HELP ANTS HAVE ARRIVED

[amkind2life]

oh do I hope someone there knows how to get rid of an ant mound
which just yesterday set up house at the root, the stem of one
of my last two tomatoe plant. The same little buggers already
claimed one of my okra plants not two feet from it. After the
ants, which I did nothing to move, or kill, my okra developed
aphids. I have many, so I just cut the whole thing down rather
than let it suffer. But this tomatoe plant is MINE, and those
little creepy crawlers can't have it. I only have one other
big one. CAN ANYONE HELP PLEASE?:D
I hosed the ants and washed them away just a little bit ago. :D
Sure it didn't do much. By morning, or later even, I'll probably
find them back again.
amkind2life

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

There's a few things you can try. Some are faster working than others, but not all will work in every situation. Some are easier to try and others will take some shopping.

1. Mix a half cup of dish washing liquid soap in a gallon of water and drench the mound. This is the easiest. Ants communicate via chemical signals they leave behind. The soap is supposed to wash away their chemicals making it very uncomfortable for them. If you still have ants the next day, go to #2.

2. Mix 3 ounces of molasses in a gallon of water and drench the mound. Your ants will either love you for this or hate you and move out. The molasses will multiply the microbial population inside the mound. It can infect their food supply with bugs they don't like. If they are still there the next day, go to #3.

3. Add 3 ounces of orange oil to #2 above. Orange oil will kill any insect almost on contact. Shake this mix up while pouring. Stir up the ants to get as many of them to the surface as possible.

4. Mix 3 ounces of molasses and 3 ounces of table sugar with one teaspoon of baking yeast. Spread that goo onto pieces of cardboard around the tomato plant. This one takes the longest to work and will not work on ants that don't eat sugar (fire ants, for example).

[amkind2life]

:D Thanks for all the suggestions. I just can't wait
to know those determined, organized little
critters are no longer a threat to those precious
little red things which I so enjoy.
Amkind2life

[amkind2life]

:D If my tomato plant could only speak, she'd be jumping up
and down for joy with a huge grin on her face right now.
It's 8:30 or so here in beautiful Fredericksburg, and that
tomato plant is no longer being pestered to "death" by that
agressive little ant hill. They moved on evidentally after I
tried the first of your suggestions last night around 6 pm.
Those little devils don't apparently like what ivory soap did
to their signals, and I am so happy it didn't kill them, only
disuaded them from taking over where my tomato plant was
"thriving" at last. BIG GRATITUDE from the plants in my garden,
and from meself.
Amkind2life :D