Ants

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Not a moneysaving question I know, more in need of advice.We have ants both in the front and back of the outside of the house.
What I need to know is do they destroy plants,I ask because a lot of the outside potted plants we have seem to be getting eaten and I can't seem to find any other insects but the ants.Any help would be appreciated as I have never had to deal with ants before.Thankyou.

LJM

our garden swarms with ants but none of my plants have ever been touched by them,could be them though im not sure on that one

Penelope_Penguin

I've never heard of ants damaging plants.

I believe what they do is to *harvest* the honeydew produced by aphids, which then leaves black sooty patches on your plants. Are they a problem in your garden too?

Penny. x

wurzelsar

Try using "Ant Stop". It works for 3 months and is brilliant. We've always had ant problems but tried this last year and it was brilliant.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Can anyone enlighten me about ants.We have loads of black ants running around the back and front of our house.What I want to know is do they bite you, and do they damage the plants.I worry about the plants as I am growing cherry tomatoes in tubs outside and they are now covered in flowers and Im wondering if they will eat the fruit when they develop.Sorry to sound stupid but I've never come across them before.

lyns_2

I know they bite has a child we used to put our hands in the nest as a dare but i dont think they would without reason.
They also farm greenfly ect thats why they are around plants that have lots of them they spray the green/black flies with something so the ladybirds wont eat them

Butlers1982

I have ants again in the house!
It seems worst this year as I have laminate floor and i can see them!

Anyone any top tips on what i can use?
Dont really want to use powder as it looks a mess in the house so anyone knows something thats good please!

Makes me itch!

arkonite_babe

Butlers we have some older ants threads here on Greenfingers that might be of use to you.

HTH

spalding

I got some little trap thinks that you put the gel in for them to come and eat, nice and tidy and seem to do the trick for me last year, good luck with them

johnroberts07

Get some Borax from the chemists, put in a paper bag with some sugar and shake it up. Then put it down like you would Ant powder, the ants take it back to their nest as food and poison all the nest including the queen. Always works for me.

t_obermory

I know there's threads on here about ants but I just can't seem to get rid of them.

We've had them for a couple of months now, way sooner than normal and usually powder and nippon works; not this year.

I've got ant powder down outside, nippon traps inside, I've tried putting sugar in the garden, there's no crumbs on sides etc but they're still here. They're getting in my bin now which I've never had before, I've got a little green box for the kitchen from the council that food waste is supposed to go in prior to being put in the recycling bin they're getting in there. In previous years they were mainly in the front room, last year I blocked all holes etc and it seemed to get rid of them, now they've just moved to the kitchen.

I'm at a loss as to what else to do, how on earth do I stop them getting in the bin?

Does anyone know how I'd find the nest, I've looked in my garden but there's nothing obvious not that I know what I'm looking for, my neighbours not got them though.

Any advice would be gratefully received!