Who'da thunk it? Ladybirds at the local nursery

Went to my local nursery (TLC) for some benificial nematodes and learned tha they also carry ladybirds (lady bugs). $7.99 for a bag of 1750.

May have to give them a try next year. Looks like they may also carry Predatory Mites too but, they didn't have stock at the time I was there.

It's too late for these now but, for next year it's definitely worth keeping in mind and trying them out.

The ladybugs naturally found my hops this year.

McKBrew said:

The ladybugs naturally found my hops this year.

Click to expand...

That's great!

For me, the two spotted spider mites "naturally" found my Golding and my Tradition. Was able to fight those off with the wtare hose and a nicotine spray but the plants did suffer.

Now, white grubs have "naturally" found my plot. Hopefully, a generous application of BN's will take care of those.The box says it's good for 2000 square foot and 2 years. My plot is barely 200 square foot so, I think the concentration will be more than adequate.

We were having mite problems around our place, and the sister in law, who lives next door, released a bunch of ladybugs one evening, and I have not seen a mite since...

PWNED...

wait what? lady bugs protect plants? I am not much of a gardner and have only know lady bugs to collect in corners and heard they stink when squished. My hop plant got eating big time by catepillars this year. Wasn't too worried wince it was a first year plant and only had 7 cones. Will lady bugs fight catepillars or no? I was wanting to protect them next year somehow

From Wikipedia
Coccinellids(ladybugs) are generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. The Mall of America, for instance, releases thousands of ladybugs into its indoor park as a natural means of pest control for its gardens[2]. Some people consider seeing them or having them land on one's body to be a sign of good luck to come, and that killing them presages bad luck. A few species are pests in North America and Europe.

The way that I understand it, they are evening feeders, and do not like to fly around at night, so the best thing to do is release them at dusk, in a problem area, which increases the likelihood that they will stay in that area and eliminate your problem.

Ladybugs rock!!! I also had caterpillars this year on my hops and had to squish them to control them. I know that tobacco is harmful to "hops cousin", so I would watch any homemade deterrents with nicotine in them. I don't know if it is the nicotine that hurts them or not, I just used to have friends that grew other stuff and they were always telling me that smoking cigarettes and touching the plants was bad.

One good home made solution is to use hot peppers, and make a tea from them, and then spray that on the plants. The bugs don't like a mouth full of jalapeno any more than most humans do.

I don't know where they hang out most of the year, but my attic is full of ladybugs in the winter. There's this big, red, bug-eater bird that tries to rip the grills off of the vents. Makes a lot of noise, but hasn't pulled one loose yet.