Last year my artichokes were ruined by hordes of ants. I've been watching my artichokes carefully this year (they look great, with lots of healthy-looking chokes) and everything has been fine until this morning, when I found a trail of ants going up my biggest plant. I rinsed them off the plant, but that's not going to be a permanent deterrent. What can I do to keep the ants out of my artichokes? I don't use chemicals in my garden. Would a physical barrier of some type work? Is there a safe, natural ant repellant I can sprinkle on or near the plants?
ants on my artichokes
The problem may be originating with aphids...where they are, ants will follow. This article may help:
http://www.suite101.com/print_article.cfm/california_gardening/71391
Yuska