[sockmonkey]

My first run of squash either croaked or was so mildewy sick I yanked it up,.

When I pulled it up, I decided to look at the soil..It was full of those red and black wood ants. Wood ants living in the garden..Go figure.

[Marcella]

“My first run of squash either croaked or was so mildewy sick I yanked it up,. When I pulled it up, I decided to look at the soil..It was full of those red and black wood ants. Wood ants living in the garden..Go figure.”

I will never plant any kind of squash again except Tromboncino and it's not going in garden dirt. This kind might survive garden dirt since bugs are supposed to not like it, but I've had it with garden dirt - that stuff has bugs and mold and many other impurities that murder my plants.

I'm giving garden dirt one more chance only. I will try to grow tobacco in it after I grow the plants under the grow lamp next year. Johnny is sending a magnitude of tobacco seeds to me and he and I need them to grow.

[Silentgypsy]

Are those the same as the crazy ants with which we have contended? Diatomaceous earth (food grade) and those little ant bait traps have controlled them fairly well but not completely so far.

[greeneyes]

It’s amazing what one can find in soil, is it not?