I just saw a bunch of tiny black ants on one of my sunflowers and I don't want to use a strong pesticide on anything. Can I use a bit of dish soap and water on the sunflowers, maybe with a bit of alcohol in it? Or would sprinkling some grits in the container be better? They're Italian white and Titan sunflowers.
Need advice on getting rid of Sunflower pests
The ants are probably farming the aphids. Get rid of their food source and the ants should go away. So, spray with soap water daily and treat the ground around the sunflower with dry molasses. The soap water spray will kill the aphids and the dry molasses will take care of the ants.
Thanks. I couldn't see any aphids but then my eyes aren't what they used to be.
Ants HATE talcum powder, especially lavender
scented baby powder.
They walk on it, and the powder sticks to
the suction cups on the bottom of their feet.
That causes them to be unable to have
traction, and prevents them from climbing.
We have indoor pets, so do this when we
have fire ants or sugar ants, and it works
every time !
Very cool, I think I have some baby powder here somewhere. I'll give it a try