red gooseberry infested with ants

soul619

what can i do? they junt group up in a black blob at the end of th brances and the pots full of em :eek:

ALIBOBSY

Ants tend to live off the aphids, so they will probably be an aphid infestation. Get rid of the aphids and the ants will probably go too.
You can use a weak soap solution to spray on, or simply squish as you go.

Or if you are not organic you can get sprays for aphids.

ali x

soul619

ther are no aphids the only things present are ants... it like there nesting in the big tub its in

A._Badger

soul619 wrote: »

ther are no aphids the only things present are ants... it like there nesting in the big tub its in

Buy an ant killer, I'm afraid. You can get the small tins (they've very effective) which work by spreading poison into the nest from ants that visit it (good if you have small children or pets around) or you can buy ant powder.

soul619

A._Badger wrote: »

Buy an ant killer, I'm afraid. You can get the small tins (they've very effective) which work by spreading poison into the nest from ants that visit it (good if you have small children or pets around) or you can buy ant powder.

i have didnt want it to come to that but hey ho my garden! my plants!

stumpycat

Mint is supposed to repel ants, so maybe make up a solution of that and skoosh it on?

foxgloves

Hi,
I have had the same problem for the last 3 years in the big container in the greenhouse that I grow my grapevine in. We don't use chemicals, so I tried buying a pennyroyal plant as I'm interested in herbs & know that ants are really supposed to hate the smell. They didn't like it at all, but they still didn't move out, just swarmed around unhappily for ages going crazy, then got used to it & carried on as normal! However, this year, I have actually planted the whole pennyroyal straight into the soil of the container & it really seems to be controlling them. I think the smell from the roots probably really gets down into the soil. Put it like this, if the ants are still nesting in there, I haven't seen the usual signs of it, or the ants. Pennyroyal is a strangely pungent member of the mint family. It can be bought as just a little plant in a pot for no more than a couple of quid, so could be worth a go.