Ants and Okra

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice/solution to something I noticed yesterday while in the family garden.  We planted okra for the first time and it had a bit of a rough start, but is taking off now.  I noticed yesterday that one of the plants had a swarm of black ants across the pods and one of the leaves.  I don't recall any noticeable damage to the plant, however I am concerned.  I have no experience in growing and nurturing okra.  Are the ants/aphids damaging the plant? Is this something I should be worried about.  I reviewed a handful of sites online which states that the ants are attracted to the honeydew the aphids give off.  


John

John Kompa wrote:Hi all,

I'm looking for advice/solution to something I noticed yesterday while in the family garden.  We planted okra for the first time and it had a bit of a rough start, but is taking off now.  I noticed yesterday that one of the plants had a swarm of black ants across the pods and one of the leaves.  I don't recall any noticeable damage to the plant, however I am concerned.  I have no experience in growing and nurturing okra.  Are the ants/aphids damaging the plant? Is this something I should be worried about.  I reviewed a handful of sites online which states that the ants are attracted to the honeydew the aphids give off.  


John

without a picture you probably have aphids, hose them off and the ants should retreat they ants wont damage the plant but aphids will. cheers.

Perric Falcon wrote:

without a picture you probably have aphids, hose them off and the ants should retreat they ants wont damage the plant but aphids will. cheers.

Trying to post again from iPhone. I’ve noticed little black dots under the leaves near the infested pods.  Photos are now attached.

Oh yes, that's aphids John! How did you get on in the end?

The trouble with ants is that they protect the aphids from predators as well as harvesting the honeydew, so I'm not sure how my favourite 'do nothing' approach works in those circumstances.

Nancy beat me to it!  Ants farming aphids!

https://permies.com/t/24890/Podcast-Discussion-Ants-Aphids-Fruit

https://permies.com/t/141782/Farming-ants-aphids

Good Evening and thank you so much Nancy and Anne!  That photo was from when I lived in New York, but now I live in Nevada.  My problem now is that I can't get my okra to grow out from the seedling stage because the native soil.  I'll be amending the soil this weekend so hopefully I can still get a good harvest by end of season.

You might find Dr Bryant Redhawk's Soil Series beneficial for building soil health:

https://permies.com/wiki/redhawk-soil

Some reading:

https://permies.com/t/63914/Soil

https://permies.com/t/76498/biology-soil