Bookmark us Subscribe Already a member? -> Sign in

Home | Register | Forums | Blogs             

A Little Colour For Our Northern Members
in Member's Gallery
last post: eileen

Hi from savannah ga
in Welcome to GardenStew
last post: toni

My Black Lab
in Member's Gallery
last post: gardeningguy

A day out in London
in Member's Gallery
last post: Sherry8

Sticky: Pic Of The Month - November 2008 DECIDER
in Member's Gallery
last post: Sherry8


getting ants and pests away from my tomato plants


unwelcome guest
greenfairy's blog
Thing of beauty
Allan Perry's blog
Out behind the fence...
tschnath's blog
My Have/ Want List
tburchell97's blog
Getting things done!
dooley's blog
Jose!
Clarissa's blog





kalalaukid
Just Arrived
Just Arrived

Joined: 07 Aug 2007
Location: hawaii
Posts: 42
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:15 am   Post subject: getting ants and pests away from my tomato plants


I have some nice tomato plants and there are ants all over them is there any organic solution to get rid of the ants ?
thank you

Back to top
Profile | PM
Question about Fruit and Veg Gardening? Register for free to ask in our forums.

nan1234
On The Way Up
On The Way Up

Joined: 23 Jul 2007
Location: Chicago Area
Posts: 160
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:46 am   Post subject:


Many people believe that ants are not a threat to plants, however they will set up housekeeping with aphids that can be damaging. While other gardeners see ants chew fruits and beans. What do ants do to your tomatos?

Here are some organic solutions:

If you find colonies where you can use boiling water without harming your plants, you can try it. You have to kill the queen.

Sprinkle cornmeal around the area where you see ants. The ants take it to their nest, eat it and drink water and the cornmeal swell in their stomach and they die.

Or a more efficent and complex way: mix 4 portion of cornmeal and 3 portion bacon grease into a paste, then add 3 portion of baking powder with 3 portion of rapid rise yeast; Dab the mix on the surface of an object and set it near the place where ant gathers. Ants will swell to death when they eat the mix.

Cinnamon may work for getting ants to move away. It doesn't kill them, just drive them away. Sprinkle it around places you don't want to see ants.

Mix honey or sugar with 5% pure borax; put around the ant gathering place or put in some conatiner as biat. Ants will take the mixture into their nest and the borax kills all of them, including the queen. If you put borax too much, they will die enroute and the colony will survive.

1 portion of yeast with 2 portion of mollasses and 1 portion sugar will make them explode.

If you smash or squash a few of them and leave the bodies, other ants will remove the bodiesand they will be too scared to come back. I doubt if this works or not. Be careful, ants bite.

Finaly, many people belive that ants are a part of nature's plan, and they are beneficial insects because they help clean up the environment; they are predators in our forests and orchards, and are superb soil aerators. They become anoying only when they show up in the place where we do not like to see them. Perhaps it is better to using the method to drive them away, but not kill them.

Back to top
Profile | PM

kalalaukid
Just Arrived
Just Arrived

Joined: 07 Aug 2007
Location: hawaii
Posts: 42
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:43 am   Post subject:


wow thanks Nan. well the ants have been distroying my root systems.

Back to top
Profile | PM



You're looking at one of the many forums on GardenStew.com.
Register for free to join in the discussion.





back to top of page




Forum powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


     Sponsored Links