Ants!!!!!!

[Bexy]

I HATE ants they are the only bug that i cannot stand aarrghhh *shudder*

but they have taken over one if not more of my raised beds i have dusted all the hills in the grass and set a bait trap but ekkk is there anything else i can do ?

i really need to put my cauilflowers in but i dare not dig

[alldigging]

Just disturb them. (read them Jackie Collins book that'll do it. ;-))
Poke them with a trowel or fork or get the area wet.

My neighbouring plot holder is sprinkling the ones in his compost heap with ant powder this afternoon. I think it's a pointless use of chemicals.

[Bexy]

I know you cannot use the powder near any food stuff which includes growing veg plants so i only used it on my grass. i shall be brave and get a long handled garden tool weapon i think if i dont come back they got me or im hideing in my shed....

[veggiechicken]

Can you pour boiling water on them? That will give them something to think about
Otherwise, just put your longest gloves on and go for it. They like you even less than you like them!

[alldigging]

Oh he's putting it on his compost pile which he's riddling and then going to be planting in.
Hmm. Doesn't sound like a good idea to me at all.

[rustylady]

Ants don't usually harm your plants or you. They are just a PITA, they make nests where you want to plant things and infest your compost heaps. If they are in the way, and you have no crops nearby then simply pour a kettle full of boiling water on them.

[Bexy]

Well i got my callis in and i did some weedkilling to and planted my butternut out..... i just hope they are not in my spud bags :O ..... that does not even bear thinking about :O

[Bexy]

Ants don't usually harm your plants or you. They are just a PITA, they make nests where you want to plant things and infest your compost heaps. If they are in the way, and you have no crops nearby then simply pour a kettle full of boiling water on them.

I know they are harmless my logic however does not seem to work when it comes to them they are just .... crawly stingy evil things common there even red....

[Shadylane]

If they are red then they are not harmless. When they crawl down your glove or up your trouser leg and bite, they bladdy hurt. Sometimes I'm there weeding, minding my own business and the next thing I know I'm covered in them and they have the nerve to have a nibble when they get themselves stuck down my glove. I do just put up with them on the plot though. Not much you can do about them, other than disturb them, you don't want any chemicals near y veggies I woulda thought.

[Zenithtb]

Also they tend to move aphids about (they store them) and protect them from predators...

Here [Location] they are a MAJOR PITA

[kathyd]

I'm with you Bexy - I'm fine with almost everything except ants, which make me go into cold shivers even thinking about them. We're also over-run with them, and even my chickens won't touch them! I wear leather gloves and wellies with my trousers tucked in, and kneel on a big mat to dig or weed. I keep checking my gloves to make sure there's nothing on my hands, and to be honest I'm getting used to the black ants now - they're mostly too busy trying to protect their eggs (ack! more ants!!) than climbing on me, and I almost feel sorry for them. The red ones I still can't deal with though, and I tend to turn over the earth quickly and then do a runner until they've disappeared before I carry on. I'd forgotten about boiling water - my mother used to do that and it seemed to work .

[Bren In Pots]

I don't mind ants in the garden its those I found in the kitchen cupboards when we first moved here that I hated.

[taff]

I seem to have a lot more ants this year. You can see where they're trying toe xtend their nests in the lawn, where they're tunnelling, the earth is clumping round the grass,

[chrisbond]

If you really want to get rid of em this is what ive done at the allotment. Brought some nippon liquid ant killer.

Placed a few squirts between two slabs and used some match sticks either side to make sure there was a gap and then balanced the small slabs on the corner of the raised beds infected, make sure you top it up every few days. Then they take the posion back to the nest that gets to the queen and kills her then when the ants die off (only last some many weeks) bang goes the ants =). That's the thory anyway, i've just been moving the stones around each raised beds as i think i have more than one.

[Bexy]

All my powder spots have no activiy and my bed seems quite for now and i checked my tatties bags no no sign thank god..... but i bet they are laying in wait till i think they have gone and then they willl attack :