I’ve noticed lots of ants around. Particularly on my cherry trees, but also on some citrus trees etc.
Are they harmful and should I spray them,or are they an indication of another problem?
This might give you an answer.
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Every leaf of my Montmorency has them every year
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They’re probably there because of aphids
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If the leaves curl you have cherry aphids. If they are not curling you don’t have aphids and the ants are not causing any trouble. At least based on what we have in North America … no idea what you have in South Africa.
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Read the label regarding what you can and can not use for ants.
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Yea the ants are attracted to the red dot things. It is normally OK. Ants are also attracted to aphids though as well. My experience with aphids is that sometimes I have an outbreak on certain trees. The leaves will start to curl. A few times I’ve just wiped them out. But usually I will just smash a bunch of them with my hand. And then nature does the rest. I find usually spraying isn’t necessary. The lady bugs and others will catch up. I really haven’t had aphid troubles on my cherries. Sometimes my pears and apples though.
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The aphids I’ve seen on cherries are jet black and very bad at being camouflaged.
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Yeah the most successful I’ve been is just spraying them off with water on a somewhat higher pressure setting. They are soft bodied so die really easy, but luckily this year I have more ladybugs than I’ve ever had here already. They live on my lemon tree which had a bad aphid problem, caused by the ants as always. Ants are a big issue for me in all this sand they will colonize a plant quickly with aphids for farming honeydew, I used to spray neem but I find the garden hose to work the best because I don’t have to worry about disturbing anything or what time of day to do it
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Ants feed on the nectar on my lemon tree flowers then after the fruits set the ants will chew the fruits off and the tree flowers again. They will do this all summer and I only get a few fruits that make it past the ants.
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I couldn’t find anything approved for ants on fruit trees.
Best seems to be bait outside the drip line. And it’s not that cheap. I just ordered 25#.
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Thanks all. I sprayed around the garden for ants and sprayed all my trees with some Bioneem.
Ants are a very important part of the ecosystem.
They eat many pest insects and their eggs .
I believe mostly they are good to have Around .
They will search everywhere on a tree to find some thing to eat. Effectively cleaning them of other pests.
They do farm aphids like we do cattle.this can be a problem at times. But you have to admit that is pretty cool , even if it’s bad for some of our plants
Aphid colonies are effectively kept in check by parasitoid wasps here as long as one does not spray broad-spectrum insecticide that kill them .
Conversely
Ant bait is very cheep to make , 2% borax in a sugar solution / or meat base will dispatch a colony, they take it home and feed it to the whole colony.killing the queen and all.
1tsp borax per cup of sugar ( or meat ) = 2%
More borax is not better, as they won’t eat it.
I only use this on problem ants , such as in the house. And some Allegheny mound builder ants that moved into my high tunnel.
I let the rest of them alone to do their handy work of eating pests and their eggs.
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I have ants trying to farm aphids in all 9 of my fruit trees, including 4 cherry trees. I’ve found Tree Tanglefoot to be the most effective deterrent. I renew the paste in spring as soon as I see any ants heading up the trunk of a tree. The stickiness lasts through the growing season, but each protective ring of Tanglefoot has to be inspected every few weeks to ensure that the ants haven’t found a way through.
With some of the trees being 20 to 30 years old, the rough bark allows the ants to find ways to tunnel under the Tanglefoot barrier; so, a dab of the stuff is needed at the entrance or exit of the tunnel. Things like falling leaves or flower petals can also stick to the Tanglefoot and allow a route over it. And absolutely anything that touches the tree that you’re trying to protect will provide a route that the ants will find. It’s kind of fun to discover the ingenious ways that ants can circumvent the sticky barriers.
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Suggesting to use cane sugar or light brown sugar with the borax. Some of my ants wouldn’t eat white sugar…go figure.
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Ant stakes that are made for outdoor use. Pesticide delivered via bait is the safest form of synthetic control and the easiest. If borax works, all the better.
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Fire ants are a whole different breed. They are not attracted to your typical bait. Hope they find something to eradicate them. Very invasive species.
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