Spread some instant grits on the ground around your corn. That will cut them back a bit. They eat the grits, then the grits expand.........

Malt-o-meal also works. There's an ant poison, Amdro, that works on the same principle, except it's also got poison on the grain. Idea is that they take it inside the anthill - amd other ants, including the queen eat it. You do have to keep the Amdro covered -- I use a crate with rocks on it -- it you have any pets, but it's not absorbed by the plants and won't effect your harvest.

Crista

How about sprinkling some DE (diatomaceous earth) around the corn. If you can find the anthill, put some DE around that also. Ants will walk on the DE, and eventually dehydrate and die. It is sort of like walking on razor wire for them. No poisons, no mess, safe for pets.

You can apply it and eat the corn on the same day. You can get it pretty inexpensively at a feed store. Make sure you get the horticultural grade, not the pool grade DE. The pool grade DE will not work.

HTH

It seems to me that the ants are there because they are taking care of some aphids. I think that if you spray some insecxticidal soap on the corn, it would take care of the aphids. That way, the ants would have to move on.

I'm in Northern Arizona and have the best stand of corn ever. However today I noticed that multitudinous ants are tending large colonies of aphids on some leaves and down into the stalks. I read somewhere that putting some jam on the leaves would attract the ants away and that they would eventually kill the aphids who would try to compete for the jam. Anyone tried this? Would speading grits have any effect on aphids? How will the aphids damage the corn? Thanks

Chill!! The jelly thing may be good for the ants but the aphids are plant juice suckers, they will not compete with the ants. Get rid of the ants by BASTING the aphids off the corn with water. Make sure you get the underside of the leaves and repeat every couple of days for a week or two.