Allotments 4 All

Sorry if this is the wrong forum.....

As well as my lottie, I've got a large patio area outside my ground floor flat.  I'm growing tomatoes, herbs, strawberrys, and one pepper.  I've noticed a few ants pottering around my growbags.  Are they good for the garden?  I was thinking that maybe they would be eating up the greenfly?  Anyone know - friend or foe?  ???

Both - but definitely foe where aphids are concerned.  They protect them from predators because the like the honeydue excreted by the greenfly.

Any organic ideas how to get them to leave my growbags alone?

Boiling water, jumping  up and down on top of them, don't know how organic ant killers are.  My red ants at home have never been a problem - at least I have never seen them that way.  Now I am a lottier, that might change.

Suggestion I've seen several times for shifting ants' nests is a small bottle of clove oil in can of water watered onto them - they dislike the smell. Whether you want your patio to smell of cloves is a different matter  ;D
Another possibility is pennyroyal, a plant they dislike - but how prectical that is in your situation, I don't know.

Rosa - clove oil seems like a good idea, and I have some in the bathroom cabinet for when I get toothache.  Don't mind the smell of clove oil, at least it will mask the smell of cat tiddle from friendly Tigger next door (love him, but wish he would pee somewhere else!)   ;)

Good luck - and you never know, it might put the cat off, too  ;D

Hiya.  Must be a bad year for ants.  We have got them really badly this year, they are everywhere.  Had a lot of trouble with them on indoors crops.

I wrote a page about aphid farming etc for my web site, and organic controls.  Under glass they can be a real pest. 

Anyhoo, if you fancy a gander, its here:
Ants, Aphids & Ladybirds

Thanks for the suggestion Rosa , I'll pass it on , someone else was asking, must be a bad year, dare I say it...I've had a few but not as many as other years.