-
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 12:55 pm
ants eating spinach
I am growing spinach but it has been devastated by ants. any suggestions as to how I get rid of them please?
- rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Sticky side up you mean?
Diatomaceous earth on and around them works too, but has to be renewed after rain.
It is unusual for ants to eat living plants. What does the damage look like? Big round holes in the centers of leaves? Chewed leaf edges? Lots of teeny holes? Markings, discoloration, shrivelling, etc? Have you checked to see if there is anything else there, like aphids?
Diatomaceous earth on and around them works too, but has to be renewed after rain.
It is unusual for ants to eat living plants. What does the damage look like? Big round holes in the centers of leaves? Chewed leaf edges? Lots of teeny holes? Markings, discoloration, shrivelling, etc? Have you checked to see if there is anything else there, like aphids?
-
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 6113
- Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm
I also like where Rainbow is heading. Aphids are usually moved around by ants. They are a colony of farmers. They could also be cutter ants. Hualing leafy bits back to the nest. Without knowing where you live, hard to know what type of ant.jbest123 wrote:I agree with RBG. The ants are your friend in the garden but not in the house.
Eric
- rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I had a tree seedling volunteering in the wrong place at one point and thought I would move it. I touched the tree and felt like I got stung. So I looked closer. Much of the little tree was absolutely coated in aphids all lined up touching each other, packed in neatly and they were being very aggressively defended by ants.
- rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b