I would forget the ants and concentrate on getting rid of the aphids, myself

The ants don't seem to harm our veggies, but the aphids...

so far the only success Ive had was putting boric acid around perimeter & "Terro" on that hardscape

I had small ants herding aphids on the underside of my melon leaves. I squished their herds and applied a light dusting of Bonides Garden Dust. Its been over 2 weeks and the ants are still milling around but no more aphids :)

I spray aphids and white flies with a blast of water and the ants get the death penalty: http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/safe-effective-ant-trap

I put this in the garden and re-wet the cotton balls several times a day as they dry out. Works like a charm! The ants have been digging in and sucking the living juice out of a few of my plants. I think they were very thirsty since we've not had much rain.

When you're done getting rid of the aphids, you can go up the road to the Elk Head Brewery and drink a toast to getting rid of both ants and aphids.

Dan

No need for heavy chemicals like seven. Spray a organic mixture to soften the shell of the aphids and kill them, google for info likely you will have what you need all ready except for spray bottle. Then a few hours later blast the rest of them off the stem with a stream of water. You will have to do this routinely since beans are naturally high in nitrogen and thats what attracts the aphids, high nitrogen. Ants are not a problem. Aphids will reproduce very quickly so dont let them get out of hand. Also dont spray the entire plant with the mixture only affected area and follow the mixture instruction and maybe a little less. The mixture if mixed heavy can harm you plants. That why IMO its a good idea to wait for a few hours then spray the plants off with the remaining aphids.

So the ants are killing the Aphids? Isn't that a good thing?

Happy Gardening All,
-Kristina K.

Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Farm Wife

@KMKacan

No, they dont kill the aphids, they milk them like cows :)

Watched a movie on Netflix called Microcosms. Showed the ants farming the aphids and fighting off the ladybug that wanted to eat the aphids. The ants then milked the aphids for the honeydew secretions. What a great scene!

@ Jeremy Jay - Ahahahahhaa oh my.....

Happy Gardening All,
-Kristina K.

Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Farm Wife

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43id_NRajDo&playnext=1&list=PLC2F1D323804B67AE

And the whole thing is playing out on my Fava Beans! Yikes!

I've found that used coffee grounds take care of the ants in my garden. Caffeine is quite toxic, soooI only put the coffee grounds in the area where the ant eggs are. Within 2 days, they're all gone.

I don't want to kill the GOOD bugs, but...this year the ants ate more than 1/2 of my tater's before they even had a chance to sprout.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pesticides

Too bad all the caffeine is out of the used coffee grounds, so it must be something else.

Dan

Do you use fresh coffee grounds?

I believe dematious earth will deter ants. Place around the base of the plant or around you bed.

tracydr...Yes, I do. I drink my coffee quite strong, so...there IS still caffiene in the grounds.

Fresh grounds might be too toxic.

All I know is used grounds do get rid of the ants, in my gardens.

Good luck!

I use diatomaceous earth dusted on the plants and at the base of the plants after blasting them hard with water to get rid of all the aphids. Make sure they are pretty dry before applying the DE. I guess it loses it's effect if it gets wet.
I've also dusted the squash plants with DE this year after seeing a squash bug and baby squash bugs. Not SVBs but the squash bugs. After two weeks of being dusted, I have not seen another bug, juvenile or egg cluster. I really like DE for a lot of things. Just make sure you wear a mask or don't breath it in, it can irritate the lungs because it's sharp particles of natural silica.
The other thing that's been really helping my war on ants is boric acid. I make traps with 4 parts sugar, 1 part boric acid (sometimes I use peanut butter or syrup) and put on little saucers or paper plates. The ants carry it back to the nests and it kills the entire colony. This is working great for the desert fire ants that I have. It's really good in the house and around the chickens. Also good placed on the edges of the garden when I see a line of ants headed to feed on something like the eggplant or okra.

Here is a link to pests and coffee grounds.
"But at the same time, once it's been used as coffee already, it's not going to hurt the ground as much as you think it would. And they say animals, too -- it doesn't have a lot of caffeine left in it once it's been used. So it's not that dangerous for animals."

P.S. That's not me in the video. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: How to use coffee grounds

it doesn't have a lot of caffeine left in it once it's been used. So it's not that dangerous for animals

That's why it doesn't work as a deterrent, the levels are so low as to be useless.

Soil conditioner, sure. Pest deterrent, no. Better to put it in your compost and use it that way, at least it will be useful.

Dan

Use food garde DE, not the pool stuff..........:)

dan_staley... If those remarks were directed at me...this is why I don't have a compost pile. I'da spent more money on ammunition eliminating so many 4 legged creatures, I could've never hoped to benefit from a compost pile.

Country living at it's finest...except for the stray cats folks don't want anymore so they dump them. Stray cats will try to eat any "garbage" they find, and then some.

I fence my gardens off from the wild critters, but...a compost pile in the country sometimes, just don't "cut it".

btw...Believe what you will over the coffee grounds, and so will I.

'Nuff said.

Coffee grounds do not work with the presumption of caffeine as a deterrent. There is not enough caffeine to matter, esp if you want to penetrate an exoskeleton.

If the stench drives away the local ants, great. Hereabouts they could care less whether there are coffee grounds in the garden, as they go about their business as if nothing was present. Same with slugs. Coffee grounds killing slugs due to the caffeine is a myth.

Dan

I am very greatful for everyone's tips on this subject matter and plan on using a mix of these ideas.
Where would I purchase food grade DE?

Thanks for everyone's help! :)

Brian ...

I don't know how to say this and not use brand names (which I try to avoid), so I will just throw it out there ...

Home Depot sells "Safer" diatomaceous earth. "Safer" is the brand name. The Safer brand is OMRI listed/approved for Organic use. It about $8 for a 7 oz bottle.

I have not used DE in my garden yet, but I have used it around fruit trees at my mom's and I've used it in my own home against ants. I've had mixed results from stellar to epic failure ... so consider it just another tool in your arsenal, not the cure all from the gods.

I believe Safer is also sold at Lowes and Ace.

Any decent nursery has DE. DE becomes ineffective when wet and must be reapplied.

Dan

I sure would like to see cats eating coffee grounds or tomato tops out of a compost pile.

My son wanted sunflowers in our veggie patch so we got 2 kinds of seeds and grew some that were 6-9 ft. tall on the north edge, and another kind that's about 3 ft. tall at the bottom (south side) of those. Ants are farming aphids on them but not on any other veggie plants. The sunflowers have performed beautifully and we will have thousands of seeds. Some of the first flowers are done and cut down and many more still have yet to bloom. So it seems that a sunflower or 2 in a veggie patch might be a good companion plant for keeping the aphids away from the veggies, and do it all summer. Anyone else have this happen?