Success with Parasitic Wasps?

[hottoddy]

All of my seedlings are inside my house in an extra room. Per usual, I have a light aphid problem this time of year - which is manageable but time consuming. I have access to parasitic wasps from an organic farm I'm working with on peppers this season. They are using them on their indoor hydroponics, apparently with some success.
 
I have placed a few leaves loaded with their eggs (dead aphid bodies) in the garage for my overwinters. I don't want them in the house, but plan to loose them on the seedlings in about a month when I move them to the greenhouse. Has anyone used these with success? Usually, I don't much of problem with pests after getting plants outside but hope they work well in the greenhouse. I love the idea of those wasps painfully killing 200 aphids each. Go nature!

 

[moruga welder]

did you microwave your soil before planting ?  soil is the only place i can think of where the aphids would come from . freezing and snowy here in central illinois don't see any outside . has to be eggs in the soil .  

 

[hottoddy]

did you microwave your soil before planting ?  soil is the only place i can think of where the aphids would come from . freezing and snowy here in central illinois don't see any outside . has to be eggs in the soil .  

 
You could be right, but I have tried baking the soil in the past to no avail. I don't bother anymore. For about 10 years, no matter what, I get some aphids during the seedling stage. I swear it seems they float in on dust motes. They are usually light and fairly easy to control but time consuming. No matter how much I treat, they always come back until the plants go outside in May and natural predation takes over. I don't think I've ever had an aphid issue after June. Overall, I just consider it part of the process and don't sweat a few aphids here and there. It will be interesting to see if the wasps help out next month in the greenhouse.

 

[moruga welder]

i  hope the wasps work out for ya , those damn aphids are quite the pain , they can get thick around here from the nearby corn / bean fields , but not till later in the summer . good luck my friend !   

 

[Plantguy76]

Good luck with the wasp I hope to attract them with daisys and other good bugs with the flowers I am going to plant.
In my case I want them to fight the tomato/pepper horn worms .

 

[geeme]

I usually get ladybugs for aphids and, yes, release them in my house if it's too snowy for the chile plants outside. They're amusing to watch. Only thing is that you have to be ready to feed whatever you get once the aphids are gone. I give ladybugs cotton balls soaked in both plain water and a mix of water and agave nectar. They last longer that way, but I have yet to have them last until it's warm outside here. 
Note also that aphids can lay their eggs in the cells of plants, such as in the stems and roots, so soil isn't the only means of transport. 

 

[Plantguy76]

the Asian lady bugs come in to moms house in the fall to hibernate they introduce them into our area some years back so this is now the norm there more aggressive than the native ones