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Are red ants harmful to my vegetable garden?

I have a recently planted raised vegetable garden with beans, onions, radishes and lettuce. I notice a considerable number of red ants starting to appear. Will they hurt my veggies? If so, what can I use to get rid of them?

Public Comments

1. No, they won't bother your veggies. In fact, ants eat aphids, a perennial garden pest. If those red ants are fire ants, though, wear gloves and be careful. Those things really sting!
2. Not usually. They may bite you. however, if they are fire ants. The old method was to pour Diazinon into the soil around the plants to kill the ants, but that has long been taken off the market because it takes so long to break down and usually does not completely. If you do not see anything going bad in the garden, you can just let them be, but if you want to get rid of them you can put Diotomatous Earth around the plants. It is made of sea shells crushed into a powder that kills the insects when they crawl through it by tearing their bodies. It is great for killing ants and other soft -bodied insects will not harm your plants. For further advise, check with your local garden center and ask trained horticulturists for their advise. You may get all kinds of different answers here and they may or may not be of help. Your local garden center is in business to answer these kinds of questions. Good luck and happy gardening.