[missmoneypenny]

I just cleared a patch which husband had planted with lawn grass. I need the space and was going to put leek plantlets there, but when i removed the grass the soil was teeming with red ants. I asked the doyenne of the allotment site, Patrick, if they could be harmful and he said they'd eat the roots. Is this correct? Are my leeks doomed? I could also put purple sprouting brocoli in, would that be better? Thanks

[Headgardener22]

I don't know if they eat the roots, but my experience is that plants tend not to thrive if they are infested with ants (red or black), particularly true of plants in pots.

However, I would have thought that if you disturbed the ants by turning the soil over, you would probably be OK.

The alternative is (of course) ant powder sprinkled around which would probably kill off the nest.

[missmoneypenny]

Thanks head gardener. In the meantime I have read the RHS's info page on red ants an they indicate that they are not usually harmful to plants. I'll go ahead and ant the leks, as I have no over available space, and see what happens. If there is a problem I ll use that Nippon bait mentioned in a previous post.