I planted a garden this year, and I have ants infesting my cilantro plant.. Is this common?
Question:They arent on any other plant of mine,and if I am not mistaken. It looks like there are eggs on it? Are ants drawn to these herbs?
Answers:
My own experience (35+ years) with ants in the herb or kitchen garden is that they are after other insects, usually aphids, that are literally sucking the plants dry. The "eggs" you are seeing are probably aphids. You will be able to tell if the leaves of the plant are very sticky (I've had my hair stick to the leaves due to aphids).
You could use herbicides, but then you would not be able to ingest the herbs for approx. 30 days. Or, you could just leave the ants alone to do their job. When you are harvesting the leaves, be sure to wash them well to remove the asphids and the sticky residual.
Ants are annoying but don't damage plants too often, unless they have built a huge nest that is disturbing the roots. You can dump your morning coffee grounds on the soil of the cilantro plant, and if you have any mint growing in your garden, chop some of that up and throw that on there for good measure. Ants hate both of those things. I don't know that cilantro is often a target for aphids but it could be aphids I guess...a daily blast of water will knock both aphids and ants off the plant and discourage their return. Ants are actually helpers of aphids, btw.they take care of them and milk them like cows! Aphids are definitely bad for plants, they suck the life out of them. Don't use chemicals though...a blast of water is best, every day.
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