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misc Lady bugs and aphids

Little Minnie

Little Minnie

I have some photos to post and stories about lady bugs- the aphid killers.

First off several years ago I had some trays I had never washed out and they caused an outbreak of aphids in my basement on my pepper seedlings. I tried a bunch of sprays and nothing worked. So I literally ordered and released hundreds of lady bugs into my basement seed starting area. I told hub they were just Asian lady beetles when some would escape around and he never looks at the plants anyway.
When I brought out the plants to harden off the lady bugs went with and into the garden and not in the basement. :)
I have ordered lady bugs now each spring since my lupines get aphids so bad.
This season in the garden I had my peppers and eggplant covered with row cover for weeks. When I finally uncovered them they were unhappy and had aphids. But I also noticed lady bugs so I just sprayed the aphids with some water and waited. 2-3 days later there were baby lady bugs everywhere and no aphids.
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Then they became less obvious until my rutabagas were uncovered and had aphids and then my last bed of corn. The lady bugs mate readily when aphids show up and then they take them out in 2 days. As long as you don't use pesticides. Even organic ones kill lady bugs.
 
Did you ever notice the lady bugs taking off when the weather dropped in the mid to upper 40's?
Thats what happened to me i had a big bunch of lady bugs then some cold weather stuck around and they mostly left.
 
fishing4fun2 said:
Did you ever notice the lady bugs taking off when the weather dropped in the mid to upper 40's?
Thats what happened to me i had a big bunch of lady bugs then some cold weather stuck around and they mostly left.
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Actually when it gets cold out they try to find a warm spot to hypernate. When i use to buy them i use to stick them in the fridge (nuresery recommend it) to slow them down and they almost dont move at all, Than i would spread on the plants and when they warmed up they started moving again.

Also, for aphids, try out azamax, i swear by it and it takes out my aphids when i have them. Its all organic, if you are into organic growing.
 
Anyone have a hook up on lady bugs ? I ordered some from online and 30 mins after I put them out they all died. I have aphids in a very bad way. I seriously have tried everything.
 
MegaSpokaneMan said:
Anyone have a hook up on lady bugs ? I ordered some from online and 30 mins after I put them out they all died. I have aphids in a very bad way. I seriously have tried everything.
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Head to your local nursery, they should have them, if not, i mention it my post above try azamax, its not the cheapest, but it will kill aphids. I have been using it for years to kill my aphid promblems.
 
JHP dang why didn't i think of that "ladybug lure".. dollars to donuts i am going down to wallmart and get me some ladybug lure...if they don't have it i just buy a fishing lure.
I did read somewhere that they like potatoes so i guess i could poke a few on sticks see if it works less my g/f calls 911 again and tells them i am crazy j/k
Not sure how much cold it takes but they flee b4 the bad guys do.
 
ZenPepper said:
I notice my plant with some spider webs on it seem to have less aphids, do spiders eat these little f@&kers?
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Yes, I've seen a few small spiders on my plants that have aphids.

Unfortunately, if you bring them inside the aphids will outbreed any of the predators that you brought in with them. Maybe if you left them uncontrolled long enough the predators would catch up, but I only saw 2 ladybugs and one spider among the hundred or so aphids. Eating well, no doubt, but not much of a control.
 
Planet Natural has been a good source of lady bugs. Territorial was ok but they kept dying in shipment but they did send more until it was fine and they were really nice about it.
I find the lady bugs seem to go up and down and be seen and then disappear, but they always show up when there are aphids.
 
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