Aphid farming ants on strawberries :(

noz03 · Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:57 am

When I first heard about this I thought my friend was joking... but now I have it on one of my strawberry plants. Right on the main cluster of flowers

I've tried pouring huge amounts of water on them, and flicking as many off as I could with a stick. Put cinnamon on and around it, sprayed with highly diluted dish soap, but every time the next day they are back! And seem to be getting worse.

Any ideas what else I can do? Maybe try some diluted alcohol or something? I prefer not to use chemicals if I can help it.

JONA · Tue Jun 06, 2017 5:46 am

If you've had no luck so far ...I reckon you will have to get an aphicide. This will only kill the Aphid ...will not even harm the ants!
If they are left untreated your berries will be sucked dry.

noz03 · Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:55 am

Would maybe a higher concentration of dish soap hurt the plant in any way? I put a very dliuted solution because I was a bit worried about it... Maybe that was the reason nothing happened.

imafan26 · Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:34 pm

Ant bait. I use outdoor terro.
Hose off the aphids with water
Alcohol straight up out of the bottle. Spray in the early morning or in the evening when the leaves are cool. You will have to do this a couple of times a day until they are under control.
Plant some fennel about 10 feet away. The aphids will go for the fennel and the ladybugs will lay eggs on the fennel and the larvae will eat the aphids. Fennel, if it is healthy, is not bothered by aphids, but it does not like company especially after it blooms. It also attracts a host of beneficial insects to the yard. Fronds and seeds have a licorice flavor. Harvest mature seed heads. Even though they are perennial I start new ones every year (finocchio). They can reseed,and I want to keep them in check and that is why I cut the seed heads at the end of the year.

The only aphid issue I have had has been on gardenia (common problem) and on a sickly kale. I got rid of the kale. For the most part the garden patrol has been able to take care of most of the issues. I don't even see aphids on the fennel anymore.