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How to protect strawberries from ants

Shoxt3rShoxt3r Posts: 196
in Fruit & veg
Hi all,

So we've decided to do some strawberries this year (8 plants under a cloche, outdoors). The problem is that we have a mass of ants which are attacking any strawberries that manage to get ripe enough for picking and so far we've lost all that have matured so far (some more are still coming through but it's taking some time) to ants eating them.

I've asked a local garden centre for their advice and they have said we need a biological option (i.e. other creatures) to presumably eat the ants. I don't want to introduce powders or traps to the garden for a few reasons - mainly that it isn't natural and could damage the environment, but also because this is food and I don't want dangerous powder to be spread across anything we're likely to eat.

I recently opened up the cloche as temperatures were increasing and to allow pollination of the flowers, and due to work I'm not able to open/close the cloche every day when it gets warm/cold.

Pictures are attached.




Any advice on how to get rid of the ants or at least keep them at bay? Also any general tips about our setup would be handy!

Thanks!

Andrew
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Strawberries are hardy and don't need a cloche tho they may need a covering of netting or chicken wire to keep birds off the fruits.    It may however be that the ants are farming aphids for their sweet secretions and you'd be better off tackling any aphids.   Far more likely that slugs are scoffing the fruits.   You can go out at night and pick off lslugs or set a beer trap for them or just some sugary water in a partially sunken bowl or cup to attract and drown them.

    Ants indicate dryness so water your strawberries thoroughly, especially in dry spells.   You could try adding a small bottle of essential oil of cloves (pharmacy or health store) to a 5 lite can of water and pouring it over the plants.  The ants don't like the smell and move on.   If you don't fancy that try infusing lots of cloves in hot water then watering with that once cooled.    


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    You could also sprinkle some ant killer on the path. The ants will take the ant killer back to their nest and it won't go on your strawberries. the
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    They have no need to be in that little greenhouse, so save yourself effort and remove it. You will need to leave some netting over them or the birds will have the lot. In my experience ants do not eat strawberries unless something else has made a hole, so either a bird or a slug normally.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I was told recently that ants can't tolerate the acid in oranges or lemons so you could try putting slices around the strawberries. Ants also don't like damp conditions, so as others say water well, but don't overdo it, as they can rot off if too wet! We solved the problem with insects by making a strawberry planter on a table, adding grease bands on each leg, which stops insects climbing up. I got an old table for free off Freegle. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Shoxt3rShoxt3r Posts: 196
    They seem to be quite neat holes so maybe it is slugs and I just don't catch them in the act. I'll try the cloves in boiling water and then water the strawberries once it's cooled for the ants, and also try some surgery water in a sunken bowl for the slugs.

    I thought putting a cloche over them would encourage growth and also keep the birds off? I guess I could always shift this onto the cucumbers I've got growing...unless there is some other use for it to grow something else more suitable under it - any ideas? :)

    Thanks for the tips so far!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Definitely slugs/snails. They're right bu**ers :)
    You could also try having something on the ground beneath and around them [the plants, not the slugs....] It keeps the fruits clean too. Straw is the favourite, but wood shavings or gravel or something similar can also work quite well.

    What's surgery water Shoxt?  :#
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Shoxt3rShoxt3r Posts: 196
    Oops, sugary water!! haha.
    I've got straw around them at the moment (see pictures) but maybe there's not enough? Would it be best to completely cover the earth with it? The only trouble with that is the straw sprouts haha can't win.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Shoxt3r said:
    Oops, sugary water!! haha.

     I thought perhaps it was something you were bringing home after a day in 'theatre' Shoxt! Maybe some blood and guts would deter them though....:D 
    Apologies - I didn't see your pix. Yes - you do need quite a lot of straw, but the only deterrent is to go out and nab the little blighters whenever you can.
     Not easy to do - I have the same issue. Sometimes you win..... ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Put some straw down, about 2” deep over the whole ground, take off the cover and drape a net over the framework. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Shoxt3rShoxt3r Posts: 196
    edited June 2018
    Haha oh no Fairygirl, I don't think i'd have the stomach for that, nevermind the slugs! Thanks to you and Lyn for the tip about the straw. I'll make sure to put plenty more down over the weekend.

    In the meantime here is a picture of two more casualties...any definitive answers to what could be eating them?
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