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Tomato Pests & Diseases

Ants beds around tomato plants

14 years ago

I noticed some fire ant beds around the bottom of a few of my tomato plants the other day. Can the ants harm the plants? I have some granulated ant killer but alittle reluctant to put it on the beds since they are built around the bottom of plants.

Will the ant killer harm the plants also?

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Comments (3)

petzold6596
14 years ago
The "anticide" will not harm the plants or the fruit.
jeremyjs
14 years ago
I've never tried it personally, but bee keepers mix a little 20 mule team borax with some jelly and put it in a container only ants could get into.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
Be sure that the label of your pesticide says that you can use it in vegetable gardens. Some, you may NOT, for safety reasons. There are, however, organic ant baits that can be used around edibles.

Fire ants, by the way, can cause some problems in the garden. Not only will they feed on fruits and veggies, but if they decide to excavate large colonies around the root system, the plants can desiccate.

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