ants in my plants
 

Hello,

I planted 2 tomato plants outdoors in my garden under polythenene . I'd
grown them from seed in a g'house & they were well-established in 5" pots,
and were very healthy. They have not prospered. They are a bit yellow, and
have not grown much.

Today I noticed a small pile of fine soil near the stem of one of the tomato
plants, dug into it carefully, and hey presto I seem to have an ants nest
just under the soil.

My guess is that they have nested in & around the plant's roots. ???

Is this likely, and how can I deal with it ?

Thanks

KK

ants in my plants
 

dido22 wrote:
Hello,

I planted 2 tomato plants outdoors in my garden under polythenene . I'd
grown them from seed in a g'house & they were well-established in 5" pots,
and were very healthy. They have not prospered. They are a bit yellow, and
have not grown much.

Today I noticed a small pile of fine soil near the stem of one of the
tomato plants, dug into it carefully, and hey presto I seem to have an
ants nest just under the soil.

My guess is that they have nested in & around the plant's roots. ???

Is this likely, and how can I deal with it ?

Thanks

KK

If you are averse to using chemical methods of control, then I would suggest
that the easiest way is to drown them out. Ants are keen on dry conditions
and will not like it if you keep pouring water (with a small amount of
washing-up liquid to help wet the dry soil) around the base of the plants.
It is very unlikely that you will do any damage to the tomato plants, as
they will generally take as much water as they can get. The worse you will
do is wash nutrients out of the soil, so you may have to use fertiliser a
little earlier than usual.

--
Jeff

ants in my plants - Thanks
 

Thanks

I dont mind using chemicals, but your idea sounds good to me

K

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
dido22 wrote:
Hello,

I planted 2 tomato plants outdoors in my garden under polythenene . I'd
grown them from seed in a g'house & they were well-established in 5"
pots,
and were very healthy. They have not prospered. They are a bit yellow,
and
have not grown much.

Today I noticed a small pile of fine soil near the stem of one of the
tomato plants, dug into it carefully, and hey presto I seem to have an
ants nest just under the soil.

My guess is that they have nested in & around the plant's roots. ???

Is this likely, and how can I deal with it ?

Thanks

KK

If you are averse to using chemical methods of control, then I would
suggest that the easiest way is to drown them out. Ants are keen on dry
conditions and will not like it if you keep pouring water (with a small
amount of washing-up liquid to help wet the dry soil) around the base of
the plants. It is very unlikely that you will do any damage to the tomato
plants, as they will generally take as much water as they can get. The
worse you will do is wash nutrients out of the soil, so you may have to
use fertiliser a little earlier than usual.

--
Jeff