey guys,
Popped to the allotment yesterday to check on things and noticed that something had been eating my strawberry plants.
The leaves had cuts all over them and one or two leaves had been completely destroyed. At first I thought it was slugs but then I saw that the whole bed is covered in black ants, later I saw one carrying away a bit of one of the leaves.
How can I get rid of them - It's sad because my strawberry plants were doing really well and now they all look very sad :(
I did a search but all the other threads say they are pretty harmless apart from harvesting aphids and disturbing seedlings so wondered if anyone else had had this problem before.
Any advice would be fab!
Is it a raised bed? Are you growing them through matting?
Ants get established in warm dry soil but the rain we are having right now should encourage them to move on. Assuming the rain is reaching your soil. At any rate, the first thing I'd do is let the bed benefit from the rain and see what happens.
No not a raised bed - but yes they are being grown through matting so the rain won't be getting to them as much as it would without the matting.
Even if they dont eat all your plants, the ants can aerate (sp?) the soil so much that the roots dry out and the plants die. So if you have an ant city under the matting, and it sounds as if you might, you do need to take it up and let the ground soak.
But others may be along soon with better alternatives.
I tend to use 1/2 a 2lt fizzy pop bottle over each plant as this stops slugs and snails from devouring our small
plants of all varieties,dont see why the same couldnt be applied to your strawbs providing the plants were not too big,but then using plastic bell cloches might be a better solution,providing the ants are not getting through sub soil.
Gazza
Pretty sure the ants are living under the matting. Taking it up would be a massive undertaking as the 'cage' that I built to keep the birds off is sitting on the matting under the surface soil so would have to take that up too. Also the plants are much bigger now (compared to when I planted them inside the matting) so would have to destroy the matting to remove them.
Is there any way I can kill them off? Like an organic ant killer? I've looked on the web but that obviously doesn't tell me if it will work.
I seem to have ants everywhere on the allotment, but they only seem to be destroying the strawbs so far :(
Geez, and I thought all I would have to worry about would be the birds :(
You don't have to kill them..after all ant killer powders are not that nice for your soil neither..would not like to think what would get into plants and crops.
I agree with same as Ellen already mentioned..they will move on if their 'home' gets too wet...I give can full water straight over the 'trouble spot'..after few water 'treatments' they usually choose to find some cosier place to nest.
Hello again - I dont think you will do much with the insecticides you can buy today. Somehow, you have got to soak the bed - perhaps you can puncture the the matting ? If the plants have grown big through the original holes, new holes are needed to get the drainage.
diatomaceous earth works
Boiling water will finish 'em off. Get your thermos out!
Obviously this will not do plants any good if it comes in contact with them.
As said flush em out with a jolly good soaking. ;D
THese work really well http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIPPON-REFILLABLE-ANT-BAIT-STATION-INSECT-CONTROL-KILLER-/110862055342?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item19cfe4b7ae (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIPPON-REFILLABLE-ANT-BAIT-STATION-INSECT-CONTROL-KILLER-/110862055342?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item19cfe4b7ae), i use them in the greenhouse and near my broad beans and by controlling the ant population I get few aphid problems as the predators will control the infestations.. The ants take the sugary poison and feed it to the queen, which dies and then the nest sort of implodes as no new ants are born.. Good news is that they are utterly ant specific, not because the poison only affects ants, it'd kill bees and wasps pretty easily too, but because only an ant can get in there
Inside, we use borax and icing sugar, outside, we flood the nests with cold water if they're causing any problems :)
Quote from: chriscross1966 on April 24, 2012, 21:02:15
THese work really well http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIPPON-REFILLABLE-ANT-BAIT-STATION-INSECT-CONTROL-KILLER-/110862055342?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item19cfe4b7ae (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIPPON-REFILLABLE-ANT-BAIT-STATION-INSECT-CONTROL-KILLER-/110862055342?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item19cfe4b7ae), i use them in the greenhouse and near my broad beans and by controlling the ant population I get few aphid problems as the predators will control the infestations.. The ants take the sugary poison and feed it to the queen, which dies and then the nest sort of implodes as no new ants are born.. Good news is that they are utterly ant specific, not because the poison only affects ants, it'd kill bees and wasps pretty easily too, but because only an ant can get in there
Thanks for putting me on to this is looks like the perfect solution and the reviews say it is magic!
Just ordered some off amazon (because I don't have an ebay account)
Cheers ;D
Quote from: Bubbles26 on April 25, 2012, 20:21:19
Quote from: chriscross1966 on April 24, 2012, 21:02:15
THese work really well http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIPPON-REFILLABLE-ANT-BAIT-STATION-INSECT-CONTROL-KILLER-/110862055342?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item19cfe4b7ae (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NIPPON-REFILLABLE-ANT-BAIT-STATION-INSECT-CONTROL-KILLER-/110862055342?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item19cfe4b7ae), i use them in the greenhouse and near my broad beans and by controlling the ant population I get few aphid problems as the predators will control the infestations.. The ants take the sugary poison and feed it to the queen, which dies and then the nest sort of implodes as no new ants are born.. Good news is that they are utterly ant specific, not because the poison only affects ants, it'd kill bees and wasps pretty easily too, but because only an ant can get in there
Thanks for putting me on to this is looks like the perfect solution and the reviews say it is magic!
Just ordered some off amazon (because I don't have an ebay account)
Cheers ;D
Good thin is once you have the bait stations you can refil them every year cos you can buy a tube of the goo for a couple of quid in our local GC... you can make your own baitstations out of yoghurt pots if you feel adventurous... it's a milk plastic bottle lid on the ground with the goo in it and a yoghurt pot with little slits cut in the sides with a peg to hold it down or a stone on top...
They hate talc :)