If you’re a vegetable gardener, your heart probably skips a beat each summer when you spot the first round of baby zucchinis growing. The second batch is usually as equally exciting. And then typically, it goes down hill from there. Thoughts of “what am I going to do with all this zucchini,” will soon enter your mind and you’ll be trying to figure out how to unload the baseball sized vegetables on to your friends and family.
But today, I want to talk about the babies.
This morning I walked out to the garden with a knife in hand to harvest a few young and tender zucchinis for breakfast. This is our first pick of the season, and I had been planning to make a special breakfast for the Handsome Husband all week with them. But as I was slicing the zucchini from the stalk, I noticed something peculiar.
Ants, and lots of them. The ants were covering practically every zucchini blossom in my patch.
But why?
What does this mean? I have never seen ants on my plants before. Am I doomed? Is there something I should be doing about this so my crop isn’t decimated? Since I don’t use chemicals in my garden {well, besides the two treatments of Miracle Grow each season on my tomato plants} I’m wondering what I should do.
How does one get rid of ants?
Help!
♥ Mavis
Leanne says
Diatomaceous Earth! It is some kind of rock ground very fine. When small insects crawl through it it cuts them up and kills them. It is completely safe for organic gardening. It works very good too! I bought mine on amazon. Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Safer-Brand-51702-Diatomaceous-Earth/dp/B004TJ5UOE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1342278789&sr=8-6&keywords=diatomaceous+earth
They also have it at some feed stores or gardening centers.
Laurel says
How much do you need to put on the plants? I covered some of my plants and they just walked right on through it! I do love diatomaceous earth but was a little frustrated the ants didn’t seem to care.
Simone says
Diatomaceous earth will harm all hard-shelled insects, so it will harm bees if they come in contact with it! If you’re going to use it, keep it well away from the blossoms. Unless the ants are farming aphids or something, they’re harmless. The worst they can do is deter bees from sticking around too long, so you may need to hand-pollinate your female blossoms to ensure fruit development. I’m fine with them, as they also seem to keep cucumber beetles from hanging out in the blossoms, too, which cucumber beetles are very fond of doing when they can.
Sharon Barkin says
I bought this, too, but just found out it can kill earthworms and honey bees! I guess I’ll try cinnamon and other solutions, but I got rid of spider mites on my crepe myrtles last year by spraying a mix of blue Dove dish soap and water, so I may try that on ants.
Megan says
I’ve had ants in my house and did this:
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/07/frugal-natural-pest-control-fruit-flies-ants-be-gone.html
It does have a chemical (borax ) in it. But you’d be putting it out in a little dish, not applying it to the plants/dirt.
Virginia says
Megan is absolutely right. We were overrun with ants and I do NOT use chemical applications in my garden. You make up your own solution, put out dishes of it in the key locations in your garden, you trap the ants, and remove them without poisoning your produce.
The simple recipe is a 1% borax solution mixed into a 10% household sugar solution. The sugar attracts the ants, they eat it and take it back to their nest. We got rid of about 3 different kinds of ants this way, the worst being carpenter ants that were eating our fences and deck!
sena c says
Would this harm the chickens if they got out and helped themselves?
Virginia says
Yes, it would harm the chickens.
Try putting the mixture in a dish under a small wire barrier that you can make out of chicken wire, so they can’t get to it.
We have had to do this for our dog and cat, and it works fine.
Mrs. Lowe says
It doesnt hurt chickens at all. I put diametatious earth on my chickens directly to rid them of chicken lice, ck fleas ect. It wont hurt ur babies i have them and use it everywhere. Its a life saver.
You Can Call Me Jane says
We have lots of ants in our gardens. They are attracted to the moisture/dew that hangs out in the blossoms and the excretions the plants produce. We’ve never done anything about them and have never blamed them on any crop problems. Unless you’ve read or heard of them directly endangering your plants, I would just watch and see what they do. 🙂
Virginia says
They are not always good to have around. We raise milkweed, the hostplant for Monarch butterflies (it is their larval food). So we get Monarch eggs and larva in our yard. When ants are around, they will eat the Monarch eggs and larva, so no adults ever get a chance. We had to do something or lose our Monarch population completely.
And the ants will NEVER have a problem. Fully 10% of all the animal biomass on this planet consists of ants. (reference: E.O. Wilson….check it out).
ali says
The ants themselves aren’t harmful but they have some kind of co-exist w/ aphids and they will chase away good bugs such as lady bugs.
Hadley Roberts says
Try planting tansy, mint or other ant deterrents. Maybe you could make a spray with mint to wipe out scent trails?
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/keeping-ants-of-flowering-vines-vegetables-and-flowers.htm
Zoe says
You could look at it this way…they are pollinating for you!
The only trouble I’ve had with ants is that sometimes they will chew away the base of very small seedlings (redbeets and spinach, mainly). But it’s never very many and I don’t worry about them. Like Ali said, though, sometimes ants mean aphids so look closely to make sure you don’t have those!
Robbie says
And if you don’t have aphids, they are just being ants…looking for water, a dry spot (contradictory I know) or pollinating. As a gardener once reminded me, “we shouldn’t try to kill all the ants in our garden or in the world as they might just get pissy and attack us”.
Mavis says
Thanks Zoe. 🙂 How’s that sweet baby doing? I saw the pictures from JJ’s party. Sooooo adorable.
Nadia says
Cinnamon is a natural deterrent! They hate it and communicate to other colony members not to return. I tried it when I had a little ant problem in my kitchen, and they’re GONE. look it up, it’s totally legit!
Melissa says
I sprinkled cinnamon all around where the ants were. A couple of days later they’re walking all over it without a care.
Lisa says
don’t kill them. they’re pollinating them
Mavis says
Thanks Lisa. And hey, the baby chicks we picked up the last time we were at Garden Sphere are doing great FYI. 🙂
Lisa says
Glad to hear it. I always wonder how the babies get along after they leave our nest. I have two new babies of my own (a welsummer and a golden buff) because my Gold laced wyandotte suddenly died two weeks ago.
Michelle says
Yes don’t get rid of the ants they pollinate for you! last year I had tons of ants and was panicking about it and then I went to good ole google and found that they were pollinating my squash and zucchini and I had an amazing crop that year.
LizzieB says
Grits, simple grits in a cheap dollar box… just sprinkle some generous amount of uncooked, grits on the area or if you find the ant hill. they will be gone in a few days. I treated all around my house and garden, the doors and window sills with half a box… Good luck!
Christine says
I had ants all over my Japanese Eggplant. Turns out they were farming aphids….lots. Check under your leaves for aphids and if you have them you can spray with a mixture of water, oil, and dish soap. Lots of organic farming websites have the proportions for the spray. If you don’t have aphids, I wouldn’t worry.
Sue V says
Have you noticed aphids? The small ants are usually attracted to areas where there are aphids because they like to farm (remove) the aphid debri (poop). It’s usually not a problem.
Mavis says
Thanks Sue!
Stephanie says
Having ants as you have them are normal and helps pollinate the plan sometimes. They will not hurt anything! So you are fine!
Mavis says
Thanks Stephanie, I was worried.
Lola Rose says
I can not help you with your ant problem. But I once knew this girl that liked to pour honey on them. Really crazy girl!
I do have a great recipe that my Granny used to make. Sauté zucchini, onion, red or yellow pepper, when cooked add 2 eggs and sprinkle with Parmesan and black pepper.
Super yummy:-)
Mavis says
Ha Ha Ha. That’s funny.
Kayla C says
Now I just want to know if you have aphids!
Mavis says
Nope! I checked. Yay! I had never seen ants like that crawling all over my plants before so I’m glad everyone chimed in.
inza says
I have ants eating my eggplants from the inside top on down. They are destroying the plants. Any help?
Tim says
Hi Inza. The same thing is happening to me and my eggplant in Arizona. At first the ants weren’t too bad but now they’ve exploded and I have huge anthills at the base of my eggplants. They’re also affecting my zucchini and melon. I need to do something, and I’m leaning towards a Borax mixture.
Coco says
The best remedy i have used outside is bring a pot of water to a boil . Take it outside and pour it on the mound or hole. No more ants. I got it a month ago from a husbannd and wife garderners on youtube. I let my husband do it. I dont like to kill them! He is ADHD and I had to find something that worked fast or he would find something else to do other than plow.
james mark henson says
i do think ants are beneficial but its not true that they don’t harm plants, i’ve watch them destroy okra and corn,
they ate holes in bottom of okra went into to okra itself, same with corn i’ve pulled ear covered with ants off of stalk, shucked it and found empty kernal with ants inside the kernal shell. as far as them pollinating my squash i went out this morning to hand pollinate because haven’t seen many bees and about 1/2 the squash is shriveling very small, plants look very healthy i was told pollination issue, this morning i found most of the male flowers slap full of ants, did find three honey bees the the flowers they were in only had one or two ants. i think the ants are keeping what few bees we have had away.
Sherry says
Had beautiful healthy zucchini plant in the last 2 days they are dead just went out to see what could have done the damage and found thousands of tiny black ants in the ground and in and on the stems I heard baking soda or corn starch will kill them True? I want to get them before they get my only other surging plant!
Simone says
The ants are there because the plants are dead, not the other way around. Either they were attracted to pests that damaged your squash, or they’re just there because of the water and nutritious organic matter in the dead plant material. Sudden death of zucchini plants is usually a either a squash vine borer, if you’re in a region that has them, or death from toxins injected by squash bugs.
Coco says
How do you kill the squash borer. I found ants but then I saw the vine looks black in places.
Simone says
FYI, squash and other Cucurbitaceae have extrafloral nectaries that attract ants and beneficial predators. So it’s normal to see ants on these plants. I’ve never had squash plants that didn’t attract ants, but they’ve never taken the plants down. It’s always squash vine borers, cucumber beetles, or squash bugs that do the damage, and ants get the rap for it. If you see a bunch of ants in the flowers, they’re just drinking nectar, just like almost every other sugar-loving bug in the area. They don’t do much for pollination, but they don’t hurt the plants. If you’re having problems with blossom drop or buds not getting pollinated, check the nutrition of your plants and make sure they’re getting enough water.