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Ants vs lettuce
Jenny Griffiths
Posts: 2
in Talkback
Hi All,
We recently spent a week away from home and came back to find the container growing my lettuce and rocket crawling with ants. I suspect there is a nest.
Can I still safely eat the lettuce? and is there a safe way to get rid of them or should I just leave them be? I'm not squeamish but I don't want to compromise the crop?
Any help appreciated.
Jenny
0
Posts
The lettuce and rockets will be absolutely fine to eat as long as you don't use any pesticides to try to clear the ants.
The ants like nice dry soil for their nest - I suspect that during your week away the soil in the container was dryer than the rest of your garden and the ants moved in. If you water your plants, give the soil a good soaking andthen keep the it damp the plants will be happy and the ants will move out
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just keep them well watered. Lettuce like moisture retentive soil or compost. Ants indicate your compost is too dry.
If that fails, once the compost is properly damp again, water the pot with a solution of one small bottle of oil of cloves in 5 litres of water and pour that on. They don't like the smell and will move out but the compost has to be damp or it'll just go straight through and not work.
Fantastic. Thank you everyone.
While I have your attention, I'v had some wild strawberries appear amongst the lavender in my front garden. They are teeny tiny. Am I right in thinking that they are safe to eat if the flowers were white not yellow?