I can't tell from the photo, but maybe scale?

Looks like aphids to me. They usually are a bit greener, but if there are ants all over with them then I would bet they are aphids.

Aphids.

DM

If I remember correctly, the best thing I can do is get some lady bugs right?
Is there any type of spray I can get from lowes/homedepot that would work as well?

thanx again
Danny

There are a variety of horticultural oils or insecticidal soap sprays you can use. Lots of people just use liquid dish soap and that will work eventually, but it might take several treatments.

I like Summit Year-Round Oil Spray as it can be applied any time of the year, isn't toxic, and gets the job done, usually after the first treatment, two at most. I bought it at Lowes.

You can use a mixture of dish soap and water to spray them with, wait a while and the rinse off the soap. Only do this early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the plants aren't in direct sun. This will kill most if not all of the aphids without hurting the plant or leaving a residue that could hurt beneficial insects. Now the ants are another problem all together. If you don't get rid of them then they will just start farming more aphids on your plants as soon as you get rid of the original ones. I finally broke down and went to You KIll Em and bought some poison that is only supposed to kill ants. I did so for this exact problem except the ants were on my ornamentals and not vegis.

thanx for all the replies...
I did some googling and saw that Neem oil also helps...
Figured I would try that first since I have some concentrate already... but if thats not effective I will try some of these other great suggestions...

BTW, could the Aphids be the reason the plants stopped growing for the last 2 weeks or so?

They look like aphids to me as well.

Easiest is to simply rinse them off w/ a hose. If you do nothing, ladybugs will find them on their own - & there are other predatory insects as well; lacewing & hoverfly larvae also eat aphids & will lay their eggs near infestations.

If the plants(watermelon?) seem to have stopped growing, it may be a sign of something worse; aphids prey on weakened plants - they're generally a symptom of poor plant health, not necessarily the cause.

You might try feeding the plants to help them outgrow the damage...

Spray em hard with the hose, then spray the plant with oil (not in hot direct sun.)

For the farming lack ants, mix equal parts honey and borax and smear around where they congregate. The honey really works good and the borax is a slow acting poison that they share. Works really well.