Ladybug release
Jun. 18th | Posted by Nicky
9 comments
This whole “no pesticides no herbicides” thing has been a big deal for my farmer-raised-in-Saskatchewan husband… but he is getting into it and having some real fun gardening these days.
We’ve found a few aphids on the cherry tree and one of the rose bushes (Jrock’s prized roses!!) and he has been diligently soap-straying them. But yesterday we found out that a local garden store was carrying lady bugs! So we bought 250 of the little buggers (ha ha) and released them in the cherry tree, the rose bush, and my broccoli/cabbage patch last night. (Last year the aphids overwhelmed the broccoli, kale and cabbages so we couldn’t even eat them. Whoops.)
You keep the barely-moving ladybugs in the fridge until you are ready for them, but when you set them out in the warm evening air – wow! they just wake up and go on an aphid hunt tout-suite! Today, there isn’t an aphid to be found on the cherry tree. And they are pretty cute, too.
If you want to get some yourself, here is the company our “voracious predators” came from: thebuglady.ca She has lots of other bugs and natural pest control stuff on her website… worth checking out!
Cool! Someone told me too that you can plant marigolds or tomatoes around your broccoli/cabbage etc. and that deters the bugs. It’s supposed to work great. Must get vegetable gardening again soon!
Enjoy…
Heidi
M and I discovered the wonders of ladybugs many years ago in Victoria…but can’t get them here! I don’t know if they told you, but the ‘baby’ ladybugs eat 10x what the grown ones do- but they aren’t nearly as cute. Large, black, with a red bit on their back. They’re really ugly, but…goodbye aphids!
We’ve never used pesticides on anything, and I’ve got to say, I haven’t yet figured out why they’re so popular…Jrock will realize one day how much better gardening is without them…and he won’t be killing off thousands of other species in the process (including, possibly, us humans!)
Happy gardening…
Cheers
Ena
great idea!! I was just noticing some aphids chillin’ on one of our trees…wonder if anywhere up here in boonieville carries lady bugs??
we did a butterfly release the other day…so amazing!! the kids raised the butterflies from larvae and we released the 5 days after the emerged from their chrysalis’s. maybe something fun you could do with your girls next spring!! The kids found the whole process enchanting…even our babe Noah who is 2 1/2.
we ordered ours from http://www.canadianhomeeducation.com where they do spring and fall painted lady butterflies as well as fall monarchs.
happy gardening!
Awesome.. that does sound like fun, Jenn! My mom is doing preying mantises with her students right now and they’re really enjying it to, from her accounts
Nicky, why are you up so late??? Come to think of it, why am I? I have to work in the morning…arg.
Jenn- can you tell me where on that site you found Monarchs? I usually order Painted Ladies for my Gr. 1 class (I did this year, and it was great, as usual) but would love to change it up next year. I couldn’t find it on the site…
I love ladybugs! Great ‘green’ idea!
Claire
preying mantises!!?? that would sooo fun!! (my 8yold LOVES those wacky creatures) I must go find out where you can get them!
We have a huge problem with aphids in our trees. They excrete this gross sap/waste that ends up all over our patio furniture and vehicles. It is so bad somedays it looks like there is a mist coming from the trees. I am definately going to look into getting some lady bugs.
Kirsten
I will ask where she got them…..
I got the case to “hatch” the praying mantis from Natural Insect Control (http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/), a Canadian company out of Ontario. Over 100 insects hatched within about two weeks of getting the case in the mail. They are very voracious. I’ll have to look into the ladybugs and/or butterflies as I have a gr. 3/4 next year.