Oh the ants.... Borax and sugar could help and making sure that the plants are well-watered. Water-stress is what makes them vulnerable to aphid attack.
Your mystery plants: yes, time will tell. Our gooseberries are furrier than that but it could be. As for the damaged plant - rub the leaves gently between your fingers. If you notice a turpentine smell on your fingers, it's bugweed, a highly invasive nuisance. I don't know if you get bugweed over there but that's what it looks like to me
We tried something like that last year: we used bicarbonate aka baking soda and sugar. (Isn't borax the same thing???)
They simply refused to pay attention to it. I think in the end it was a whole lot of lemon juice that scared them away. But I already tried that this year. It worked for a day, and then they were all back.
I did just find a step-by-stem wikihow, though. I'll give it a try tomorrow.
I didn't know that. I did know that plants are more vulnerable to aphid attacks if they're under or over fertilized. Guess I didn't think any further, lol. Water-stress makes pla,nts weak too, so it's only normal that that's a factor too.
I must admit I'm already having a hard time to keep the plants watered well, bot inside and outside the greenhouse. It rained like an hour in the last 4 weeks, which is definitely extraordinary in our little country. The sun shining like it is mid summer doesn't really help. I water everything in the morning, and a couple of hours later, the soil is dried out again already.
Norrmally I have an irrigation system in the greenhouse, but we took it down last year. We still need to set it up again. Who would have thought we would need it before July 😂
I've also been thinking about digging in some bottles in the raised beds, so it's not only the surface that gets water, but also the lower regions. I tried that before a couple of times, but for some reason, the bottles always become clogged up pretty soon. Still need to take time to search the web to do it properly so That won't happen again.
Thanks for the tip on the bugweed. I tried looking it up, but it seems we don't even have a Dutch word for it. I came across some recent studies that mentioned that it's growing here now, though....
Borax is not baking soda it's used as a household cleaner😀 I have used it and the ants definitely like it. Mix in these ratios: 1/2 C sugar, 1 1/2 Tbsp Borax, and 1.5 C warm water. I took little plastic takeaway sauce containers, punched holes about halfway up the sides and then filled the bowls with the mixture to just under the holes and put the lids back and placed them in strategic spots. It's not an immediate fix but it definitely gets rid of them.
My climate is so hot and dry I could not even consider raised beds or unlined wooden box gardening. In fact, I use tons of mulch to try and keep the water in the soil.
You'll know for sure if it's bugweed - Solanum mauritianum - by the smell if you crush a leaf
Thanks fro the tips!! 👍