Ants infestation my veg patch and blueberry pot

Hi all,

I seem to have an infestation of ants in my back garden. The first problem was my blueberry bush which was looking a bit sick, so I went to repot it and there was a whole colony - quite impressive actually, in it.  I probably damaged the root system but got rid of as much as I could - repotted it and it looked quite healthy for a while then I clearly didn't get them all as there are loads on there still so I used Nippon which seemed to help but not completely irradiate them. I am now worried about contaminated fruit and fear I may have to write this bush off which is a shame as it has been very prolific fruiter over a few years.

I now seem to have them moving into my veg patch and I am reluctant to use the boiling water or Nippon methods as there are lots of young tender plants coming through.

I'd really appreciate some advice. And will my blueberries be contaminated and if so for how long.

Thank you
Digby

Thanks for that I must admit when it comes to this sort of thing I tend to grab the first thing I come to. I've not heard of the bait station before. Will pop out and have a look for one later

If you've got some ant powder, an alternative to the bait station that I've seen is to put a blob of something sweet (honey for example) and put a circle of ant powder round it. The ants traipse through the powder on their way to the honey. They'll take the powder back to the nest and help to kill it off.

Not rain proof like the Nippon bait trap but it works.

Been having this problem for the last 1-2 months.
They are all over the best blueberry bush I have..

After careful examination I can see that there are sap insects on the tree which i try to clear and then the ants decrease.
But after a while they do come back...

I am very curious about the fact that the ants were in the roots.. Not an expert here, but were they not flooded everytime you watered the plant?

I agree with AK9, blueberries like plenty of water (but ants don't).   

I always have problems with ants farming aphids AK9, both on my fruit trees and in my rhubarb.  Clever but not appreciated...

I bought a cheap bait station and put it in my greenhouse, found a nest and eggs directly underneath it today!!!! Nippon liquid ordered!