Ants are building farms on my tomato plants

[ricardo]

How do I convince them to take their business elsewhere?

[Knightwriter]

There is something that a friend told me about. It is called Hot Wax. It is made from hot pepper. It deters other bugs. It may work with ants. Or you can make your own hot pepper solution.

[veggieart]

Are they harming your tomato plants? Ants can be beneficial insects in gardens, depending on the kind of ant. Personally, I prefer to have a few ants around, if they're the right kind. They keep things clean.

There are many ways to discourage ants, but none of them very nice, I'm afraid.

[ricardo]

The ants aren't harming my tomato plants but the plant lice that they are farming are.
I tried spraying water with hot peper dust on them but it didn't really do anything.
Should I first cook the water with the hot peper dust so it is better mixed?

[veggieart]

Should I first cook the water with the hot peper dust so it is better mixed?

A little chemistry for you:

Capsaicin (the hot in hot peppers) is actually not water solluble, so water is a terrible solvent to carry the chemical.

Capsaicin is very soluble in lipids (like vegetable oil), and in alcohol.

If you heat the water up, the active substance may become somewhat dispersed in the water... but generally, no, it won't help very much.

Fill a pan with vegetable oil and the powder and heat it up a little (not too much, be very careful with this), and that should get you a hot oil. Alcohol might be a better choice, though.

[ricardo]

Just a thought;

spraying an alcohol or oil solution on your plants isn't really a smart thing to do, at least if you want to keep them alive...

So for those who can help. How do I get ants to leave my plants without killing them AND without killing my plants?

[veggieart]

Just a thought;
spraying an alcohol or oil solution on your plants isn't really a smart thing to do, at least if you want to keep them alive...

As long as the oil isn't forming an interfering film on the leaves, this should not hurt your plants. Spraying soap on plants is another common way of deterring certain pests (namely aphids; I don't know if it would bother ants).

A very small amount of alcohol will not hurt your plants as long as you don't water them with it. The alcohol will evaporate almost instantly and leave the spice behind. The only thing a thin misting of alcohol should do the the plants is dehydrate the outer layer a bit- as long as you water them with water, this should be fine (desert plants would probably not appreciate this)- shouldn't be any worse than getting alcohol on yourself, though.

Another option:

Train your tomatoes up a terrace so that they're high enough to be free of the meddling hymenoptera. (I may have mentioned this already. I'm extremely tired)

[Faunus]

Hi Ricardo!

I bring dozens of tropical container plants onto the porch and into the yard beginning in May. Ants have indeed been a problem (along with roaches) when I brought them back into the house in October. Now I have prevented the problem by having saucers acts as moats filled with water and a few drops of dish washing liquid. The plant container is elevated above the water level of the saucer/moat with either bricks or "clay feet" that I can buy at a garden centre. As long as there is soapy water in the saucer, unwanted insects keep their distance from these containers.

I hope that helps.

Faunus
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