As I am planting today I noticed I have an large amount of ants. More then I remember last year. I have yet to find out....Do they bring aphids or just care for them/feed on their eggs when they find them? No aphids ever in my garden, so I am just curious if more ants may mean possible aphids.
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Ants??
- Thread starter Justaguy
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The aphids put out honeydew which the ants eat...so the aphids bring the ants..but just because you have ants doesnt mean you have aphids..put some coffee grounds in dirt..ants HATE coffee
With my luck the ants will become caffeinated and sunburnt.
Thanks for the tip......ground coffee or cold liquid coffee?
I use used ground coffee...i take all the filters from work...i get like 10 a day..they drink a lot of coffee here 
There are tons of ants around my garden, and a few have taken shelter underneath my buckets. I've seen them on my plants occasionally, and I can only assume they're moving the aphids around.
To answer your original question, I have heard that ants will take aphids into their nests for protection and bring them back out when conditions improve.
To answer your original question, I have heard that ants will take aphids into their nests for protection and bring them back out when conditions improve.
I believe your correct on this. I believe I have even read that ants will attack bugs that eat aphids. I think the ants kind of take ownership of the aphids...Kinda like a big brothers, big sisters of the bug world
Ants farming aphids < Wiki on aphids, including ants farming aphids.
Diamotaceous earth will help route the ants.
Diamotaceous earth will help route the ants.
Malathion kills both.
I use used ground coffee...i take all the filters from work...i get like 10 a day..they drink a lot of coffee here
yes i do the same thing with coffee and my worms feast on them very quickly, i also occasionally spray a little permethrin on the hills and when they surge out of there mounds, it works well and im careful not to use too much or too close together, i love the other bugs, like the spiders,ladybugs,earthworms and lacewings i dont want to kill them
hope this helps thanks your friend joe
spread round abt the plants... dun like that 
Hey Brian, I'm trying food grade diatomeaous earth for hard-bodied insect control (in my case, flea beetles). I found DE at Lowe's around me so I'm sure you can grab some down in the Burg. I think you just sprinkle it around the base of the plants.
@ MMcD--thanks for the tip on coffee grounds. Tried it this morning on some containers and man did the ants bug out....
@ RTF--the D. Earth must be dry to work, so don't water it in. It will kill any exoskeleton thing that crawls thru it like ladybugs and spiders, so use with that in mind.
@ RTF--the D. Earth must be dry to work, so don't water it in. It will kill any exoskeleton thing that crawls thru it like ladybugs and spiders, so use with that in mind.
millworkman
eXtreme
Diatomaceous earth.
Ok, I'll have to try that tomorrow. Thanks
So far the ants haven't done done any damage that I can see. I caught them early. I hope.
Ok, so I bought some Diatomaceous earth a couple of days ago and sprinkled it around the base of my plants and at the base of the pots (messy stuff). Ants were all up in it, however today they are still there. I read that the D earth de-hydrates the ants due to the fact that it's so fine that it sticks to their hairy body and draws the moisture out within 48 hours. Well, it's been 48 hours and they are not dead!!! Also, I just noticed 1000's of aphids on one of my Douglah plants. WTH?? Why won't these Fockers die!!!