10 ways to deal with an ant invasion on strawberries

For many summer residents, a problem may be the appearance of ants on their property. These insects penetrate almost everywhere and can significantly reduce the amount of harvest, spoiling summer gardens. It is especially unpleasant when insects begin to eat strawberries.

Even experienced gardeners cannot always answer the question of what to do if strawberries are attacked by ants. In this material we will try to find answers and solve the problem.

Causes and consequences of ants appearing on strawberries

Establishing the reasons for their appearance in the beds will help save strawberries from ants. This garden crop by itself is not capable of attracting ants, but they will not refuse to feast on it. Probably, insects already lived in the places chosen for the strawberry plantation. It is known that in the course of their life, ants significantly improve the quality of the soil:

• loosen, ensuring a flow of oxygen to the roots;
• increase the concentration of microelements (potassium, manganese, phosphorus), thereby increasing productivity many times over;
• stimulate the growth of beneficial microorganisms;
• destroy eggs, larvae and mature individuals of harmful insects.

It is not surprising that after some time the gardener chooses this area for strawberry beds. And ants act indiscriminately. They begin to eat ripening berries and spoil the thin roots of plants. They bring entire colonies of aphids to the soil surface, which serve as a source of food for them. Soon, brown spots form on the dark green leaves, and putrefactive processes develop on the roots. This is how aphids become involved in damaging garden crops.

Important! If ants live in one place for a long time, this harms many fruit trees growing nearby. The soil becomes more acidic, so flowering is less abundant.

Aphids: how to recognize an infestation

Externally, the pest resembles an egg - the body color is light, the shape is oblong. The aphids have long legs, but they move slowly.

There are several types: with and without wings

Particular attention should be paid to winged aphids, since females of this species are able to form new colonies faster than non-winged species. Settlements can be formed:

• on shoots;
• on buds;
• on the leaves from the underside.

Important! In most cases, ants settle next to the aphid colony. The presence of pests can be determined by the following symptoms:

The presence of pests can be determined by the following symptoms:

• next to the strawberry bushes a special sweetish smell appears, different from the aroma of berries;
• the leaves curl into a tube, lose their elasticity (become flaccid);
• the color of the leaf blade changes;
• the upper part of the shoots changes;
• drops of honeydew appear (different parts of the bush).

The crop, regardless of the variety, becomes sluggish and weakened. It may also be infected with a viral infection. Additional external changes: galls may appear on the leaves. You can identify the pest this way: a black, damp coating appears on the bushes.

Strawberry bushes must be treated with special compounds to protect them from the negative influence of the pest, since:

• aphids absorb large amounts of sap from plant cells (as a result, the bush becomes weak);
• deformations occur in the buds;
• shoots are weak, twisted;
• As a result of cell damage and lack of nutrients, growth processes slow down (they may also be absent).

If aphid damage occurs, the berry often does not have time to ripen, becomes small and loses its sweetness.

It is also important to consider that a weakened bush dies in winter in most cases. The danger of the presence of aphids on strawberries is that the pest sucks more nutritious juice from the plant than it needs for food and is a carrier of viral diseases

Humane ways to fight

Gardeners deliberately strive to protect strawberries from ants without completely destroying them. After all, this will allow you to preserve the colony on the site, increasing its value for growing flowers, vegetables, fruit and ornamental trees, and bushes. In addition, the absence of beneficial insects will negatively affect the fruiting of many crops. The presence of anthills often helps to avoid pest attacks.

But it is advisable to use such methods when detecting single colonies of ants. In this case, significant damage will not be caused to the berries, since everything is compensated by an increase in yield. When there is a huge accumulation of insects against the backdrop of proliferating aphids, it is irrational to use humane methods.

Transfer to another location

A labor-intensive but humane method of protecting a strawberry plantation from insect pests is to move the anthill to another place. Now let's talk about how to do it. In the morning or late evening, a large zinc bucket is smeared from the inside with a sweet liquid that is sticky and at the same time capable of attracting ants. This is jam, jam, marmalade or honey diluted with water 1:1. Ants also like vegetable oils:

• olive;
• corn;
• sunflower;
• sesame;
• flaxseed

Leave a bucket of insect bait for several hours among the beds. And then they simply cover it with a lid and move it to a new place. Even more effective is digging up an anthill along with all its inhabitants. Then it is immersed in a bucket and taken outside the garden.

Advice! After digging the anthill, the resulting hole should be filled with ash. This will alkaline the soil that has been oxidized by insects.

Repellent by strong odors

Ants in strawberries can be removed using products with a strong specific odor (ammonia, essential oils, turpentine). Like all insects, they are sensitive to such odors.

For example, among mustard crops, an anthill is almost impossible to detect. Therefore, many gardeners who grow strawberries specially sow the plant among the bushes. This is an excellent prevention against ant pests and guarantees that the berry crop will bear fruit abundantly.

Herb leaves

Herbs commonly used for medicinal purposes will help you get rid of garden pests using humane folk remedies. Ants cannot tolerate the smell of tansy, wormwood, thyme, peppermint, lemon mint, lavender, and oregano. If the size of the plot allows, then it is advisable to plant the seeds of these plants. Many of them are decorative and do not require special care. And subsequently, infusions and decoctions with therapeutic properties are prepared from them.

In addition, bundles of dried herbs placed near the roots of strawberries provide excellent protection from ants. Aphids, which parasitize tender stems and young leaves, also go away. Insects stop coming to the surface, and then leave their homes in search of more comfortable living conditions.

Sawdust soaked in anise oil

Let's introduce some more humane methods of controlling insect pests. It is best to use shavings of trees and shrubs of coniferous species - thuja, fir, spruce, pine, cypress, juniper. It smells sharp, and when decomposed, it enriches the benefits with bioactive substances, macro- and microelements. Sawdust is well soaked in anise essential oil, which is sold in every pharmacy. You can also treat them additionally with ammonia.

Cotton swabs with turpentine

If there are red ants in the strawberries, then the sharp, repulsive smell of turpentine will come to the rescue. But precisely because of the smell, this method is rarely practiced, because it is intensively absorbed by ripening berries. It is rational to use tampons soaked in turpentine to repel pest ants at the stage of bud formation.

Global solution to insect problems

Unable to get rid of ants in your strawberry beds using gentle methods? Then you need to act more aggressively and solve the problem of the existence of an anthill, not insects. Otherwise, it will be impossible to protect strawberries.

Preventing the appearance of pests on the site

It is easier to prevent a problem from occurring than to solve it. There is nothing complicated about basic preventive measures in your area.

To do this, it is enough to carefully dig up the soil in early spring and autumn, after harvesting. If desired, during digging, add ash or wormwood to the soil.

Digging up an existing anthill

Often, this option remains the only way to combat annoying insects. If it was not possible to protect the strawberries from ants, or small pests have located their homes in the roots, then all that remains is to dig up the anthill and nearby areas, and deeper. While digging, add to the soil:

• salt;
• soda;
• ash;
• lime;
• sagebrush;
• decoctions of spicy and strong-smelling herbs;
• sunflower oil.

Moving the colony to a safe distance

Why destroy living organisms when they can simply be moved to a place where there will be no harm? Proponents of this principle proceed as follows.

1. They dig up an anthill.
2. Pour its contents into a bucket.
3. They are taken away from the house (to the landing).
4. They get enough sleep.
5. Ash or wormwood is poured into the dug hole.

Pour boiling water or a special decoction over the anthill

Getting rid of ants using folk remedies is not always as easy as it seems. It is unknown in what cases the expected result will be obtained. Even special poisons and poisons do not always help. Therefore, you can try simply pouring boiling water over the colony. This will take from three to eight buckets.

Special decoctions work a little differently. A deep hole is made in the soil above the insects' home. A special decoction is poured into it, now the hole is plugged, and the anthill is covered with film. The following are used as active ingredients:

• any types of oil;
• herbal tinctures (lavender, wormwood, onion, garlic);
• essential oils;
• anise;
• shampoo;
• soap;
• vinegar;
• pine needles

Traditional methods of getting rid of misfortune

Gardeners have long been fighting insects using time-tested folk remedies. They are especially popular among people who are wary of modern insecticides, which are chemically aggressive and potentially dangerous to human health.

Such methods of killing ants are energy-consuming, and the effect of their use does not appear immediately. They help only in the presence of single colonies of insects and the absence of a large number of aphids.

Sweet baits

Ants readily eat strawberries because of the thick juice they contain, rich in simple carbohydrates. We need to find a replacement for him that is more attractive to them. Old jam diluted with water and fresh sugar syrup are used. Planks and thick branches are soaked in the sweet liquid and applied to plywood. And then they, along with the adherent ants, are lowered into a bucket filled with a strong saline solution to be destroyed.

Advice! You can remove insects from berry bushes faster. To do this, the inside of the bucket is lubricated with sweet baits and left for a day. By evening it turns out to be filled with immobilized ants. All you have to do is fill it to the top with water and wait 15-20 minutes.

Yeast

Let's imagine a rather interesting way to remove pests from strawberry beds. Yeast is a valuable source of almost all B vitamins, and its smell literally fascinates ants. They not only actively eat yeast, but also carry it underground, replenishing their reserves. Nothing will happen in the anthill in a few days.

Read this article on how to use yeast against ants.

And after 2-3 days the yeast will begin to decompose and actively ferment. The anthill is filled with the carbon dioxide they produce, which gives the baked goods a fluffy appearance. But an increase in its concentration in earthen passages forces insects to get out. And the developed putrefactive and fermentation processes spoil all the reserves set aside for the winter.

Attracting Birds

Birds are natural enemies of ants. But starlings, sparrows, and swifts prefer to eat them in early spring due to the still existing shortage of grains, seeds, worms and slugs. Therefore, during strawberry fruiting, birds are more willing to eat ripe berries than tiny garden pests. But this problem is quite easy to solve.

Gardeners simply scatter pale yellow large millet between the rows. The ants mistake it for their own eggs that have somehow fallen to the surface of the earth. They begin to save them - they drag them into holes. At this time, insects are attacked by birds, who willingly peck at the delicious grain. To protect berry plantings from pests, plot owners scatter millet in advance.

How to fight?

The fight against ants on the site can be done in several ways: humane or radical, using folk remedies or chemicals.

Humane methods

There is no need to destroy insects when their colony has not yet managed to scatter throughout the garden, since you should not forget about the benefits that ants bring. A humane way is to move the nest away from the garden plot. This procedure is carried out in May or early June, when the anthill is not yet fully equipped and there are not many “inhabitants” there.

How to do it:

Wear rubber gloves on your hands to protect against bites. Carefully dig out the entire anthill, including eggs and larvae. Place it in a large cup (you won’t be able to carefully transfer it into a bucket). Shake out the nest in the nearest forest or shelter belt. Cover the old location of the anthill with wood ash.

The second humane method is to repel ants. To do this, parsley, wormwood, mint, tansy are scattered between the strawberry beds and throughout the garden, mustard powder is scattered, and cotton balls of turpentine are laid out. Strawberry bushes can be mulched with sawdust soaked in anise aroma oil.

Chemicals

Using chemicals is not the best way, but sometimes it is irreplaceable.

Popular drugs:

• Muratsid (Anteater, Ant). Food bait based on diazinon, which is poured directly into the anthill. It is necessary to remove the top soil layer as a precaution.
• Gel the Great Warrior. Bait that is placed along ant paths on plastic lids.
• Bison and Thunder-2. Prepare the solution according to the instructions and spray the plants with it.
• Metaldehyde (4 mg per m2) before flowering and after picking berries.
• Pour a half-liter jar of ammonium nitrate onto the anthill and water lightly.
• Take about.5 liters of sand and mix with 1 packet of Bazudin, scatter in places where ants accumulate.

Chemicals are dangerous for humans. Protection of hands and face is necessary; treatments are carried out before flowering begins.

Folk remedies

You can protect strawberries from ants using environmentally friendly methods by placing sweet baits near anthills:

• Balls of boric acid (5 g) and sugar (100 g). You need as much water as it comes in to form the balls. The second option with boric acid: pour 5 g of boric acid into half a glass of hot water (100 ml), dissolve, add 10 g of honey (a teaspoon) or jam and 40 g (2 tbsp) sugar to the solution. Mix the mixture and pour into a flat container, which is best placed near ant paths. Cover the top from the rain with a piece of plastic.
• A mixture of vegetable oil (200 ml.) and 1/2 l. table vinegar.
• Sweet syrup made from honey (tbsp), water (100 g), sugar (100 g) and borax powder (matchbox). The mixture is placed in lids.
• Dry or live yeast is mixed in half with honey or thick sugar syrup, semolina is added for strength, and laid out on ant trails.
• Scatter ground black pepper around the bushes.

An anthill that is objectionable to a gardener can be destroyed in another inhumane way: pour boiling water or regular vegetable oil into it early in the morning in several doses. You can add soda, quicklime, and salt to the water.

Processing with special means

Treating strawberries against ants with insecticides is guaranteed to get rid of annoying insects for almost the entire season. Relief occurs within a few days after spraying drug solutions. This method of protecting a garden plot from pests has many advantages:

• fast action;
• reliability;
• relative safety;
• saving time;
• the ability to destroy other harmful insects.

The simultaneous elimination of earthworms, which actively saturate the soil with air, is also considered a disadvantage. However, their population is recovering quite quickly.

Advice! When choosing a quality strawberry insecticide, you should consider its expiration date. It is important that the chemical is not washed away by the first rain.

Anti-ant powder HECTOR

It is a granular food poison. The principle of operation is that an ant that has eaten the bait, upon returning to its home, shares the food it has obtained with everyone, thereby spreading the poison throughout the entire colony. The poison gradually passes from one ant to another and thus reaches the queen and larvae. It should be used in dry weather near the beds, so you will protect the soil as much as possible from the penetration of toxic substances into it.

If you apply it directly to the plants themselves, then it is best to pour the granules into some kind of substrate, for example ordinary bottle caps.

Ant-eater

Anteater is a drug with enteric contact action. When insects ingest the chemical diazinon, the transmission of nerve impulses is disrupted. Muscle tone also decreases, causing convulsions, partial immobilization, and then complete paralysis. It is not typical for insects to become accustomed to the action of the Anteater, so there is no need to frequently change treatment agents.

A reduction in the number of ants in strawberry beds is noted in the first day, and after three days they completely disappear. When using the solution, protection against insects is provided for a month; concentrated granules will be enough for 2 months. Regular treatment of strawberries with Anteater guarantees the complete absence of pests in the beds.

Ant

The active ingredient in Ant is also diazinon. This is a ready-made bait for pests, which is used to evenly cover the surface of the soil under the bushes. Attracted by the smell and appearance, the ants carry it to the nest, poisoning all its inhabitants, including the queen. After 2 days, paralysis and mass death of all insects occurs.

Ant is non-toxic. Its metabolites break down as a result of a chemical reaction of hydrolysis. They do not accumulate in the soil under strawberries and do not penetrate the root system of plants. The duration of action of the insecticide is from 1 to 2 months.

A great warrior

The drug is in the form of a gel with two active ingredients - chlorpyrifos and diazinon. The components complement each other perfectly and mutually enhance their insecticidal properties. Due to its gel structure and sweet taste, ants carry large amounts of the product into the nest. After 2-3 days, the entire population of the nest becomes infected.

Advice! Great Warrior is not the best product for spraying a strawberry plantation against insects. It is quickly washed off when watering plants. This product is much more effective for treating premises.

Tanrek

Insecticide in the form of a concentrated solution with the active substance imidacloprid. It binds to receptors in the central nervous system of pests, causing them paralysis, convulsions and death. Tanrek is produced in the form of a concentrated solution, packaged in compact ampoules. To prepare a working dilution of the solution, pour 1 liter of water into a plastic bucket, measure out 1.5 ml of the drug, mix, add water to a volume of 5 liters, which is used to spray the strawberry plantings.

Biotlin

Biotlin is a fast-acting garden insecticide, active against all varieties of ants and aphids adjacent to them. The drug has a moderate hazard class, as it does not contain aggressive synthetic components. The active ingredient is imidacloprid, extracted from concentrated tobacco extract. Available in the form of a solution in ampoules and bottles, it is not phytotoxic, therefore it can be systematically used on strawberries.

Bison

You can spray strawberry plantings with a solution of the preparation “Bison”, which has a powerful effect on the digestive system of pest ants. Penetrating into the stomach, the effect of the toxic agent is almost immediate. Therefore, after a few hours their death occurs. The maximum effect should be expected 1-2 days after processing the strawberries, and it lasts for a month.

Grom-2

Grom-2 is a ready-to-use bait for working ants among strawberries. It is convenient to use the drug, since it does not require dissolution in water. The granules are distributed over the surface of the nest and between the strawberry bushes, providing effective contact with insects. The death of ants occurs after 1-2 days. Regular treatment provides protection against insects for 2-3 months.

Insecticides in the battle against ants

How to get rid of slugs on strawberries

Gardeners fight ants with chemicals. Among them are the following.

Muratsid

Produced in the form of granules and aqueous emulsion. Is a food bait. The active substance is diazinon. Provides an immediate effect of the drug on parasites. It differs in its period of action: it removes pests from the garden for at least a month.

The drug in ampoules does not require advance preparation: carefully open the container with the contents and mix the substance into a 10-liter bucket of water. The mixture is thoroughly mixed. 1 liter of poison is enough for an anthill. Ants die a day after application, including the queen and larvae.

The granulated preparation is combined with granulated sugar, the poisonous bait is scattered into jars and placed in places where pests accumulate. The use of an insecticide causes the death of parasites on the second or third day.

The following products have a similar action and chemical composition:

• Ant-eater;
• Ant;
• Thunder-2.

a great warrior

Gel-like substance for getting rid of garden pests. At the core -

two active ingredients: diazinon, chlorpyrifos. The components increase the mutual effect and in a short time will remove the colony of ants from the beds.

Plastic lids and pieces of thick cardboard are suitable for application. Make sure that rain does not wash away the drug.

Attention! The product is used to kill cockroaches.

The drug against ants has an intestinal-contact effect. Distinctive features:

• preservation of toxic properties for a month;
• sweet smell;
• the onset of effect after 2-3 days.

Apply in strips, the distance between which is from 2 to 6 cm. When applied repeatedly - 5-6 cm.

Other chemicals

Popular insecticides against ants include:

• Biotlin;
• Tanrek;
• Bison

Spray with the solution according to the instructions. The crops are processed before flowering, when it is windless and dry outside.

Important! Chemicals are dangerous to humans. Take precautions: use a protective mask and gloves during processing. After the operation, work clothes are washed separately.

It is prohibited to spray strawberries with chemicals during fruiting and harvesting - the flowers and berries become toxic and hazardous to health.

Important! Be sure to store the drug out of the reach of children and animals.

Detection and elimination of the nest

An ant's nest is a heap of leaves, pine needles, twigs and earth. It consists of a complex system of passages and miniature structures, the center of which is the uterus. The aerial part is a compact mound with a depression in the center. It can be detected not only by its appearance, but also by the behavior of insects. It is to the nest that all the red and black insects rush at the last rays of the sun.

To destroy anthills among strawberries, gardeners use boiling water. The effect will increase when boric acid is dissolved in it (20 g per bucket of water). They generously pour it not only into visible passages, but also into the soil 2-3 meters around. It is not always possible to remove insects this way. If a whole queen remains in the soil, the colony will soon be reborn.

Agrotechnical measures

It may be a little unusual, but the number of colonies will decrease significantly if you kill the aphids. By the way, you don’t need to completely get rid of ants. New, more adapted pests will take their place. Aphids are the main “herd” that supplies “sweet milk” - honeydew to the voracious ant larvae.

The duration of maturation of the egg lasts 35 days, larvae - 7 days and pupae - 23 days. The lifespan of the larvae is 7 days and they enter the pupal stage, which stops eating. These 7 days are the weakest link of the ant colony. They intensively supply food to the larvae. If you feed the larvae poisoned food during this period, the colony may not be revived.

So, to successfully remove ants from a site, you can perform the following procedures with large colonies:

In late autumn and early spring, be sure to clear the trunks and skeletal branches of garden crops with a thick solution of freshly slaked lime with the addition of any toxic substance. With this technique you will destroy the ants dragging their precious cargo from the trees to the anthill for overwintering.

Around the bushes, stepping back from the base, sprinkle ash thickly in a ring, you can mix it with lime. Lime is poisonous to ants.

Approximately in the middle of the trunk (40-80 cm), secure the fishing belts, treating them with insecticidal agents. To prevent ants from crawling over the barrier, lubricate the bole around the perimeter with special slow-drying glue (buy in a store). They will not be able to overcome the adhesive barrier and will die along with their expensive burden. Hunting belts can also be used in the spring and summer (October and March), periodically replacing them with fresh ones.

Simultaneously with the hunting belts, for 8 days in a row, having dug up the ant colony to a depth of 3-8 cm, poison them in the evening (when the ants return home), pouring hot boiling water over the stirred up anthills, preferably a hot decoction of tomato tops (literally boiling).

You can dig it up and fill it with a mixture of ash and lime or ash and salt, or treat it with a mixture of ash and soda.

A good result is obtained if you fill the anthill with a mixture of water and kerosene (100-200 ml per 10 liters of water), digging it deeper.

Large winged female and male black garden ant. Martin King

Daily treatment for 8 days will destroy the larvae, some adult ants, possibly the “queen,” eggs, and pupae. Such treatments must be carried out systematically throughout the year, and the ants will leave the inhospitable dacha. Ants love peace and settle in places where the soil is not subject to frequent turning, that is, it is not dug up, stones, weeds, etc. are not removed. If you are farming without digging, then surface treatment of the top 10 cm of soil is required. Look under a stone or cardboard or board that has been lying there for a long time and you will see a bunch of ant eggs with nannies right on the surface of the earth.

Plantings around the perimeter of the dacha, individual beds, under the canopy of trees and, especially, between berry bushes of tansy, parsley, mint, valerian, wormwood, lavender, and garlic can serve as preventive preventative measures against the colonization of ants.

Black garden ant and aphids. Martin Urban

Hunting the queen ant

The queen is massive and less mobile than worker ants, and her body is equipped with a wider and more developed thoracic region. Unlike worker pests, it does not obtain food, but produces new insects. Therefore, without destroying the queen, you will not be able to get rid of the ants. What can be done:

• destroy the nest and find the queen, based on its size. The method is labor-intensive and does not always give the desired result. You can spend a lot of time, but not find the queen in the soil;
• pour boiling water over the nest, hoping to destroy the queen.

The most effective way to save strawberries is to use insecticides. When infected worker ants come into contact with the queen, for example during feeding, they will also poison her.

Reviews

For the third year now I have been saved exclusively by Muratsid. I carry out the treatment at least 3 times in one season, but I am completely satisfied with the result.

I really liked the Ant food bait. It was recommended by a neighbor in the country who has been using it for several seasons now. After the morning treatment, by the evening the situation had noticeably improved, and the next morning the pest was completely destroyed. 4 weeks have passed and I still remember the ants.

Sources:

https://domovod.guru/borba-s-vreditelyami/muravi/muravi-na-klubnike-kak-izbavitsya.html https://apest.ru/muravi/izbavitsya-ot-muravev/izbavitsya-ot-muravev-v -klubnike/ https://notklop.ru/muravi/unichtozhenie-muravev/izbavitsya-ot-muravev-v-klubnike/

Prevention measures

The best preventative measure against ant attacks on strawberries is to keep the garden area clean. It is necessary to regularly weed the ground between the bushes, and then take the grass outside the garden. This way you will be able to get rid of weeds, which often serve as a hiding place for pests. Experienced gardeners recommend setting up nearby flower beds with fragrant flowers or medicinal plants to repel insects. Be sure to periodically water the soil with insecticide solutions to kill aphids.

When to expect an ant invasion?

Two types of ants settle in garden plots: black garden and red (red myrmica). Insect nests are a complex system of oval-shaped chambers connected by passages. In winter, ants hide in their deep dungeons; from the moment the soil warms up and warms up, they develop a rapid duration and come to the surface.

The biggest harm from ants is the reproduction of aphids. Ants feed on semi-digested juice, which is regularly secreted by aphids. As a result, hordes of ants attack the youngest, juiciest shoots and leaves of strawberries in order to spread their protected “herd” over them.

During the flowering period, ants gnaw out the centers of the inflorescences. During fruiting, a berry plantation is generally a Klondike for insects. Thus, strawberries have to be protected from ants throughout the entire season.

Additional tips for gardeners

Preventive measures can prevent the appearance of ants in your garden or make it easier to combat them. Experienced summer residents advise growing garlic and onions next to strawberries. The crops repel parasites with their pungent odor.

Spraying strawberries with garlic infusion will not harm them. To prepare the solution you will need:

• 10 l – water;
• 2 tbsp. l. – boric acid;
• 100 g – crushed garlic;
• 400 g – pine needle extract.

The product is infused for 7 days.

When ants attack a strawberry plot, the foliage of the bushes is carefully examined. Detection of scale insects or aphids is a signal to get rid of parasites. Soon the ants will lose food and will look for a new object. This will help:

1. A solution of laundry or tar soap is a reliable means of protecting strawberries from scale insects and aphids;
2. Table salt, which is sprinkled into the nest and into the tunnels inside, will force the insects to leave the populated area;
3. Sprinkling bird droppings between strawberry rows;
4. Use of cooking waste: vegetable oil after frying food;
5. Soapy water after washing is good for an anthill.

When starting a war with ants, it is advisable to make sure who the enemy is: ants or bedbugs along with weevils.

Removing an ant colony from a strawberry plot is difficult. Therefore, it is useful to remember to protect plants from ants and take timely measures to improve their health and preserve the harvest using folk remedies and chemicals.

Spring protection

The time when ants appear on an apple tree often coincides with the swelling of the buds (in spring) or in the autumn when the fruits ripen.

In the spring, a two-stage treatment of the apple tree from various pests and ants is carried out: before the buds swell and in the budding phase (before flowering).

In early spring, spraying is carried out against aphids and ants, as well as against bacterial fungal infections (rot, spotting, scab, black cancer). Use 3-4% solutions of Bordeaux mixture or ferrous sulfate.

During the budding phase, the apple tree is treated against leaf-eating pests and fungi using 1-2% Bordeaux mixture.

Solutions of the following preparations are suitable as insecticides and fungicides:

• Decis - 0.5-0.6%;
• Karbofos - 1%;
• Speed ​​- 0.15-0.2%;
• Topaz - 0.3-0.4%;
• Chlorophos - 0.3%.

Contraindications to the use of boric acid for feeding strawberries

It is impossible to fertilize with boron on acidic soils before liming (applying calcite, dolomite, limestone, slaked lime). The use of acid solution during the rainy season is also contraindicated. Did you know? Every million tons of the earth's crust contains about 3 tons of boron, but you won't find a nugget of it. In nature, it is found only in compounds. Do not apply fertilizers with boron if there are signs of oversaturation with this microelement, as a result of which specific burns appear on strawberry leaves, necrosis, leaves become yellow, take on a dome shape, and curl up or down.

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Undoubtedly, boron is a necessary element that ensures high yield and excellent taste of strawberries. However, the range between the optimal norm and the toxic norm is small

Fertilizing with boric acid should be done carefully. An excess of a microelement is just as detrimental to a plant as its deficiency.

Are ants really enemies of the garden that only cause harm?

There are a large number of species of these insects on Earth.
But ordinary black ants live in gardens. Adults feed on the sweet liquid produced by aphids. Therefore, they can be found on bushes, trees and grasses. Ants also don’t mind trying nectar. But, collecting nectar from flowers, ants sometimes harm plants. They also like ripe fruits or berries, such as strawberries.

Many gardeners say that ants damage the soil when they make their moves in it. But that's not true. There is no harm to the soil from tunnels made by ants; on the contrary, ants bring benefits by loosening the soil and enriching it with oxygen.

Products consisting of carbohydrates are not the only food included in the diet of ants. Ants also need protein food; without it they cannot survive. The queen and larvae feed on protein food.

In order to get protein food, ants go hunting every day and look for insects to feed their offspring. It turns out that the insects that fall prey to ants are pests. This means that ants are of great benefit. And one of them is the destruction of the larvae of various pests.