Red Ant's

[chell25]

Hi,

I noticed today when weeding that i have a red ants nest in the middle of one of my bed. Will they cause damage to my veg? what can i do to kill them?

Thanks

Chell

[FionaH]

Boiling water would do it. Dont know if they are harmful to veg but they hurt!

[vikkib]

I've got the same problem; I keep discovering loads of red and black ant nests as I make my beds. Someone recommended using dried polenta but I haven't seen any decrease in their numbers yet so not sure if that's working for me!

Would using Nippon be a problem, is it dangerous to the soil as I'll be growing veg in it?

Thanks,

Vikki

[catgardener]

Keep digging the nests up, black birds and robins love eating the ant eggs.

[chell25]

The bed that i have found them is is currently covered over with a cloches so the birds can't get to them.
Maybe i'll just dig out the nest and kill any i see and keep everything crossed!!

[rogesse]

Ants got under my melons last year and built a nest causing a plant to collapse. I think they also 'farm' aphids, carrying them to the most juicy new parts so they can produce lots of honey dew (?) for the ants to eat.

Red ants do hurt (fell asleep sunbathing on a nest one year) - hot water's too good for them!

[kiwirach]

i've come across 2 nests on my plot this year.......the same bu**ers from last year no doubt. i tried the polenta/cornflour thing last year but i dont think it worked at all....they just moved the nest somewhere else on the plot. so maybe i need to go armed with a flash of boiling water!.

[draig]

Hi
I have found 2 very large red ants nests in the hedge one is a foot tall I am not sure what to do with them. I would need a lot of boiling water, should I contact pest contol?

[Sue]

I'm sure I remember reading that the formic acids they give off damages plant roots. I recently found a red ants nest under a strawberry plant which I was investigating as it was looking poorly, the roots seemed very loose in the soil and the plant split into two, I dug up the nest and put the poor strawberry plants into pots of fresh compost where they seem to have picked up no end
Sue

[glut]

I have lots of small red ants nests, and would love a way to get rid of them. I'm not sure how I can dig them all out without digging up roots of potatoes or strawberries or what ever else they are under. Also worried boiling water would kill the plants! any other suggestions?

[sallym]

I'm sure I have seen an advert somewhere for a Nematode that kills ants, try Googling. I found some red ants whilst weeding the other day so will probably give it a go if I can find it.

[Flummery]

I'm not aware that they do much damage. You'll damage your crops more with the boiling water!

I scooped up a heap of ant larvae yesterday - the chooks fell on them! Untill I got the chickens I usually just left the ants to it - until they started 'farming' aphids on me broadies that is! Then they got the soapy water squirt like the aphids.

[flubba-jubba]

ive been bitten by red ants a few times......on my hand once, and it swelled so much i had trouble writing.......and another time on my arm which resulted in the biggest bruise you have ever seen!!

[digthatchick]

Just a thought - why do we have to kill everything that is in a place we don't want it to be?

[rana]

Well said digthatchick. Must say, apart from causing annoying bumps in the lawn, ants nests don't seem to cause any significant damage to plants.