Any advice on dealing with ants? They are a major pest for fruit trees – because they encourage and protect aphids, and unlike slugs and wasps are very difficult to eradicate.
Richard Borrie
April 30, 2007 by fruitforum
Any advice on dealing with ants? They are a major pest for fruit trees – because they encourage and protect aphids, and unlike slugs and wasps are very difficult to eradicate.
Richard Borrie
The only problem I get with ants is on cherries, because I get rid of the aphids on other crops by spraying with an aphicide and therefore the ants go elsewhere for sustenance. But the problem with cherries is that when the fruit is nice and ripe, the ants crawl up the tree and suck them dry.
Given a reasonably dry summer, sprinkling an ant eradicant around the base of the tree and any supporting mechanism is very effective. Ants do not survive to reach the fruit.
If you object to the use of chemical sprays, an old and very effective eradicant is a soft soap spray. This was available in Garden Centres, but now replaced by the much more expensive insectidal soap. However, soft soap is also sold by plumbers’ merchants (used in seating the exit pipe of WC’s).
Although ants can sometimes be a nuisance I find that I can use them to my advantage as they will show me where either aphids or possibly scale insects are lurking early in the year, which allows me to spot spray them. Very little spray is then required though a later check is advisable for any missed.
The removal of the first aphids can prevent a possible loss of apples as the rosy apple aphid, otherwise known as blue bug, which is how they appear initially. will cause stunted apples and destroy the branch tips if unchecked. Unlike greenfly, they often hide under the lower leaves which being softly curled makes them difficult to find.
The best solution to this problem I know is to use a barrier of non-setting glue to trap the ants as they move up the trunk and so preventing them gaining access and laying a scent trail to guide other ants to the aphids. This acts rather like a horizontal fly-paper.
In the USA the product is sold as ‘Tanglefoot’, but this does not appear to be available in the UK. Some time ago I bought a small tube of ‘Agralan Insect Barrier Glue’ which I guess is much the same sort of product but I have not seen it in the shops lately so perhaps it has been withdrawn? Agralan still do commercial size tubes of barrier glue that fit into a mastic gun but you would have to check with them if it is possible to get hold of the product in small quantities. Both http://www.tanglefoot.com and http://www.agralan.co.uk give more details.
When applying barrier glue it is best to put a band of tape (either masking or PVC) around the trunk and squirt the goo onto that. This allows the barrier to be cleanly removed and replaced from time to time. The other thing is to make sure you also treat any support stakes too, otherwise the ants soon discover any alternative safe way into the canopy.
Good luck!