Mrs. B, I just let them crawl around. Okra isn't affected by much of anything. If the ants really bother you, take a good look at the stems and the leaf stems. If you see aphids, the ants are "farming" the aphids for nectar. A stiff spray of water from the hose will knock most of the aphids off, and the ants will leave. Or you could use insecticidal soap to kill off the aphids, and the ants will leave.
Correct,,sometimes ants are a good thing. They are usually the run of the mill garden ants. Not the fire ant type.
use DE... diatamaceous earth. non toxic and will nuke every ant bed you sprinkle it on. great for an organic garden. we get ours at Lowe's.
I live in the desert Southwest. Most ants are harmless to plant but there are exceptions. We have ants here that can take out a pepper plant in a day. But, you'll know if you have ants eating your plants because your leaves will be chewed up. If you don't do something, you won't have any leaves on your plant within 24 to 48 hours. So with fire ants and any other ant I see chewing plant matter, I track them to their hole and start pouring boiling water down it. Takes three to four 1 quart pours to get a good sized hill. Obviously you can't do this if the anthill is near plants such as veggies or flowers where you don't want to "cook" the roots. I've also learned the water doesn't have to be boiling just hot enough to kill the ants. I use my coffee maker carafe. The tiny spout is perfect for a small stream. Oh, wear shoes and socks--no bare feet. Then I put diatomacious earth around the base of whatever plants they are attracted to. I don't do a light sprinkle. I go out about an inch from the base of the plant and make sure there's a good coverage all the way around. A teaspoon and a funnel is what I use. You can make a paper funnel if you don't have one. I make sure the powder is in contact with the soil. Move back mulch if you need to. You want the ants to have to walk across it to get to your plant. They'll leave or die trying. Get food grade diatomacious earth at any nursery or big box garden center. The swimming pool stuff wont' work because the pieces are too large and many insects can get around them.
