Get ants under control
Not directly. But if ants are living in the soil around a plant, they can make the plant dry out and need water more frequently. This is because their ant tunnels create air pockets which dry out the soil faster. On the other hand, those same tunnels help to aerate the soil, which is a good thing. If ants are on the foliage of a plant, that’s usually a sign that harmful sucking insects such as aphids or whiteflies are feeding and damaging your plant.
These sucking insects emit a residue called honeydew that is sweet and very attractive to ants. The ants will roam your plant and feed on the sweet honeydew.
Unfortunately, they will do nothing to control the damaging insect. In fact, ants sometimes will move predator insects to fresh parts of the plant to help them create fresh honeydew. At this point, they become partners in crime and should be destroyed. Their criminal status may be determined by interviewing a sampling of suspected ants or catching them red-handed in the act of predator insect transport.
There are several effective methods to control ants, including aerosol sprays and ant baits containing boric acid. You can also place a sticky barrier around the trunks of trees or bushes that are vulnerable to attack. As always, do not use sprays on edible plants unless the sprays are marked for use on edibles.