Hello, I have a vegetable garden in Sacramento. This was my first year growing in Sacramento and there are alot of bugs here that I did not experience when I was living in SF Bay Area. My main problem first came with caterpillars, which I could not control in natural ways. My plants started looking sickly with leaves eaten, so I purchased Ortho insecticide to control them. This worked, HOWEVER now I have a huge ant infestation problem.

I mainly grow cucumbers, melons, and beans and the ants love the cucumber and melon plants. They seem to be laying tiny eggs all over the leaves and they take a liking to the area where the fruit flowers are growing. I think they like the pollen. How do I control this without using toxic sprays? Any suggestions would help. I would like to use the Ortho as less as possible.