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Sun, Apr 25, 10 at 7:07
| Is there any good way to control ants in a strawberry bed? My bed is virtually infested and I think that is what ruined my berries last year. Any ideas? Lori |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| i just noticed the same thing in my newly planted straw berries...I hopefully someone has a suggested solution for this. |
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- Posted by bryantheitalianboy (My Page) on Sun, Apr 25, 10 at 12:20
| That's strange, I have strawberries. There's more than 30 flowers. I'm exciting for them to produce fruits soon! Ants aren't a big problem for me. I usually left these around my strawberries. They didn't damaged anything but they can be useful for pests on strawberries such as aphid. Ants will kill them. Have you check for any other pests on your strawberries? Aphid have killed my strawberry on hang basket. That's probably why your strawberries died last year? |
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- Posted by growingstrawberries (My Page) on Mon, Apr 26, 10 at 4:27
| Usually the ants would not do any damage to your plants. But to be sure you should harvest your strawberries a little earlier than normal. YOU SHOULD CHECK FOR OTHER PESTS such as Thrips, snails, caterpillars and slugs. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing strawberries guide
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| I thought ant's farmed aphids - not killed them. Anywho - I have strawberries and ants so I best bec careful....I hear ants don't like a lot of water......maybe keep the strawberry patch as moist as possible. Also heard ants don't like mint......maybe that can help? I you've got mints, put the cutting around the strawberries. |
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| Check your hardward store or you can make your own: •1 level teaspoon boric acid. •½ cup corn syrup or honey. •Mix boric acid and honey/syrup. •Heat until boric acid is dissolved. •Cool completely. You don't want to burn yourself! •Mix equal parts water and syrup boric acid mixture. •Place a small amount of mixture in a lid or use an eyedropper to put a small amount of bait where ants will find it. (I liked one of the other websites that said they used something like a sour cream container & poked a few holes about ½ inch from the bottom & put the bait inside & put the lid on top. With it so windy, you might have to put a brick on top to hold it down.) •Be sure to keep bait available to ants for 2 weeks. •Keep bait mixtures out of the reach of children and pets. Source UFL |
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- Posted by gardengalrn 5KS (My Page) on Mon, Apr 26, 10 at 23:56
| Thanks for the suggestions and that recipe, which I will try. Yes, I think ants do farm aphids, or at least that is what I read somewhere else in regards to having aphids on other types of veggies. Even if the ants were somewhat beneficial, there is too much of an infestataion, I believe. My plants were young last year so very few strawberries but those I did have were eaten by some sort of insect. I wouldn't mind knocking their numbers down a bit. Lori |
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- Posted by clinchvalley (My Page) on Mon, May 31, 10 at 14:22
| I've got the same problem. Ants eating my strawberries shortly before they are ripe. I lose about a third of my berries, very frustrating. I'll try the bait method, just looking for something to kill them without affecting the berries. |
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- Posted by maryneedssleep 5b/6a WV (My Page) on Mon, May 31, 10 at 21:11
| If you don't have time to cook up your own boric acid solution, there are lots of boric acid /borax ant traps on the market -- I used the Terro ant traps earlier this year, and they worked great. No more ants. Borax traps are much less toxic than some others. |
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- Posted by raiderrick22 6 (My Page) on Wed, Jun 2, 10 at 13:27
| I don't think ants actually eat your strawberries. I have chipmunks in my yard that come and take bites of the ripe strawberries. I suspect even birds may also be taking bites of the strawberries, but I know for a fact chipmunks are my main culprit. Then the ants move in and get to work. I watched the ants on a strawberry and they didn't get very far as far as "eating" the strawberry. I suspect you have chipmunks. |
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| Yes, I have the same problem. Amazingly it is ants who are eating them here in NSW Australia. My strawberries are in a bird and animal proof cage, and the only things I see on the strawberries are ants. They must slowly eat away at it, but they end up doing a lot of damage. I haven't got around to trying recipes yet but I will! |
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- Posted by john222-gg Mississippi 8a/8b (My Page) on Tue, Dec 30, 14 at 9:38
| It seems a lot of people think ants don't hurt fruit plants or trees. I on the other hand fight ants every day. It depends just which ants you have. I have mostly what I call sugar ants that will kill all flowers and stop all fruit production even on trees. If they get in my jujube trees I will lose about 80% to 90% of my fruit. I have ants in my loquats right now they are on the flowers I am not worried this is there first year to bloom. Next year I will have to keep all ants out to get fruit. When fighting ants I use soap when trees and plants are in bloom. If the tree is big I spray poision around the bottom of the tree. This is just my case I know every one is diffrent and have there diffrent problems. I just wanted to whine abought my own problems . |
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