How to save cabbage from ants

Ants are one of the most common beneficial hymenopteran insects. However, their excessive amount in the garden or vegetable garden can cause great damage to the future crop. The fact is that garden garden ants prefer to build their nests in the roots of seedlings, nibbling them. Especially often insects can be found in strawberries and currants, as well as under plums, apples or pears. Often they harm and seedlings of bell pepper, eggplant or cabbage, laying long tunnels in the ground. What to do if ants eat cabbage, you will learn from this article.

What is harmful ants in the garden

Besides that ants eat up the roots of seedlings and like to feast on the fruits of strawberries, apricots, apple trees or plums, they are also distributors aphids - the most dangerous enemy of gardens. The attention of goose bumps is attracted by a viscous liquid emitted by aphids (pad), which is their favorite treat. The aphid itself eats the sap of plants, “drying” them. As a result, the leaves of the plant turn yellow, fade and begin to fall off. Therefore, the appearance of such allies in the garden poses a serious threat to the crop.

How to protect cabbage

Chemical and folk remedies will help get rid of ants on cabbage. Or you can use a shovel to dig and take out the anthill, together with its inhabitants, to a place remote from the garden.

Folk remedies

How to save cabbage from ants using folk remedies:

1. Tansy, wormwood, anise or mint - a fragrance that all these plants emit, repels insects. It is enough to simply spread the branches of herbs in the presence of pests. From these plants infusions are also prepared with which cabbage is sprayed.
2. Garlic has a good deterrent effect. It is planted or laid out by sliced ​​cloves between the beds.
3. If ants eat cabbage, tomato tops will help to drive them out of the garden. It negatively affects insects due to solanine contained in the branches and green fruits of tomatoes. The broth is prepared as follows: 2 kg of chopped stems and leaves of tomato are poured into 5 liters of boiling water and insisted for 2 days. So that the ants leave the garden with cabbage, it is necessary to treat the damaged seedlings with strained infusion.
4. Mustard - Another effective and very affordable remedy against ants on cabbage. It is enough to simply fill up the places of accumulation, as well as the paths of movement of insects with a layer of mustard powder. Its smallest particles penetrate the body and clog the spiracles of pests, which forces them to leave the territory they have chosen.
5. An equally effective way to evict ants from a bed of cabbage is to sprinkle a plot ash, tobacco dust or red pepper.
6. Boric acid or borax - both of these powders are poisonous enough for insects. They are used for cooking lures with sugar or honey. A poisonous treat is laid out between cabbage seedlings, as well as near an anthill.
7. So that ants do not eat up cabbage, many summer residents use potato peeling. They are laid out between the beds, as well as next to ant nest. Starch, which is found in large quantities in potatoes, has a negative effect on insects.Imminent death awaits the dying pest, since the ant organism is not capable of digesting starch.
8. Boiling water is a fairly high-quality way to destroy an anthill. Boiling water is poured directly into the nest of pests. To get rid of guaranteed queen uterus, it is necessary to repeat this procedure. Vegetable oil and kerosene have similar properties.

Chemicals

Chemicals are the most effective way to control pests in the garden. They allow you to get rid of the entire ant family in the shortest possible time thanks to the insecticidal components that make up their composition. Organophosphorus and pyrethroid compounds usually act as active substances, which when insect penetrates the body cause its death. Drugs are in great demand among gardeners: Thunder 2, Ant-eater, Delicia, Muratsid.