Ants farming aphids, need help

[PlanDeRaccordement]

I need advice on an eco-friendly and bee-friendly way to stop my garden ants from farming aphids on my camomile. This is the second year I have lost all my seedlings to these ants. They seem to find them no matter where I put the pots outside.

There isn’t one, sorry.
The closest is probably DE in that it’s entirely non toxic but will ultimately kill any insect that touches it.
The only thing I would try is growing the plants indoors until they are mature or buying mature chamomile plants and try that, maybe plant them with nasturtiums as those are a favourite for ants and maybe, hopefully they will use those and not the chamomile

I started having this problem yesterday, only on my courgette and strawberry plants!

I pick off any ants I see and am pouring salt around the plant containers to try and keep numbers down. Apparently it’s good to have some ants as they’re good pollinators but I don’t want my plants decimated by aphids. Maybe keep spraying with water when you notice a badly infested patch?

Thank you both. Will try those ideas out. Have nothing to lose, really as I learned last year that doing nothing will result in the ants and aphids killing the camomile.

I will also start some new ones indoors.

I was having the same problem on my lovely japonica which I bought this year. I read about using neem oil mixed with water and a bit of washing up liquid which seems to have done the trick.

Buy some ladybirds. Ants project the aphid but they still lose often!

I get aphids on my black alder. The tree is small enough and the foliage tough enough that I can crush them by hand (pop!) but otherwise I use soapy water in a hand sprayer.

I am about to lose my runner beans to the ant battle for the second year in a row. I might try salt but if it wasn't a veg bed I'd be trying ant powder!

Washing up liquid diluted in a mist spray might work

Get a bit of kitchen roll and rub it up and down the stems. It kills most of the aphids. Then just keep doing it every few days. It’s a bit gross.