Ants in our plants, and other issues PIP

blue_elle

I'm new to gardening, so I'd love some input!

In the last couple days we've had an ant invasion. They're all over the cilantro and now they're spreading to the bell pepper plants and mint. What can we do to discourage them?

Also, one of our bell peppers has some leaf issues and I have no idea what the problem is. Is it that the plant just isn't thriving, maybe it's crowded? Or is this insect damage? We're careful to water at the soil, not spray the plants. You can see that the leafs have browned at the edges and the lower leaves have yellowed. The two other bell peppers planted right next to it are fine.

 

 

And one more - our cilantro is bolting, which is fine. But the lower leaves that haven't changed over have developed some spottiness. Is this normal or something to be concerned about? 

 

 

Sorry for the poor pictures and thank you for the help!

kastle

I wonder if you have aphids.  Is there any bugs on teh undersides of the leaves (particularly cilantro)?  Those dots looks a bit like aphid damage and ants can be attracted to the "honeydew" secreted by aphids.

blue_elle

I was just reading the same thing last night about the ants, so I'm definitely concerned about the spotting on the cilantro. Unfortunately my work schedule today had me gone from sun-up to sun-down, so I'll check tomorrow when it's light out. I do have some homemade insecticide soap if I see anything.

Any idea about the browning on the bell pepper?

 Thanks!

timmysgal1

how far apart are your plants?  we read online that peppers should be a foot apart to get proper nutrients from the soil. 

If they are very close, you might need to mulch or add topsoil to get them some extra nutrients (organic mulch is not much more expensive than regular if you go to a locally owned nursery). 

Otherwise, I don't know!