Ants in pepper blooms

[emmaloufudge]

I bought a red and a yellow sweet pepper plant this year, this is the first time I've tried growing sweet peppers. The plants seem to be doing well, plenty of blooms and a few peppers starting to form.

I was looking at the plants and noticed a couple of ants on a bloom, I poked the bloom and about a dozen ants rain out of it.

Are these ants doing something to damage the blooms or are they helping to pollinate it?

I would appreciate any advice you can give.

Marion

[mdvpc]

they will bring aphids-use diatomaceous earth to get rid of them

[emmaloufudge]

Thanks for your response! luckily I happen to have some DE, I'll apply some tomorrow. Again, thanks.

[mdvpc]

Marion-make sure your plants are dry when you put it on-you dont need a lot, just make sure you very lightly dust the whole plant

[Love2Troll]

Color me a friend of ants. (usually) Yes, they can aid in pollination. And they can jealously protect a plant from preditors.

If they aren't 'herding' aphids I would let them be. Many of my pots house large ant colonies.

There are ants and there are ants.

JMO

[mdvpc]

JMO-never seen ants in my garden on a plant that were herding aphids.

[emmaloufudge]

I had no idea that ants were part border collie!

I have never seen ants herding aphids, I have not seen any aphids on the pepper plants. the particular plant with the ants, has the most little peppers on it, the largest one is about 1.5" x 1.5" and there are 5 or 6 smaller ones on there.

maybe these ants are being useful and pollinating, I have other pots outside that do have ants in them and have not detected any damage.

thanks again for the advice.

[TheDens]

I've seen ants shepherding aphids. It's kind of interesting, as long as they're doing it on someone else's plants.
They aren't necessarily being pests, though. If you don't see any aphids, I'd leave them alone too. I usually hate ants with a passion, but in the absence of bees they seem to be the primary pollinators of my strawberries. At least, I didn't start getting good yeilds until I started seeing them in the flowers.

Denna

[emmaloufudge]

Denna, so far the plants are doing okay, I haven't put the DE on them yet, I'll hold off on doing anything unless it looks as though they are doing some damage.
Since I have peppers starting to form, the ants must not be too much of a threat to the plants - but that doesn't make me like the things!

[bbjm]

I have a problem with ants herding aphids on my squash plants, but do not have aphids on my peppers. I Have dealt with it by washing the aphids off every couple of days.

Is DE available at a place like Home Depot or do I need to get it a nursery? Is it sold under a trade name of any kind, or do I just look for DE?

Will DE kill the aphids and the ants, or just the ants? The ants I can live with, it's the aphids I hate.


Thank you.

Bret

[travis]

Bret,

Friday I saw DE in 10-lb bags at Lowes ... haven't been to Home Depot lately ... but around here, there seems to be more "organic" and "natural" products on Lowes' shelves this year than ever before ... a "trend" looks like.

A question ... isn't diotomaceous earth simply calcium carbonate or whatever calcite compound those itsy bitsy sea critter skeletons are composed of? Is there something special about the calcium obtained via DE that isn't common to all calcium carbonate? (I know the skeletal structure of DE is essential to its filtration properties for filtering water, but that doesn't seem to be operative when applying it as a topical powder to plants.)

PV

[bbjm]

Thanks PV. I'll check out Lowe's. BTW, will it kill the aphids? If this is an organic solution to my aphid/ant problem, I'll do it. I'm keeping them under control by squirting them off, but it would be nice to get rid of them all together.

Thanks.

Bret

[Gimme3]

I think a proper way to address this good question...is to Start...with Identifying...the ants present.

There are many...good ants on this earth, an we'd be in deep trouble...should they perish or be drasticly reduced.

Basicly...there are 2 types ...or families...classifications, if you will...of Ants.

The first type...i place into what would be called..a Native ant.Native ants have always been here, they Belong here, an they serve Many good purposes. It's actually quite enjoyable to me...to simply observe a red ant, goin about it's Life. Sometimes, we get little tiny black ants, predatin en-masse..in our Kitchens...an they seem to be a problem, but these ...Too...belong here, its simply a matter of establishin in one's mind, and home...a line...)))

Native ants are Sugar...or Sucrose/Cellulose eating creatures. They desire grains, plant sugars, and are the Original...aphid Farmers...))) They dont eat meat, or protein. They like natural sugars, and decomposing plant debris (witness the carpenter ant, and the Red Ant ). In their daily process of seeking plant sugars, these ants help pollinate an infintesible array of plants, we would eventually starve on this planet, without good ants...lol.

The second category, or Family...of ants...in my book...are Fire Ants, that have a South America Origin.
These ants are exotic....they dont belong here, an have no natural balance here, like they do in their native home.
It's widely believed that the Argentinian Fire ant came to N. America around 1914, aboard a ship that sailed into the Port of Mobile, Alabama.

When the fire ant first came to the N. American continent...it was a Single-Queen species. In the aproximately 100 years of it being here, it has evolved into a Multiple- Queen species.

I have personally witnessed fire ants destroy or ruin... Okra and Potato plants. ...many times.They love the proteins found in these 2 cultivars. They are a Protein -eating ant, which is Good, in a way, because it makes it very easy to target them, appropriately, while not harmin native ants.

Fire ants...in my opinion, did not originally farm aphids. But thru time, and their evolution, they have become very adept at doing so, and utilize this strategy along with their other formidable foraging/gathering techniques.

In my opinion, most of the Mosaic disease i see on beans, peas...are transmitted by aphid-farming fire ants.
Soil health plays a major role in reducing the attractiveness of a plant, to an aphid's bite.

I dont think these ants are hurting your pepper, Marion...at all. In fact, they propably are helpin you, via their inadvertant pollination activity. Pepper plants have many natural defenses, very few, if any, insects ever pose a threat, even a mild one. But it is a Topic that certainly warrants Learning an Observing, all u can about...thru Time.

Best Wishes...))

[emmaloufudge]

thank you for the info on the ants.

the ants on the pepper plant are definitely little black sugar ants, I'm familiar with fire ants, there's no doubt about these being sugar ants.

there are 3 to 4 times as many forming peppers on the plant with the ants, so I will proceed under the assumption they are helping to polinate.

when the ants herd the aphids, what do they do with them? do they eat them? (I'm serious).

also, I saw some of the same little sugar ants on one of my tomato plants, should I presume they are not doing any damage or could even be somewhat beneficial. this is the only tomato plant that had any aphids and I used water to zap them with.

thanks!

[feldon30]

Aphids suck the juice out of the stems of plants. They excrete a honey-like substance that ants feed off. Ants and aphids have a symbiotic relationship and you'll see ants farming, raising, and herding aphids around for their food source. Sort of like carrying a refrigerator around with you.