Ladybirds, Ladybugs, Lady Beetles - or whatever your country calls them

iknownothink

iknownothink

Well-Known Member
So has anyone had an success with these friendly little fellows eating the pesky Spider Mites ?

I've been doing some testing / observation of a plant with a small infection of the mites over the last few days and so far they Lady birds don't want a bar of the plants or the mites. The room is a completely sealed room indoors. So far I've caught about 9 Ladybirds, a mix of 3 different coloured looking ones that I've found around the garden outside, a few larger orange ones and a few smaller bright red ones.

So i basically catch the ladybirds, put them on the plant in question and they either hang around on the same leaf I put them on for a few hours, or they just fly off and either hang around the room, or eventually fly out the air conditioner vent... I can even put them a few mm from mites and they just don't seem interested at all. They would rather hang around on the walls rather than chill on the plant with the mites !

So whats the deal ? Have the 9 I've found just not been hungry, or is this a particular mite that they don't eat ?
 
D

draydray

Active Member
i mean they will get hungry right? they munch on aphids mainly but also spider mites and many other bugs aswell! if you leave em long enough im sure they will eat what they have infront of them thats what happened with mine they just weren't in the mood next morning after leaving them in there i could see a decline in my mites :D
 
D

draydray

Active Member
yeah i guess with a room it might be a bit harder to use them since there is more space for them to fly around. if there was maybe some way for you to isolate the plants or something that might be your best bet for ladybugs. the luck i had with ladybugs was the ones i purchased from a local plant store, i also had a tent so that might the only other areas different i can think of.
 
J

Jimmy the vest uk

Well-Known Member
Sanitas Vibrationum said:
Did it many times - they refuse to eat them and then die off withing a week even with water and nectar available in the tents. I had great success with predatory mites though.
I wonder if they was bred in your grow area if they would feel more at home than when they are placed in there from somewhere else.
I bought preying mantis before to try kill off the mite! I didn’t realise they are known for ripping each other to pieces what a spectacle, they was battling on the colas, when you get plagued by mite you will try anything. I tried them predator mites too and didn’t have much luck myself in the end I had to shut down completely
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Sanitas Vibrationum

Sanitas Vibrationum

Active Member
Nothing beats Spinosad if you are desperate. I used it on my buddy's grow - shit just gets job done with 3 applications even late in flower. I believe that fungus breaks down to basic sugars with no residue withing a week and plants are happy to consume them.
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Sanitas Vibrationum said:
Nothing beats Spinosad if you are desperate. I used it on my buddy's grow - shit just gets job done with 3 applications even late in flower. I believe that fungus breaks down to basic sugars with no residue withing a week and plants are happy to consume them.
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Spinosad isn't a fungus. It's a bacteria.
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
iknownothink said:
So has anyone had an success with these friendly little fellows eating the pesky Spider Mites ?

I've been doing some testing / observation of a plant with a small infection of the mites over the last few days and so far they Lady birds don't want a bar of the plants or the mites. The room is a completely sealed room indoors. So far I've caught about 9 Ladybirds, a mix of 3 different coloured looking ones that I've found around the garden outside, a few larger orange ones and a few smaller bright red ones.

So i basically catch the ladybirds, put them on the plant in question and they either hang around on the same leaf I put them on for a few hours, or they just fly off and either hang around the room, or eventually fly out the air conditioner vent... I can even put them a few mm from mites and they just don't seem interested at all. They would rather hang around on the walls rather than chill on the plant with the mites !

So whats the deal ? Have the 9 I've found just not been hungry, or is this a particular mite that they don't eat ?
Click to expand...
I've tried lady bugs indoors and in greenhouses, and as has as already been said, they don't seem at all interested in spider mites and they die quickly indoors. I did try spider mites destroyers once. They're a smaller type of ladybug and they really do live up to their name.
 
Sanitas Vibrationum

Sanitas Vibrationum

Active Member
SchmoeJoe said:
Spinosad isn't a fungus. It's a bacteria.
Click to expand...
Damn, got called out on this one for sure ;) Gotta google shit before posting shit :)

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/spinosadgen.html

also I was way off with a half life, but if you foilar its 24hrs to break it down when mixed with water :)

"Spinosad is broken down rapidly by sunlight. In the presence of sunlight, half-lives on leaves are 2 to 16 days and less than one day in water. When applied to leaves, some spinosad can be absorbed. However, it does not readily spread from leaves to the rest of the plant. In the absence of sunlight, spinosad breaks down very slowly in water. Half-lives of more than 30 days to 259 days have been reported. However, it binds rapidly to sediment. The halflife in sediment, where no oxygen is available, ranges from 161 to 250 days" They mentioned light - I'm curious if UVA/UVB is solely responsible for this "light exposure breakdown" process.

I also dig the smell.
 
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SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Sanitas Vibrationum said:
Damn, got called out on this one for sure ;) Gotta google shit before posting shit :)

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/spinosadgen.html

also I was way off with a half life, but if you foilar its 24hrs to break it down when mixed with water :)

"Spinosad is broken down rapidly by sunlight. In the presence of sunlight, half-lives on leaves are 2 to 16 days and less than one day in water. When applied to leaves, some spinosad can be absorbed. However, it does not readily spread from leaves to the rest of the plant. In the absence of sunlight, spinosad breaks down very slowly in water. Half-lives of more than 30 days to 259 days have been reported. However, it binds rapidly to sediment. The halflife in sediment, where no oxygen is available, ranges from 161 to 250 days" They mentioned light - I'm curious if UVA/UVB is solely responsible for this process.

I also really dig it how it smells
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Yeah, sorry about that one. I didn't want to come off like that but I was in a hurry and couldn't take the time to frame the comment in a less abrasive way.
 
Venus55

Venus55

Well-Known Member
iknownothink said:
So has anyone had an success with these friendly little fellows eating the pesky Spider Mites ?

I've been doing some testing / observation of a plant with a small infection of the mites over the last few days and so far they Lady birds don't want a bar of the plants or the mites. The room is a completely sealed room indoors. So far I've caught about 9 Ladybirds, a mix of 3 different coloured looking ones that I've found around the garden outside, a few larger orange ones and a few smaller bright red ones.

So i basically catch the ladybirds, put them on the plant in question and they either hang around on the same leaf I put them on for a few hours, or they just fly off and either hang around the room, or eventually fly out the air conditioner vent... I can even put them a few mm from mites and they just don't seem interested at all. They would rather hang around on the walls rather than chill on the plant with the mites !

So whats the deal ? Have the 9 I've found just not been hungry, or is this a particular mite that they don't eat ?
Click to expand...
Most lady beetle species prefer aphids as their main diet followed by scale insects. Then there are those that munch only on mealy bugs, powdery mildew etc. If presented with no other choice tho majority will consume mites.
A trick to keep them on your plants for longer is to make a sugar and water spray and lightly spray them before you put them on your plants. It makes their wings sticky therefore stopping them being able to fly away. This will last for maybe 2-3 days before it loses its effect.
Also be careful if you find any that look quite large compared to the usual size because these (26 and 28 spotted lady beetles) feed on plants.
Thought I’d add a pic of one on my girls that stayed on for a few days. Something else I do too is lightly mist the plants so the lady birds can drink;)
CD3C76D2-0E05-4A1E-9FEE-A40936457527.jpeg
 
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BigHornBuds

BigHornBuds

Well-Known Member
Venus55 said:
Most lady beetle species prefer aphids as their main diet followed by scale insects. Then there are those that munch only on mealy bugs, powdery mildew etc. If presented with no other choice tho majority will consume mites.
A trick to keep them on your plants for longer is to make a sugar and water spray and lightly spray them before you put them on your plants. It makes their wings sticky therefore stopping them being able to fly away. This will last for maybe 2-3 days before it loses its effect.
Also be careful if you find any that look quite large compared to the usual size because these (26 and 28 spotted lady beetles) feed on plants.
Thought I’d add a pic of one on my girls that stayed on for a few days. Something else I do too is lightly mist the plants so the lady birds can drink;)
View attachment 4081399
Click to expand...
50% h20 50% sugary pop ( not diet)
Works really well as a glue for the wings

I put them in my flowing room because I like a little diversity in there and they can’t get to heat sources to crawl into n die, (they do that in the veg)
I’ve been toying with the idea of adding mantises, waiting for warmer weather (shipping) then I think I’ll add a few .
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
BigHornBuds said:
50% h20 50% sugary pop ( not diet)
Works really well as a glue for the wings

I put them in my flowing room because I like a little diversity in there and they can’t get to heat sources to crawl into n die, (they do that in the veg)
I’ve been toying with the idea of adding mantises, waiting for warmer weather (shipping) then I think I’ll add a few .
Click to expand...
I don't think that mantises feed on any small enough pests to be helpful. At least not in an indoor garden. Definitely check out spider mites destroyers though. They're expensive but they earn their name.
 
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BigHornBuds

BigHornBuds

Well-Known Member
Not really looking for there pest control abilities, more so diversity, but I’d have to add food to keep them alive, some only eat flying bugs(devil flower is one im interested in)
Seen a HighTimes pic with one on a bud a long time ago, always wanted a few, but I like pets .
I used to grow outside for years , I miss the Suddle spicy flavor of bug shit
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
BigHornBuds said:
Not really looking for there pest control abilities, more so diversity, but I’d have to add food to keep them alive, some only eat flying bugs(devil flower is one im interested in)
Seen a HighTimes pic with one on a bud a long time ago, always wanted a few, but I like pets .
I used to grow outside for years , I miss the Suddle spicy flavor of bug shit
Click to expand...
I remember that article. It was about organic pest control. Under the picture of the praying mantis on a big bud was a caption that said "The appearance of pests like this can spell the demise of your garden". I was really expecting a retraction but instead they reprinted the article with no correction, twice.

Also, if you haven't already seen them, check out orchid mantises. There's one in my avatar pic.
 
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