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misc Are Ladybugs good for Pepper Plants??

POTAWIE said:
I was tempted to purchase ladybug larve this time but adults seemed more ecomical.

I'll try to get a pic when I release them
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where are you getting bugs from ???
we buy them every year now as security as we had aphids in the past and they were not our aphids but from plugs we ordered in.
to anyone that has an aphid problem ladybugs are the answer.
them little buggers eat aphids like a fat kid at mcdonalds eating chicken nuggets.
 
Hooray for the red team, go eat aphids for lunch! Potowie your plants are so green and lush in the middle of winter in Canada, make me wonder if you'd grow redwood trees if you lived anywhere tropical. Beautiful plants and pic with the ladybugs.
 
Why's everyone calling me Potowie lately? ;)lol. I wish all my plants were that lush and green, but unfortunaly its just the good ones that I photograph.
Here's a pic of some valentines day lovin'

 
Ha ha! A nice pic for the single people. How come the ladybirds don't fly off to find other plants? What if they decided to nest on your neighbours plants? I don't call you Potowie BTW, but it's better than being called rainbowbeery like I have been before.
 
My ladybugs are indoors/greenhouse only. Outdoors there is something you can spray on them so they won't fly, but I can't remember what it is. You can also buy or make ladybug food to keep them around once the aphids are gone.
 
POTAWIE said:
Outdoors there is something you can spray on them so they won't fly, but I can't remember what it is.
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Seems I remember reading if you spray them with a soap solution it glues their wings down and they can't fly....
 
AlabamaJack said:
Seems I remember reading if you spray them with a soap solution it glues their wings down and they can't fly....
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Spray them with a little Coke (syrup based drink) is what I've heard, but I'd feel bad that they couldn't fly away:)

Ladybugs are the best aphid eaters!!!

ladybugs.jpg
 
GrumpyBear said:
so are they gonna make ladybabies or do they send you special sterile ones so you have to keep buying new ones?
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They'll make plenty of babies. I released ladybugs several times when I first moved here, but I haven't needed to for the last few seasons.

I will say that I've very careful about spraying with any kind of insecticide because they kill the good bugs, like ladybugs, as well as the bad ones. By late summer I hate to spray at all because there are so many bad bug predators in the garden. I hand pick bugs like the stink bugs to avoid killing the lizards, toads, garter snakes, ladybugs, assassin bugs*, etc.

*As long as they stay in the vegetable garden and away from the monarch caterpillars.
 
Cool, because a lot of times they don't breed and are somewhat inactive in the winter. And I saw your snow pictures...boy howdy do you still have winter!
 
Here's a pic I took of ladybug eggs, larvae and even some aphids. The eggs are more yellow than the pic shows. I just wish there was an adult ladybug in the pic, and I had macro lens.
 
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