Fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes from the garden make an excellent snack or addition to soups or sandwiches. Unfortunately for many gardeners, insects enjoy munching on tomatoes as much as people do. Ants rarely bother tomatoes, but if you see damage on your plants, you may suspect them as the culprits. Often, ants only come near tomato plants to milk honeydew from aphids clinging to the leaves. If you don't want ants crawling on your tomatoes, ward them off with sticky tape, scented plants or boiling water.
Grow peppermint, spearmint, catnip or pennyroyal around your tomato plants. Ants dislike the smell of these plants, so they will avoid the tomatoes.
Treat your tomatoes for aphids or fruitworms if you see holes in the fruit. Ants are attracted to aphids, as well as to the holes fruitworms make in the tomatoes. Use Bacillus thuringensis, also called Bt, to get rid of these pests. Spray plants with strong blasts of water to knock off aphids.
Line sheets of cardboard with double-sided tape. Surround your tomato plants with the cardboard. When ants crawl toward the plants, they get stuck to the tape.
Spread cucumber peels around tomato plants. Ants dislike the smell and taste of cucumber peels.
Spray tomato plants with garlic water to ward off ants. To make the garlic spray, combine 2 tablespoons of mineral oil with 3 ounces of finely minced garlic. Let the garlic soak for one day. Remove the garlic. Add 1 pint of water and 1 ounce of liquid dish soap; mix well. To use, dilute the mixture in another pint of water. Coat the entire plant with the spray.
Pour boiling water on ant hills to kill them quickly. Avoid pouring boiling water directly on your tomatoes.
Sprinkle cinnamon, bone meal, talcum powder or cayenne pepper around the tomato plants. Ants find these textures and scents unpleasant.
Things You Will Need
- Spearmint, pennyroyal, catnip or peppermint plants
- Bacillus thuringensis bacteria
- Double-sided tape
- Cucumber peels
- Minced garlic
- Mineral oil
- Liquid dish soap
- Spray bottle
- Cayenne pepper, bone meal, talcum powder or cinnammon
- If you see lots of ants around your plants, always check for the presence of other pests.
- Do not plant any form of mint directly in the ground around your tomatoes -- mints are rampant growers and spread through their underground root systems. Use potted plants or sink pots to their rims in the soil near your tomatoes.
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