The ants have taken up residence in my spinach patch. I just knock over their colonies in hopes they move along. Today I noticed one of my spinach plants was tall enough not to be buried by the ant hill so I just left the ant hill. I may regret that later, but trying to fight every "pest" in the garden just isn't possible.

Maybe I'll just keep digging it up till they leave?

Are ants a menace to any crops?

I've never had ant damage to any fruit or vegetable. As long as they're not biting you, I'd garden around them. They do have a useful place in the ecosystem.

I have fire ants in the end of my compost pile where I put all the fresh stuff. Should I let them keep eating or try to get rid of them? Any suggestions, tips, wisdom....THANKS!

I've read somewhere to sprinkle corn meal in the area of your ant problem - the ants eat the meal but cannot digest it and supposedly die. I've also heard that diatomacious earth sprinkled in amongst your plants is supposed to get rid of ants.

I've wondered this same thing, except for the fire ant problem which can be a severe nuisance here in NC.

Don't ants farm aphids? That sounds dubious to me. Those little buggers flat zap the life out of plants.

Any ant experts out there?

Erin

I have a lot of ants in my garden and they've never posed a problem. No fire ants, though.

From what I've read, I tried boiling water once and will try it again. DE can kill the good bugs but since the ants are on the end section I might try that after all this rain stops. I forgot about using the cornmeal. I will try it if the boiling water method doesn't work. There can be 800 new ones daily...agh! I could stir up their path to my compost also, haven't done it yet. Meanwhile I will keep squishing them. Thanks guys!

"Don't ants farm aphids?"

Yes, they do... and they carry them from plant to plant. This can make the difference between disease killing a plant or two, and killing the entire row. Plus, carpenter ants & fire ants can be destructive.

In my garden, the ants themselves seldom cause problems. The aphids they carry can get bad in early Summer, but I generally just wait it out. There is a good population of insect predators in my area, and with no action on my part, they usually wipe out most of the aphids within a few weeks. I try to garden organically, so that suits me fine.

But some years the predators don't show up, or are late. Fortunately, that doesn't happen often; but when it does, the aphids can get severe. It's really hard to deal with ant-borne aphids, unless you deal with the ants first.

I don't like using sprays or ant granules in my vegetable garden, but I found a good compromise. I use the liquid ant baits - the ones intended for indoor use - under a protective cover. The ants feed on the bait, then take it to the nest, killing the queen. The nest dies very quickly.

If there is only a solitary hill, and no plants grow through it, I've gone out at night & poured a kettle of boiling water on the nest. It pretty much wipes them out.

I have very clayish soil. As much as I detest digging near the actual ants, the nests do make digging and planting easier.

If you start to notice they're farming the aphids you could try some diversion plants. Sunflowers are the only thing I can think of off hand but I know there are others.

YAY!I found the ant nest at a vacant lot next door, 60' from my compost pile. The boiling water is working too. I am going to ask my husband to torch their path!

I knocked over the ant hill in my spinach patch, so the ants moved their hill to the side of my spinach patch. I guess it's their idea of compromising. They're still in the garden bed, just not living amongst my spinach.

I was super worried about all the ants I had been seeing on my fava plants, thinking they were up to no good with their aphid-farming tendencies. But I let them be since I didn't see any damage to the plants. This week, while poking around online, I found out that favas can have extra-floral nectaries that ants feed on and they seem to have some kind of mysterious beneficial relationship. Huh!

Not sure that this applies to your situation at all, but I thought it was interesting so worth mentioning!

"I've gone out at night & poured a kettle of boiling water on the nest. It pretty much wipes them out."

That seems so very painful....

However - mr. puppy discover this colony. I was out planting the cukes on the other side of the trellis....found an old fence post concrete anchor I needed to dig out - ouch!

Anywho - mr. puppy found the ants, started digging and appeared to be eating them! I think they're nutritious?, so I let him.

How's that for a biological control? at one point he rubbed his nose into the ground away from the colony, I think he got bit, lol! But that didn't deter him for long...

Wondered if anyone has pet anteaters that they bring out to your yard to help control the situation. I'm fine with a moderate amount but there are way too many in my yard - lots of peonies that have been around like 20 years most likely.....

so I think barring renting anteaters, mr. puppy can be in charge of control.....

t-bird- Every spring we get a sugar ant invasion in the house. We use something toxic and syrupy stuff to kill them off. This spring we got a sugar ant invasion of epic proportions. We've never seen it that bad before! My dog discovered the trail of ants running up our wall to the poison placed on a table (out of the dog's reach) and went crazy licking them. My husband got a good laugh because the dog could not stop licking her chops for a good 15 min. The ants were running all over her mouth and nose.

If I let my dog try to dig up and eat the ants in my spinach garden, my dog would just stop and eat the spinach. My mutt is convinced we only plant spinach for her to graze on as it is her absolute favorite veggie. If we are outside, and I stop hearing my dog's collar jingle as she runs around, I can usually find her in the spinach patch munching away. Funny - never had the rabbits munch on my spinach, but my dog can be the biggest pest about it.