Grow Your Own Magazine

I have just started a plot for the first time and not doing that bad but have got a red ant infestation will it do harm to the veg? and how do i get rid of them safely as i have kids

Hi Tuger

I was wondering exactly the same thing! My new plot has loads of the buggers so i want to know how to get rid (safely!) Apart from anything else - they bite!

Hopefully someone can come along with some advice

Jade

Ants (any colour) are a total pain (and as Jade said the red ones bite people). They don't eat plants, but they do undermine the roots by making runs and nests, and they do farm aphids on your treasured crops (specially blackfly on beans). If you don't want to use chemical control, then regular cultivation helps as they don't like being disturbed and may hopefully move on somewhere else. If you find where the nest is then you can pour boiling water on it - be careful of surrounding crops, though. The boiling water will kill them as well as the ants. Daughter used boiling water on my lawn last year, and I still have a bare patch of earth to prove it.