Gross potato infestation!

[magz.mccarthy]

I dug up a new potato plant last night (knew they wouldn't be big enough yet but very impatient) and when I lifted up my fork with what I hoped would be potatoes on it, all I found was hundreds and hundreds of ants and gross little maggot larvae things. Ewww! What could these be? Should I dig up the rest of the bed to stop it spreading or should I pour down something to nuke the little fellas? Aaaggh!!!

[Two_Sheds]

they are ant eggs.

they won't do anything to your spuds. Feed them to the birds or to goldfish if you like.

[Redpepper]

Sounds yukky!
Not sure if ants would really affect your spuds though.
Ant powder might help.

[Nicos]

Sounds yukky!
Not sure if ants would really affect your spuds though.
Ant powder might help.

I wouldn't want to use ant powder near foodstuff
Try polenta grains- keep them dry-it'll kill them eventually .

You can buy ant nematodes ( that's news to me!!!)..
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...%3D54%26um%3D1

might be worth looking in to.

Your spuds won't be eaten by the ants- just give them a wash when you dig them up!

[rogesse]

I came across a nest in the greenhouse a couple of days ago - red ants (nasty stingy things) and big egg cases - they were promptly evicted and dumped on the bird table!

They're not exactly harmless in that they farm aphids, can undermine plants (melons in my case) and bl@@dy hurt if you fall asleep sunbathing on top of a nest..............

[BFG]

I think Ants like their nests to be dry. Was the soil dry? If so, give it a good soaking and they should move out.

[terrier]

I think Ants like their nests to be dry. Was the soil dry? If so, give it a good soaking and they should move out.

I found that out years ago when I had some lettuce under a clotch, it made a perfect ants nest. Yuk!

[Lizanne]

creepy ants!

Ants are mental this year - and I think that they've been getting more prolific year on year for a while.... I've already had to put bait thingy's down in the house (while I hate to kill them - I'm not hanging out with them when I come in from work!) and this is early in the season IN SCOTLAND (where we're supposed to be too cold for this nonsense....). But I've noticed loads around my broad beans & potatoes, so I need to get nematodes because they are distructive wee ratbags when they get into a root system and (again lamenting the colder climate up here) we have a short enough season without losing precious plants to their tunnelling! Here endeth the rant....

[Two_Sheds]

We get loads of ants here (the ground is very dry, perfect for them). My lawn is overrun with red ants, I never see any black ones.

I dread Flying Ant Day every year.

[Boglin]

Ants in my spuds

Hi,
I just dug up my spuds and the biggest ones all have holes in. The fist sized also have ants nesting inside. The end of my garden where I grow stuff is wet with the water table being only 12-24" below the surface. This comes very close to the surface after rain as the field adjacent is a bog draining very slowly.
Not a good place to be if you are an ant. Maybe the inside of my spuds is therefore relatively dry. I have never come accross the problem before and attributed holes in my spuds to be the evil work of the loathsome slug. Not the case here as cutting the almost hollowed pot open revealed hundereds of ants and eggs. So any one tells you ants will not bother your spuds, I can on some authority tell you otherwise.
Not sure how to deal with this as ants are usully welcome to till my garden that make such fine tilth from the worst soil.
Any comments most welcome.

[Two_Sheds]

It's highly likely that slugs made the holes, and ants moved in.

Last year I found all sorts of critters inside my spuds, even critters that don't have teeth

[Liza]

We get loads of ants here (the ground is very dry, perfect for them). My lawn is overrun with red ants, I never see any black ones.

I dread Flying Ant Day every year.

"Flying ant day" means I dont have to feed the dogs.

[Jeanied]

You may have a problem with hollow heart of the potato, Boglin - and the ants just took advantage.