Hi.

I'm a frustrated gardener living in a 2nd floor flat. Having had reasonable
success with a number of grow bags in part of the communal garden I took the
plunge and constructed a raised bed approx 10ft by 4ft and 18 in deep

Last year I had a major problem with ants, although the tomatoes were left
alone the carrots were chewed to death.

Although I dug out where I thought the nest was, this year they are back.

How do I get rid of them?

Are ant killers (powder) safe to use around vegetables?

Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Hi.

I'm a frustrated gardener living in a 2nd floor flat. Having had
reasonable success with a number of grow bags in part of the communal
garden I took the plunge and constructed a raised bed approx 10ft by 4ft
and 18 in deep

Last year I had a major problem with ants, although the tomatoes were left
alone the carrots were chewed to death.

Although I dug out where I thought the nest was, this year they are back.

How do I get rid of them?

Are ant killers (powder) safe to use around vegetables?

Steve




just read the Nippon container and it, in a round about fashion, states keep
away from foods.

In article ,
"Steve" writes:
|
| I'm a frustrated gardener living in a 2nd floor flat. Having had reasonable
| success with a number of grow bags in part of the communal garden I took the
| plunge and constructed a raised bed approx 10ft by 4ft and 18 in deep
|
| Last year I had a major problem with ants, although the tomatoes were left
| alone the carrots were chewed to death.

No UK ant will eat carrots.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I always use Nippon, but carefully. Try to find where their "main entrance"
is and place one drop on a piece of plactic (say) so that an ant comes
across it and gallops back to call his friends! When they are crowding
round like cattle at a pond, add a few more drops nearby. Keep them well fed
like that and you'll soon be rid of them.

Your nibbled carrots sounds like carrot root fly problems. Peg (a twig
slightly split with a knife) up a few pieces of fly catcher (the yellow ones
for greenhouses) just clear of the ground near the carrots and see what is
caught. Carrot root fly are supposed to be stopped by low barriers so how
are they getting on to a raised bed: have you installed stairs?!!!

Regards

Geoff

"Geoff" wrote in message
...

Your nibbled carrots sounds like carrot root fly problems. Peg (a twig
slightly split with a knife) up a few pieces of fly catcher (the yellow
ones for greenhouses) just clear of the ground near the carrots and see
what is caught. Carrot root fly are supposed to be stopped by low
barriers so how are they getting on to a raised bed: have you installed
stairs?!!!

Regards

Geoff


"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

No UK ant will eat carrots.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Thanks for that. Have assumed that the tops chomped from the carrots and
carrots which were hollow (insides eaten away) was the work of the ants as
no other bugs visible.

Will have to look carefully this year.

Steve

"Geoff" wrote in message
...
I always use Nippon, but carefully. Try to find where their "main
entrance" is and place one drop on a piece of plactic (say) so that an ant
comes across it and gallops back to call his friends! When they are
crowding round like cattle at a pond, add a few more drops nearby. Keep
them well fed like that and you'll soon be rid of them.


Regards

Geoff

Def worth a try. I've got a row of carrots and one of beetroot, so could
use a couple of strips in between. Got some old edging from the kitchen
worktop that would work as a 'base'

Steve

Steve wrote:

Last year I had a major problem with ants, although the tomatoes were left
alone the carrots were chewed to death.

If you mean the leaves, then most likely that was slugs or snails. If
the roots then carrot fly.

Although I dug out where I thought the nest was, this year they are back.

How do I get rid of them?

Ants are *everywhere*. I don't think it's remotely possible to get rid
of ants outside, but they don't do much harm either, so relax. Or
rather worry about something else instead...

Peter