Ladybugs

ev3rfr3sh said:

whoa...wait, off topic but, are you polish? my wife is.

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im only a small part polish.

polish women are really hot, congrats.

I hear ladybugs are great for spider mites and aphids

Just found a few spider mites on my ladies the other day so I sprayed some neem and got 1500 llady bugs today for $10 (only amount they sold). I used only 50 in my 4x2x8 so I was wondering if anyone knew how long I can store them for? I know they go in the fridge but can I freeze them?

They difently love the spider mites. Right when I put the lady bugs in they started munchin and humpin each other haha. Im gonna take some pics and post them in my thread.

Couple tips for using lady bugs:

Make sure you lights are sealed or seal them completely (I used aluminum screen and wire to seal my open metal halides).

Before setting them free spray them down sugary soda to "glue" their wings preventing them from flying around. This is not animal abuse. This is also not cecessary just helps keep them on the plants.

Make sure that the lights in area OUTSIDE your grow area are off when entering to prevent the lady bugs from flying out since they are attracted to light.

When LB are released from dormancy, they are only interested in mating, not eating. That's why they flt into the light. They are trying to fly away into the sunlight to go and look for a mate, and get killed by the light. That's why the population always drops waaay down or disapears in a few days indoors.

Thats good to know. I got another 1400 tto keep adding if the population declines

i read on a website that the ones bought at the stores usually havent come out of dormancy correctly. when they harvest them, theyre supposed to put them in a fridge and gradually 'take them out of winter'. most places dont do this, and just throw them in the jugs or whatever. then when they get to the store, they throw them in the fridge. this throws off their cycles somehow and stops them from producing eggs. they will still mate though.

so basically once they fly off, theyre gone. ive also heard that they like to hang out where they were born. they consider it a 'home base'. theyll fly around to other places, but come back at night. if u get ladybugs that lay eggs, the babies will most likely hang out more than the original adults did.

When you get tired seeing of those ladybugs, get some praying mantises in there.

wheezer said:

When LB are released from dormancy, they are only interested in mating, not eating. That's why they flt into the light. They are trying to fly away into the sunlight to go and look for a mate, and get killed by the light. That's why the population always drops waaay down or disapears in a few days indoors.

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Amen. I used to use A-1 Unique and get gallon bags and release them into 2 garage size rooms. They'd help some what but lots of dead ones in a week. When they hatch, they look nothing like lady bugs but that's when they tear shit up, as far as aphids go. Not so sure about red spider mites? Didn't have that prob back then.

Plus indoor they get fried or get sucked into vents/ac. Even if you screen them, they get stuck to screen, and end up dying. Shop vac time after a week...

KidCreole said:

i am an indoor myself and last yea i had a BAD ladybug prob. strangest thing i'd ever seen! they were everywhere for no apparent reason! I was muttering curses and smashing every one i saw! Now i gotta do good so i can get them back this year! lol i hope i didnt get bad Karma offa this

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Karma's a bitch!! I'll help out if you wanna do a good deed and send me a jar or 2!! Only for Karmas sake, of course!! LOL

We get them "bad" at my parents house, especially in the window ledges in the vaulted ceiling. They'll call me when the see 'em, and I'm over there with an extention Ladder collecting them in jars. dad thinks I'm nuts. If he only knew.....