I planted Monday and noticed the leaves of the pepper plants and strawberry plants have been chewed on.

I was researching various pests and then noticed what I think is the problem today, ANTS all over.
It may be something else but there are definitely ants there.

I sprinkled coffee grounds around the garden. Since I use Kcups I don't have a lot of coffee grounds.

But I saw an ant on one of the strawberry leaves (picture attached)

Any suggestions ?

Go get some food grade diatomaceous earth at the garden center. Sprinkle around the base of the plants when it's DRY outside and not windy. Do not breath in any of the dust as it is bad for lungs. Food grade is safe to use in the garden. If it rains you'll have to reapply once the ground dries.

Is there anything less dangerous ? We used to use that in our pool and it was incredibly dangerous to everyone

I think it's more likely that slugs or snails are eating your strawberries. Haven't seen ants chew holes like that. The chewed edges of your peppers look more like grasshoppers or caterpillars. I recommend a little more detective work, early am or at night with a flashlight.

Took a look tonight and found these an annoying pests on the pepper plants. Very possible they are in the strawberries also which are in the same raised bed.

On pepper plant in garden




The caterpillar is on one of the pepper plants which are still in the house

The ants were definitely there earlier

I think you've found the culprits.
If you have only a few plants, handpick the little beasties.
I didn't doubt that you saw ants; I just didn't think they were the source of the damage.

One pic has ants on a strawberry leaf

Ants generally don't harm plants.

I just went out to the yard and picked three or four more snails and a little slug.

They had chewed through the stem of a pepper plant killing it.

They have destroyed all the pepper seedlings I planted on Monday.

I have more pepper plants. But How can I get rid of these pests so I can plant them?

I am considering even digging out all the soil and replenishing if I have to.

I hand pick snails and slugs... they don't move fast enough to escape...
Best time to hunt them is dark thirty.

I wouldn't bother digging out the soil... Snails and slugs like a moist environment... And thanks to an unusually wet Spring, it should not be surprising to see them.

I've never seen ants harm plants either... Matter of fact some plants deliberately attract ants...

When you have a minute... Search extrafloral nectaries.

I just don't want the little critters to ruin the new pepper plants. They destroyed the first planting

Are the plants still there?
The peppers usually come back from this kind of thing if given half a chance...
This spring, some pepper plants were taken out from under the lights and left in those tiny starter pots under direct sun (for a week!) with no watering... I planted anyway... And even the plants that looked dead at time of planting are sending out new growth...
Very tough.

Your plants in picture provided look fine.

stone said: Are the plants still there?
The peppers usually come back from this kind of thing if given half a chance...
This spring, some pepper plants were taken out from under the lights and left in those tiny starter pots under direct sun (for a week!) with no watering... I planted anyway... And even the plants that looked dead at time of planting are sending out new growth...
Very tough.

Your plants in picture provided look fine.

Two pepper plants didn't make it. The snails chewed through the stem.
I have two left in the garden and a few more in the house that I haven't planted yet.

I don't want the new ones to get destroyed

I'm sorry you lost your peppers. Once they get bigger they'll be more resilient. You'll find a plethora of anti-snail measures here and on the web. I so rarely see them here that I've forgotten how I used to control them when I lived in a damper climate.

Many people use garden-grade diatomaceous earth — NOT what you used in your pool, but it still has drawbacks and limitations (like it becomes ineffective when wet). Here is info:

https://www.almanac.com/what-d...
https://www.homesandgardens.co...

Sluggo and Corry's are often discussed as safe and effective. If you use it in limited quantities only where needed, it should kill the snails and spare the earthworms, but like most things, opinions differ.

Changing the soil sounds neither workable nor effective, in my opinion. Whatever you decide, good luck!

Best of luck to you.

Wow that stuff is expensive.

It is raining again so I won't be able to do any planting today.

Gives me a little more time to research

If you don't want to try the D.earth you might place a hand full of sand around the plants , snails and slugs are not to happy with course sand ,crushed eggshells or coffee grounds.
Also try trapping them if you don't want to pick them at night .
I know people who use beer traps (shallow trays of bad beer )
I have used upside down empty grapefruit cups.

NMoasis said:
I didn't doubt that you saw ants; I just didn't think they were the source of the damage.

Since the newest figure of "how many ants are in the world" is 20 quadrillion-

Is pretty likely you've got a few in your veggie patch. But it's unlikely you CAN get rid of them, and further unlikely you would WANT to get rid of them.

science.org said:
Ants are important ecosystem engineers, moving dirt, distributing seeds, and recycling organic matter.
https://www.science.org/conten...

I don't suspect ants. Many bugs could be chomping holes in your plants. Often damage seems so severe when transplants are so small- but when growing well later, they can tolerate more insect damage and be just fine.
Be vigilant, though, and catch serious infestations early!

tvr4 said:
It is raining again so I won't be able to do any planting today.

Gives me a little more time to research

Gives you time to grab a ziplock bag, gloves and your rain hat to go slug and snail wrangling- rainy dusk and dawn are fabulous times to round them up into the zip lock ( or used bread sack or shopping bag and knot it) and toss in the trash.