EasyBloom Forum

Help! I have a ton of ants in my garden and in turn I have aphids and white flies. I have pulled the more infected plants as they aren't looking very healthy. I have also sprayed the others with a dish sopa and water mixture to rid them of the few bugs I saw. I understand that ants can bring these pests into my garden. How do I get rid? I tried borax and sugar, but not sure that worked. There is still just as many there as there was a week ago. Any suggestions on how to get rid and also prevent them (all pests) from coming back? BTW - I used Seven about 4 or 4 weeks ago so that is one reason I am trying to do this naturally. Thanks!

Hi Jacquelyn, Yes you are correct that ants can bring aphids into your garden or more likely followed the aphids once they got established. The ants are feeding on the sugary extract of the aphids from feeding on your plants. I believe that once you get rid of the aphids that should cure your ant problem. I would in all honestly stay with the liquid detergent / water mix... but maybe apply it a few times every few days over a couple of weeks. This should also take care of your white flies as well! If you use it a few times in close succession you will get the bugs in all stages of their life cycle and will have a better chance of eliminating them from your garden. This probably wont stop this from starting over next year...but maybe with less intensity next spring, so will be easier to deal with next time! Hope this helps Jacquelyn! Best!~ Ian

Thanks! Do you think one detergent works better than others and what ratio do you suggest? Just making sure I get this right. My husband is soooo looking forward to tomatoes this year.

Hi Jacquelyn, No problem! One liquid detergent that I've heard of people using is Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap. You should use one to two tablespoons of this detergent for every quart of water used. Go Tomatoes!! Best!~ Ian

I can vouge for the detergent mix, (I actually used dish soap in my case) some mixes I've seen add a very small amount of olive oil to the blend to help it stay on the plants longer, which works REALLY well UNLESS you live someplace where it's really hot... then Olive oil cooks your plants. I just added it to my daily watering routine which helped me battle aphids and spider mites off my plants. Another thing to do is to kill the ants with the many many many common ways to kill ants. Ants will actively protect aphids from their preditors like certain wasps. Kill the ants and insects like lady bugs can enjoy the aphid buffet unhurassed.