sunflower problem

[adamhartree]

hi,
i have 2 mongolian giant sunflowers in 20 litre pots in the greenhouse, they are both now about 3ft tall and i am planning on moving them out the end of the month. other the last few days i have noticed quite a few ants climbing over them and the leaves have yellow and brown spots on them, does anyone know what this is or is it a big problem. any help much welcomed.
thanks
adam
happy gardening

[Zenithtb]

I suspect aphids - I am having major issues with this currently. Look for little green bugs under the leaves; the ants put them there and drink their 'wee' (honeydew)... :-|

[adamhartree]

thanks for the information, is there anyway to get rid of the ants that you know of, can i put ant powder on top of the soil by the sunflowers or will that interfere with the plants growth or harm them.thanks

[Maccabee]

Getting rid of the aphids should help some. I don't think the ants are there to damage your plants, they just want the aphids sweet, sweet poop.

[adamhartree]

thanks Zenithtb,
you were right about the aphids, i went and had a look this morning and there are some under the leaves. i squashed all the ones i seen and sprayed the leaves with this pest control spray i have, am off today to get ant powder aswell to try and stop the ants, im just hopeing that i have control of the little blighters and hope its not too late.
thanks again

[Florence Fennel]

I'm sure I've just seen somewhere on a companion planting thread that sunflowers make brilliant companions for brassicas because the sunflowers attract aphids and ants. I hope you manage to control the problem, as you are obviously not growing the sunflowers as a sacrifice!

[richardbees]

Adam, I'd suggest you move them out now and give our ladybird/blue-tit friends a chance at the aphids.....
....also known as Russian Giant and as tough as old soviet issue army boots!

Florence (fantastic user name) I doubt they're a companion plant for anything as they grow a huge root ball and the flower is up there in the lower stratosphere!
richard

[Florence Fennel]

Hi Richard (thank you, you may call me Flo), the Search thread is down so I can't look for where I saw it and so can't , but I really haven't made it up honest I'm growing a few different varieties this year as I received some as a gift from a kind grape on here.

[chris]

beehives?

[richardbees]

Hello Chris, how're you doing?

Is there any way I can find threads I've posted on, on this forum as I don't visit that often?

Richard

[Florence Fennel]

I usually go into "My Profile" then click on either "Find all Posts" or "Find all started threads". There may be a quicker way, but I don't know it, I'm sure Chris will. Having said that, I think it's one of the things that's not working at the moment, like the Search button!