What did you do in the garden today?

[GardenTillers44]

I'd rather take on all the deer on the block than mess with aphids. Hate the critters. All the natural sprays only work so long then bingo they are back. Corn have them again. Don't have much luck with ladybugs either.

Jeez, don't mention ladybugs, it reminds me that the fall ladybeetle season is coming. We get thousands of the invasive nasties swarming into the house and barns in October. I use a shop vac to suck them up. They stink, bite, stain the walls and furniture with their secretions and make the cats sick when they eat them. Another failed experiment with a foreign biological "solution" to a perceived local problem. Sorry, one of my peeves!

 

[Pensmaster]

Jeez, don't mention ladybugs, it reminds me that the fall ladybeetle season is coming. We get thousands of the invasive nasties swarming into the house and barns in October. I use a shop vac to suck them up. They stink, bite, stain the walls and furniture with their secretions and make the cats sick when they eat them. Another failed experiment with a foreign biological "solution" to a perceived local problem. Sorry, one of my peeves!

So that's where all my money is going too.
Once while fishing I saw a swarm of them along the river bank and on the trees. Thought it was the coolest thing till you mention the problems you have with them.

 

[GardenTillers44]

So that's where all my money is going too.
Once while fishing I saw a swarm of them along the river bank and on the trees. Thought it was the coolest thing till you mention the problems you have with them.

Yep, your tax dollars at work...

 

[NanaKat]

Enjoyed all the garden comments.

@CapricornFarm so sorry to hear about your dog.

 

[chickmom3941]

I'd rather take on all the deer on the block than mess with aphids. Hate the critters. All the natural sprays only work so long then bingo they are back. Corn have them again. Don't have much luck with ladybugs either.

Years ago, at our old house, we had a quince bush that I just loved. It was one of the first plants to get leaves in the spring, so the aphids would cover it from top to bottom. One year I sent for live ladybugs, like 200-500 (memory banks are failing on the amount). They came in a container with hay-type stuff. The instructions said to empty the ladybugs and their "hay" at the bottom of the bush, and they would supposedly come back to the hay every night. So I followed their instructions, and the ladybugs did indeed swarm all over the bush. However, most of them disappeared after a day or two, leaving many aphids on the bush. The ladybugs didn't seem to love the "hay" as much as the company thought they did. Guess they flew off to greener pastures, though not sure why they left the bush with so many aphids still on it. Needless to say, I never ordered ladybugs again!

 

[GardenTillers44]

Years ago, at our old house, we had a quince bush that I just loved. It was one of the first plants to get leaves in the spring, so the aphids would cover it from top to bottom. One year I sent for live ladybugs, like 200-500 (memory banks are failing on the amount). They came in a container with hay-type stuff. The instructions said to empty the ladybugs and their "hay" at the bottom of the bush, and they would supposedly come back to the hay every night. So I followed their instructions, and the ladybugs did indeed swarm all over the bush. However, most of them disappeared after a day or two, leaving many aphids on the bush. The ladybugs didn't seem to love the "hay" as much as the company thought they did. Guess they flew off to greener pastures, though not sure why they left the bush with so many aphids still on it. Needless to say, I never ordered ladybugs again!

Like a lot of commercial biocontrol ventures, the ladybugs are kind of a scam. Unfortunately, those "ladybugs" that get sold to gardeners are typically Asian lady beetles that don't know what to do with our aphids in the garden. They are a species that typically lives in trees. It's the native ladybug larvae that do most of the damage on aphids in the garden, so even if you got real native ladybugs, they would likely wander off to find their own nirvana. We sold these "ladybug" packages in our shop until I found out what they were. The praying mantis egg cases sold like this are also often an Asian species. Not sure why we can't go native in more situations.

 

[Pensmaster]

Years ago, at our old house, we had a quince bush that I just loved. It was one of the first plants to get leaves in the spring, so the aphids would cover it from top to bottom. One year I sent for live ladybugs, like 200-500 (memory banks are failing on the amount). They came in a container with hay-type stuff. The instructions said to empty the ladybugs and their "hay" at the bottom of the bush, and they would supposedly come back to the hay every night. So I followed their instructions, and the ladybugs did indeed swarm all over the bush. However, most of them disappeared after a day or two, leaving many aphids on the bush. The ladybugs didn't seem to love the "hay" as much as the company thought they did. Guess they flew off to greener pastures, though not sure why they left the bush with so many aphids still on it. Needless to say, I never ordered ladybugs again!

Yea they joined mine and flew off to Garden Tillers.

 

[User395221]

They might have been eaten by birds. We have plants that ladybirds like to use to breed in, but they are our native bugs not ones bought from a shop.

 

[GardenTillers44]

Yea they joined mine and flew off to Garden Tillers.

Our home is always open and welcome to all who come!
Just watch out for the shop vac...

 

[Pensmaster]

They might have been eaten by birds. We have plants that ladybirds like to use to breed in, but they are our native bugs not ones bought from a shop.

I think they migrate and maybe hibernate as well.