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Because "mother nature" wouldn't do it if the plants were wild.
One day, we might not have the luxury of chemical sprays (either through pests becoming resistant, or to bans on sprays due to toxicity or side effects, or a variety of other reasons).
I want to be an "expert" at growing fruit and veg which is low-maintenance and spray-free. Just a quick mulch with home-made compost (prunings, grass cuttings, green kitchen waste) and a quick annual prune/tidy-up.
If you've seen me and Orangepippin bicker like a married couple (
) about dwarf v vigorous fruit trees you'd understand my viewpoint.
I started another topic earlier today about apple rootstock MM106 which is a regular friction point between myself and some of the others (although we all love each other really, despite some heated debates!).
A plant has to earn its right to a place in my garden or veg plot, by being my servant and not needing care like a pet. In return for being my servant, I give the plant a place to live. If the plant can't cope with it, I'll find another which can.
My growing conditions aren't easy, but over the years I have gradually accumulated a group of seriously tough fruit varieties. My wife mostly deals with the vegetables, which are easier because we grow them in raised beds of compost (because our soil is horrible). The vegetables get water (when needed) from our five water butts with about 1000L capacity (we don't usually get much rain here in summer).
No, they won't kill the plant.......unless the plant is already sick or stressed, such as if it is diseased (crown rot), in poor soil (infertile or periodically waterlogged), lacking water/drought-stressed or otherwise in growing conditions which it doesn't like.
Aphids excrete sugary waste products which the ants drink. Ants will also work hard defend the aphids from aphid predators; I've seen teams of ants drag ladybird larvae off the aphids and throw them onto the ground like night-club bouncers!
In fact, not just ants feed on the sugary aphid excrement - I've seen bumblebees and hoverflies land on aphid colonies to drink the sweet sugary aphid excrement.
Originally posted by Monkey_honk
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One day, we might not have the luxury of chemical sprays (either through pests becoming resistant, or to bans on sprays due to toxicity or side effects, or a variety of other reasons).
I want to be an "expert" at growing fruit and veg which is low-maintenance and spray-free. Just a quick mulch with home-made compost (prunings, grass cuttings, green kitchen waste) and a quick annual prune/tidy-up.
If you've seen me and Orangepippin bicker like a married couple (
) about dwarf v vigorous fruit trees you'd understand my viewpoint. I started another topic earlier today about apple rootstock MM106 which is a regular friction point between myself and some of the others (although we all love each other really, despite some heated debates!).
A plant has to earn its right to a place in my garden or veg plot, by being my servant and not needing care like a pet. In return for being my servant, I give the plant a place to live. If the plant can't cope with it, I'll find another which can.
My growing conditions aren't easy, but over the years I have gradually accumulated a group of seriously tough fruit varieties. My wife mostly deals with the vegetables, which are easier because we grow them in raised beds of compost (because our soil is horrible). The vegetables get water (when needed) from our five water butts with about 1000L capacity (we don't usually get much rain here in summer).
Are they not going to kill the plant or weaken it?
And what's the deal with the ants and the aphids?
In fact, not just ants feed on the sugary aphid excrement - I've seen bumblebees and hoverflies land on aphid colonies to drink the sweet sugary aphid excrement.
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