ladybug help needed

I've looked at sites that have ladybug houses and I can make one of those. But is there a good way anyone knows of to attract them into the garden? I accidentally found out how to attract bees -- let your broccoli go to flower!

Any suggestions? I know I can order ladybug pheromone but I'd rather not. It seems like cheating. I'd much rather put in flowers they like.

Thanks!

Found this here: http://www.agric.gov.mt/articledetail.asp?i=30&c=9

Grow pollen and vector flowers (angelica, dill); grow grains and allow weeds (dandelion, wild carrot, yarrow). Wheast is a combination of whey and yeast that can be sprayed on plants to attract lady beetles (wheast is an artificial diet). Protect egg clusters, larvae, and pupae on plants. To conserve lady beetles, use only selective pesticides.

X

Thank you, X! I've been weeding and leaving all the dandelions I can (I read they do NOT harm any other plants but do aerate the soil) and I have some dill seed to sow. I appreciate the link.

Ann

Try purchasing ladybugs from your local garden center or order them through the internet. Just be prepared for them to try to come indoors when cold weather hits. They like to nest in the crevices of your house, expecially if its brick. If they do come inside, don't kill them, just open the window and toss them.

I had a lot of lady bugs last year. They were everywhere. Beautiful red ones. Just the other day, for the first time since it warmed up, I went into the "little building" out back where hubby does his carpentry, etc. There, by the window, were about 30 dead YELLOW lady bugs. I felt like crying. I'm hoping my little red ladies come back this year.

Janet

i've talked to people who've ordered them and turned them loose in the garden. the problem is that they don't stay. once they've eaten whatever there is to eat, they're gone. the best way (imho) is to plant butterfly weed (which will attract aphids) and then you will have ladybugs.

Reverse garden logic! I love it!

Never try to bring home ladybugs in a coffee cup. I went to a friend's house and their ros e bush was just loaded and I mean loaded with hundred s of ladybugs. I aske d if I coudl have some for my yard. friend said sure, help myself. Only thign I had with me was my big to go coffee cup from the specturum store. I took the lid off, kept filling it full of lady bugs and then put the lid on.

I drove hoem with big smile on my face, so excite d was gonna have more beneficials for my yard. I get home and pick up coffee cup that had riding on floor board . I tromp back to garden and get ready to realse the ladies and instea d of my smile, I now had shocke d look. Not oen lady bug was left in the cup.

I had forgotten about the little hole wher e you sip from and all them lady bugs got loos e in my van. When I trie d to find them to let loose , I only foudn a few. Ha d no ide a wher e the other one s had went and hid. My van broke and sat in yard and one day when temps was getting cool, went out to old van for tools and opene d door and her e in all the cracks around the door the whoel thing was frame d with the missign lady bugs. trippe d me out.

I starte d scooping them in my shirt and ran them aroudn the yard depositing some her e and there. Hopefully soem have decide d to make here home and not fly of fto my my neighbors yard.

trackinsand is right. Ya gott a have aphids if you want to keep them around. Kinda of crazy it a to have aphids or not to have aphid situation.

Ladybugs and other beneficial predators like lacewings need to have a source of nectar and pollen as well as aphids. If you don't have the flowers they need, after they eat their fill of aphids they will fly away. You can get around this a little bit by spraying the plants with Good Bug Chow or similar preparations to fill out their diets.

Good Bug Chow? Do I need to google that?

There's a recipe at the bottom of this page and a listing of the plants that attract each type of insect:
http://www.ghorganics.com/Beneficialinsect.html

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply also sells a commercial mix as well.

I sprayed this on all my garden plants when I released the ladybugs and lacewings. Quite a few stuck around. I certainly saw a lot of ladybug larvae.

garden_mermaid, could you just come live with me? I'll make you cookies...

I'm printing out that recipe now. I didn't realize assassin bugs were beneficial. I'm trying to educate myself to all these things. I got bitten by an assassin bug (nymph stage) a few years ago. Those little guys hurt!

Those aphids just won't quit. I smashed a ton of them just this morning. My rainbow knock out and scepter'd isle seem to be particularly vulnerable. And I had just sprayed them with a soap mix. I don't want to spray them again; I'm afraid I'll get enough soap on them to smother them or something. I'll brew up some of this bug chow and go buy some ladybugs, I guess. Couldn't hurt.

WHOA There Nelly!!!! Don't be smashing the aphids if you want to attract the ladybugs. That is there source of food!! Yeah, they're ugly. They are all over my milkweed plants. I try to ignore them. God put them there for SOME reason.

Janet

Excuse me? I should just let them suck the life out of my roses??? With the number I have, I could smash them all day long and still have enough for Thanksgiving dinner for a gazillion ladybugs. I'm sure God had her reasons for black spot, too.

Well, I guess aphids aren't for everybody. The only place I've seen them is on my milkweed plants.

I only have a small rose bush and I haven't noticed any on it. Maybe I should go take a look. (sheepish look here). It's in a waybigo clay pot and I don't remember seeing any on it last year. I did see the "wooly" bugs, both on the rose bush and on the Althea Tree last year. When HD had a clearance sale last year, I stocked up on Insecticidal soap.

I don't know what black spot is. I had black sooty mold on one of my trees last year. Everything in that island had disgusting black mold on it. Is that the same thing as black spot?

I get a lot of assassin bugs in my yard also. Haven't seen but a couple of those so far. My yard is overrun with anole lizards (Yeah!) I am supposing that the lizards are eating the assassins, although last year that wasn't the case.

Janet

Janet ~ the Senecio you sent was sitting in the window by the computer and every time I looked at it I was seeing black specks. I would brush them off thinking it was soil that spattered on the leaves. One morning, when I was more lucid, I noticed the spots were mainly on the new growth. Guess what I had? Aphids! Being a smaller plant, I kept them rubbed off with my fingers.
I have noticed some years are worse for one bug (and weed) than other years. Three years ago the aphids stayed mainly on the new growth on my Hoya plants. As the bees stayed around the blooms too, I didn't want to spray so tried to keep them rubbed off. It was a morning/evening effort but did work.
I hope this isn't an omen for the gardening year ahead... pod

It looks great Pod! I need to take a look at mine to see if there are aphids on it too.

They'll only be on the new growth. It does look great! Thank you again... pod

A few aphids can be ignored or just knocked off, but when they are sucking the life out of the plant, that's another story. Balance must be restored.

Large numbers of aphids usually indicate an soil/plant nutrient imbalance. Usually it's an excess of nitrogen.
If that's the case, watering the plant with a small amount of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) will help knock out the excess nitrogen. I'd start with 1/2 teaspoon in two gallons of water over a 50 sq ft area (you can mix up a smaller batch if needed) and then watch the plant. If you put too much on, the plant will start to show yellowing from nitrogen deficiency, so it's best to start slowly with the weaker solution.

If it's recently tilled soil, using a soil innoculant and a little molasses to feed the microbes may be all you need to give the plant a boost and make it less attractive to the aphids.

Thanks for the invitation brigidlilly. You bake the cookies, I'll make the gingered lemon verbena scones. Tea party in your herb garden with my DH playing Jeeves.

And we'll look so lovely in our hats!

Thanks for the pointers, g_m. I was just about to make some alfalfa tea for them, but maybe I'll hold off. The aphids aren't on all the roses, but they sure seem to love knock outs, which surprised me. They're the main ones blooming out back. Should I use ES or grind up some banana peels and sprinkle them around? Both? Though salty bananas seem a little disgusting. I don't know. I think this may be why people resort to things like Bayer 3 in 1 -- eradicates everything! (Including the plants, eventually...)

Janet, when I reread my post above it seemed to me like I was yelling, and I certainly didn't mean to. I agree with you about letting Nature do it! I just have SO many of these little buggers. But I do apologize if that jumped out more than I meant it to.

I may try buying ladybugs again, just in case a few will stick around. My yard is the place to be if you have your jaw set for aphids.

I don't know about the banana peel part. Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate. They have a bitter taste rather than a salty taste. If banana peels have worked for you in the past, go for it. Dr. Bronner's soap makes a good insecticidal spray too.

Instead of springing for more Safer soap, which I think is dreadfully expensive, I've been using Dr. B's and it seems to work just as well. I just hate to think I'm inadvertently killing ladybugs in whatever stage by spraying the aphids. I see a lot, but not everything. I'm only spraying when the aphids are overwhelming.

Well, if the aphid infestation is larger than the ladies and their little dragons can handle, I guess I'd try to move the ladies out of the way before spraying. That could make for an interesting garden exercise. :)

I finally saw a ladybug!!! Granted, it was on the weeping willow sapling out front, but hopefully it laid some eggs in the rose garden. Hooray!