Ants on my plum tree...

[lesa]

Why are there so many ants crawling all over my plum tree? There are tons of tiny plums, and the tree looks super healthy- but as of today- it has ants on the leaves and the stems.... Should I be concerned?

 

[thistlebloom]

Do you see any aphids?

 

[lesa]

No, but there were a few lady bugs on the tree- before I stupidly removed their eggs...I haven't seen aphids on anything yet. If the lupines don't have them, it must be early.

 

[Kassaundra]

Everytime I've seen ants swarm a tree there have been aphids.

 

[lesa]

I will put my good eye on it this morning... If there are aphids should I give the tree a good spray with water, to knock them off?

 

[thistlebloom]

That's what I would do Lesa. You can put some Tanglefoot around the trunk to keep crawling insects out of the canopy.
I don't think ants are usually harmful, but they do farm the aphids and protect them from beneficials.

 

[April Manier]

Yup my thought is honeydew.

They are up there eating something froma bug most likely. Look for aphids.

 

[lesa]

Sure enough! Thanks gardening experts! Just the beginning of the aphid attack...Not tons of them, but they are there. Do the ants actually eat the aphids?

 

[The Mama Chicken]

They don't eat the aphids, they eat a sweet goo that the aphids secrete, called honeydew, and keep other bugs from eating the aphids.

 

[lesa]

So, I might better get both of them off there?