22nd most common question on this board. A search will reveal plenty of threads discussing issue, including the very very few plants that ants eat. Choose the solution that best matches your worldview.

Dan

amberns, are these fire ants? If so, those of us who have to deal with them in our yards and gardens know that they don't follow the same rules that other ants comply to. They DO damage on and feed on fruits and veggies, and will undermine the root system of plants with their large underground colonies.

Whether ants are the culprits in your garden is impossible for us to tell, but knowing if they are fire ants or not can be a helpful clue.

If these are fire ants, I'd like to know what you used to control them. There are some effective products on the market, while others just encourage them to move...as you've observed.

Ants, unless they are fire ants, are not normally considered a problem in the garden. They are even beneficial in some ways and as Dan suggested, they seldom if ever cause any plant damage. So the odds are that your ants are not your culprit.

There could be any number of reason for your plants "dying" - the unusual heat and drought many are having this year all over the country is the most likely since we all have plants dying from it - or you could have grubs, root weevils, nematodes, etc. damaging the plants roots. Aphids, grasshoppers, flea beetles, blister beetles, etc. could be causing the leaf damage.

So more investigation is needed of both the plant roots and what might be causing the leaf damage.

Dave

I have terrible ant problems in my garden. I get forager ants who, if disturbed will bite the living heck out of you. Then I get fire ants, who are not eating my plants but sucking the sap from around the edges of the flowers of beans at this time. They are not damaging the plant at all - sharing is fine but if I try to pick beans I am stung ...they are doing this all all the cow peas, are hanging out around the base of every cosmos I have planted and being an utter nuisance.
Earlier in the spring ants were farming aphids on the backs of the eggplant. That drove me NUTS. I killed the aphids so the ants began to CHEW at the stems of the eggplant (did they think the aphids where hiding in there????)... the eggplant began to seriously and quickly decline. So I got out cotton balls and made a borax and sugar solution and that nailed them. I only do this if the ants are a huge problem. As for fire ants I try and use spinosad but not in excess. Personally I like the granular types. I can tolerate some fire ants, but not hordes....