just ordered 50 of these to help control greenfly in the poly,been looking around and can't find any ladybirds anywhere, however, my sweet potatoes and peppers are full of the flippin' things, , greenfly, not ladybirds..anyway, what the hell, ordered, anyone used them ?
I ordered some ladybirds a few years ago, opened up the tub, poured them out, and watched the fly away! You should have more luck with their wingless kiddies, and in a GH!
Sounds like a good idea. Where do you get them from?
it's a myth. I've never seen a ladybird ever eat a blackfly. They're either sunning themselves on a leaf, or else they're erm procreating
Quote from: grawrc on June 09, 2008, 14:03:27
Sounds like a good idea. Where do you get them from?
jon@greengardener.co.uk
googled for it ;D
Quote from: Rhubarb Thrasher on June 09, 2008, 14:35:37
it's a myth. I've never seen a ladybird ever eat a blackfly. They're either sunning themselves on a leaf, or else they're erm procreating
have you never put a ladybird on a pepper plant full of greenfly ?
I have and it's very satisfying watching them munch ;D
and these are the larvae :)
I put one next to a load of blackfly on the stem of a parsnip leaf ??? yesterday. Wasn't interested
must've been too full of greenfly ;D
or they don't like being watched eh!
Well, there is the old saying, "A watched Ladybird never eats"...
I was watching the larvae on a friend's broad beans today and they were hoovering the blackfly up. I think she has all the larvae on our site - I've never seen them on my plot :(
I use them for aphid control all the time but have never bought any. Once ladybirds get established on broad beans it takes 7-10 days for them to clean up an infested crop so it pays to start at the first sign of trouble.
Aphids had started to flare up in the polytunnel on my chillis and 2 weeks ago it was hard to find any ladybirds or larvae for some reason but with the warmer weather I now think I have the polytunnel under control.
went around the site again yesterday looking for some, not 1 :(
anyway, the others are due tomorrow, can't have too many ;D
just realised some of the people have been spraying their broadies, maybe they got the ladybirds too >:(
Quote from: OllieC on June 09, 2008, 19:39:42
Well, there is the old saying, "A watched Ladybird never eats"...
you just made that up! Well they've got til Saturday to buck their ideas up, or I take Executive Action on the blackfly front
Yes, I did. :-[ caught, haha! ;D !!
But, more interestingly, I have a picture for you that I guarantee was not tampered with...
(http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g207/Big_Cheesus/ladybird.jpg)
Taken a couple of weeks ago - and I promise I didn't put him there... I suppose he could just be having a chat!
Tony just looked at the pic and said "ours are more interested in sex"
well, don't know what the hell they've sent me..the bottle says adaline b, adalia bipunctata, aphid predators, 50 larvae
there are approx 500 seed like pods in the bottle, it says in the instructions..place a couple of larvae around the plants with aphids..no sign of a larvae anywhere,
I've sprinkled them around under the plants in case they're eggs or lacewing eggs and e mailed the company to ask what I've got, be my luck they're dock seeds ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Just had a look on google and they are ladybirds
I know the name is but these look like seed pods, googled ladybird eggs and they deffo don't look like them ???
bit blurred
I agree when you look at them they certainly don't look like eggs. More like shrivelled up egg cases. I hate being conned
well, I've e mailed him twice, once with the picture, still no reply but just had a newsletter from them !!
so, apparently the larvae are packaged in buckwheat husks and are so small, you can't really see them (sounds like the king's new clothes but what do I know )..if I want to see them, I have to tip the lot onto a white plate, put them somewhere warm and they will crawl about.
since the instructions say to place a couple of larvae on each plant that has greenfly ???
anyway, will spread the rest around tomorrow and see what happens :-\
As said earlier, if you're into predators,start early. But ot too early, or they will starve!
Suppliers like Defenders suggest a buy-in amount to cope with degrees of infestation.