HELP! I have had an ant colony take up residence in my grow bed !

[Bob Vento]

Recently, I have discovered an ant colony has take up residence in my grow bed !
They are eating my plants and causing a lot of destruction to my peppers and tomato plants.
Has anyone else had this problem? Can't figure out how they got there. They seem to be residing in my oregano plant, which I would hate to have to pull since in has been doing awesome.

How can I eliminate them without contaminating my fill & drain grow bed system and poisoning the tilapia in my fish tank? 

Any and all suggestions are welcomed. Please help!

[Johann Cherry]

Try this... http://www.coulsonaquaponics.com/2012/04/got-bugs-check-out-these-o...

[George]

ant are possibly being attracted by aphds

You can knock them off with a hard spray of water, repeating as necessary.

If ants are in the gravel, flood the gravel to the top

[Randy Mann]

Pull the plant....clean the ants out with hose....replant

[Rob Nash]

use granular Spinosad product called "Come and Get It" ..you can add it on the media... don't let it touch any water.. they should be gone in a few days.

[Alex Veidel]

Wait, have they actually "taken up residence" i.e. started burrowing through your media, creating a nest, and the like? Or are they just raiding your produce?

[john vosseller]

I found a product called Essentria IC3. It is organic and OMRI approved. I of course WOULDN'T expose my fish to it, but I do use it around the perimeter of my greenhouse to keep ants at bay.

[Devoid]

If they're after aphids then I'd let loose lady bugs

[Bob Vento]

Seems they have taken up residence because I see them carrying eggs.

Released ladybugs before and they just flew away as did the money I spent for them.

I have flooded the bed to the top and then drained it outside the bed but didn't know how long to leave the bed flooded?

[Alex Veidel]

Well, I would figure out whether or not they are actually in your growbed. Watch them carefully and see where they're coming from. Oh, and I'll bet you ten to one that those "eggs" are actually ant pupae :)

[Keith Rowan]

flood the bed for 10 minutes to see if you have lots of floating ants.vaseline around the legs of the growbed stands works, but has to be reapplied occasionally

when using ladybugs..

when you get your ladybugs, put them in the fridge...

in the early evening (just before sunset) give your plants a watering, so that there is some moisture on the leaves..

after it's dark, release some of the ladybugs (put the rest back in the fridge) - the first think they'll want will be water.. having the plants wet helps keep them there at least overnight.. in the morning a few may leave but there will be hungry bugs, and they'll go right to work.. pretty soon you'll see small clusters of yellow eggs under leaves.. then you'll see the ladybug larvae..

release more every week or two.. and follow the same procedure.. if you have bad bugs, enough good bugs will stick around if you prep the area

[Bob Vento]

Thanks for the awesome suggestions and information Keith, I appreciate it.

Keith Rowan said:

flood the bed for 10 minutes to see if you have lots of floating ants.vaseline around the legs of the growbed stands works, but has to be reapplied occasionally

when using ladybugs..

when you get your ladybugs, put them in the fridge...

in the early evening (just before sunset) give your plants a watering, so that there is some moisture on the leaves..

after it's dark, release some of the ladybugs (put the rest back in the fridge) - the first think they'll want will be water.. having the plants wet helps keep them there at least overnight.. in the morning a few may leave but there will be hungry bugs, and they'll go right to work.. pretty soon you'll see small clusters of yellow eggs under leaves.. then you'll see the ladybug larvae..

release more every week or two.. and follow the same procedure.. if you have bad bugs, enough good bugs will stick around if you prep the area