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1500 dead ladybugs
- Thread starter KarlJay
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xtrchessreal
New Member
I bought 1500 myself but only released about a 150 of them for my indoor (5 plants in veg, 3 in bloom) I read about the raisins on various sites and water too. I am currently more worried about the ones in the container but I am trying to make this work. I used them against what I believe is a Thrip infestation. The leaves look very similar to the ones in the pictorial on pests and nutrient problems. I see tiny black poop spots around areas that were sucked and nothing underneath the leaves anywhere. I found a few white/yellowish things crawling around my fan leaves on plants that look very unhealthy. Some leaves look completely covered in poop and white scars.
I used one thorough spraying of Safer Yard and Garden and then found more of the Thrips crawling around. This is about a week before releasing ladybugs. I am cautious about using anything dangerous to me or the environment. I am a vegan and a PETA supporter and concerned with environmental issues here in the stupid Weld county of Colorado where Fracking is all around me. No income or I would move to Canada. I digress.
Before releasing the ladybugs I sprayed the plants down heavily to washout any of the Safer stuff so the bugs would not die from insecticide. That was about a week ago now I still have ladybugs in the rooms on the plants and I provide water on a cloth every other day as it dries out. I have a small percent of them dying from the lamp the rest mostly clump together trying to mate and crawl around the pot trays and pot rims and a few I find on the plant leaves everyday.
It sure would be nice to get some pointers from a greenhouse or a certified horticulturalist that has experience using these ladybugs. I am not equipped with good macro photography devices or I would upload some pics of these Thrips and the poop, scars, leaves etc.
Thanks for any advice
X
I used one thorough spraying of Safer Yard and Garden and then found more of the Thrips crawling around. This is about a week before releasing ladybugs. I am cautious about using anything dangerous to me or the environment. I am a vegan and a PETA supporter and concerned with environmental issues here in the stupid Weld county of Colorado where Fracking is all around me. No income or I would move to Canada. I digress.
Before releasing the ladybugs I sprayed the plants down heavily to washout any of the Safer stuff so the bugs would not die from insecticide. That was about a week ago now I still have ladybugs in the rooms on the plants and I provide water on a cloth every other day as it dries out. I have a small percent of them dying from the lamp the rest mostly clump together trying to mate and crawl around the pot trays and pot rims and a few I find on the plant leaves everyday.
It sure would be nice to get some pointers from a greenhouse or a certified horticulturalist that has experience using these ladybugs. I am not equipped with good macro photography devices or I would upload some pics of these Thrips and the poop, scars, leaves etc.
Thanks for any advice
XGeorgeFoster
New Member
I didn't read all the replys but generally lady bugs love aphids, there primary food and easily detected with the naked eye.
The 3 different times I put lady bugs (1500) from the garden store they all died within a week placing them in my indoor set up.
If you are using lady bugs to control spider mites...forget about it.
They thrive nicely amoung my outdoor grows, but generally die off very quickly in the grow room.
If you need bugs to kill bugs look up PREDATOR MITES....they are mites that thrive on spider mites and they eat them like candy....once all the spider mites are dead they eat each other....really amazing bugs.
They ship live and will include spider mites in with them for food source....just sprinkle as directions advise.
The 3 different times I put lady bugs (1500) from the garden store they all died within a week placing them in my indoor set up.
If you are using lady bugs to control spider mites...forget about it.
They thrive nicely amoung my outdoor grows, but generally die off very quickly in the grow room.
If you need bugs to kill bugs look up PREDATOR MITES....they are mites that thrive on spider mites and they eat them like candy....once all the spider mites are dead they eat each other....really amazing bugs.
They ship live and will include spider mites in with them for food source....just sprinkle as directions advise.
xtrchessreal
New Member
Amblyseius S I believe. I just found that from some reading. A mite that eats Whiteflys, Thrips, and Spider mites, in that order of preference.
I was looking up info on ladybugs and found that. For now I am interested in keeping my ladybugs alive as I release them in portions. I read a scholar paper that said a 5-10% of the released ladybugs will actually stick around and by the way I am talking about Hippodamia Convergens as there are around 5000 subspecies of ladybugs worldwide. Honeydew, honey, raisins, sugar in general will keep them alive if no thrips, aphids, mites etc are around. I also found that they can be refrigerated around 40-45 degrees F which slows their metabolism down. The info said they would survive in the refrigerator only a week which makes no sense as I have kept mine in the cold dark area of my basement about 55 degrees F. I place water in the sponge they came with and now I give them a bit of raw blue agave. They are still alive.
I released about 50 more today as many hit the lamp and die, some crawl away in fact 90% will try to exit according the articles I am reading. I mist the plants with plain water and then provide water in the cloth pot fabric, as well as leave a cloth wet with water everyday.
I know the bugs are going to die or exit but I am trying to keep as many as possible focused on my plants. I also don't want to treat them as throw away animals so my methods are to respect the help they bring me and respect life.
X
I was looking up info on ladybugs and found that. For now I am interested in keeping my ladybugs alive as I release them in portions. I read a scholar paper that said a 5-10% of the released ladybugs will actually stick around and by the way I am talking about Hippodamia Convergens as there are around 5000 subspecies of ladybugs worldwide. Honeydew, honey, raisins, sugar in general will keep them alive if no thrips, aphids, mites etc are around. I also found that they can be refrigerated around 40-45 degrees F which slows their metabolism down. The info said they would survive in the refrigerator only a week which makes no sense as I have kept mine in the cold dark area of my basement about 55 degrees F. I place water in the sponge they came with and now I give them a bit of raw blue agave. They are still alive.
I released about 50 more today as many hit the lamp and die, some crawl away in fact 90% will try to exit according the articles I am reading. I mist the plants with plain water and then provide water in the cloth pot fabric, as well as leave a cloth wet with water everyday.
I know the bugs are going to die or exit but I am trying to keep as many as possible focused on my plants. I also don't want to treat them as throw away animals so my methods are to respect the help they bring me and respect life.
X
