Diatomaceous earth powder and black ant's

[MikeRuth]

Good day folks, I am a realitive new Vegitble gardnewr with about a years experience now. I'm in zone 10A north of Los Angels.

One of my issues has been black ants infitrating Sweet corn and this year Artichoke plants. I read up on using diatomaceous earth powder (DE) and it seemed as though this was a good product to get rid of them. Well I started out simply dusting as discribed and saw literally no difference in several weeks of use.
Then I decided to try placing the powder on the base of the plants and on some of the stems that ants were literally running a train.
nadda, nothing no change. Am I missing something here?

My next attempt is to use Boric Acid mixed with sugar and honey, which is claimed to be 100% effective.
Attached a couple pictures. Any suggestions are much welcomed.

 

[Meadowlark]

The ants are likely "farming" aphids on the corn silks. Get rid of the aphids and the ants go elsewhere. I'd probably try fresh Neem Oil.

Another method would be spraying the ants directly with Vinegar/water mix.

 

[DiggersJo]

With Artichokes it will be black aphids attracting the ants, so as @Meadowlark has said get rid of the aphids. I normally spray them off with the hose, but have mixed success. Obviously the aphids are up to no good on there, but their impact on the plant is small. My biggest beef is that they both end up in the produce making it much more difficult to eat!

 

[MikeRuth]

The ants are likely "farming" aphids on the corn silks. Get rid of the aphids and the ants go elsewhere. I'd probably try fresh Neem Oil.

Another method would be spraying the ants directly with Vinegar/water mix.

I would agree with you and the Neem oil is on order.
I like the idea of vinager and water to.