Kamikazi Lady Bugs

[jumpincactus]

Well I have to say,I am a little bummed with my 1st experience with lady bugs for pest control.

I loosed 1500 in my groom hoping to address some mites and whitefly issues.

When I got home the next day and upon lights on what I saw was suicidal bugs. They drowned themselves in the little water cups I set at the bases of the pots. Then the ones that didnt prefer water drowning torched themselves on the lights. Then the biggest faux paux of all is I forgot to remove my yellow stick traps and the remainder of the bugs decided to die via bondage. Talk about feeling like a pinhead LOL. Part I dont get is the traps worked great for lady bugs but not 1 whitefly on any of them.

Oh the lessons of growing,,,,,,,,,. I guess the only positive thing out of this boondoggle was next time I will remove my sticky traps. I'm too late in flower for neem and I am at a loss of what to do. I am at 3 weeks to harvest and my yeilds and overall health of the ladies is definitely suffering.

Any suggestions from the pros this late in flower. Or do I just let them finish and hope for the best at this point.?

 

[caregiverken]

lol @ the sticky traps...

I spray Conserve SC (spinosad) 3 weeks from harvest.
(outdoors)

 

[toquer]

I use predatory mites. You can get a few thousand if them and they go to work instantaneously. Crop will be cleaned within a week. Bad news is they take a week to get them. I order from www.insectary.com. look at the mite selection and choose the one that fits your temp and humidity best. They aren't cheap, but they are effective. You'll need to get the vials not the sachets.

I release them by opening the vial and let them crawl out on the leaf, letting several go at a time and then changing leaves. I found that better than using vermiculite.

 

[jumpincactus]

I use predatory mites. You can get a few thousand if them and they go to work instantaneously. Crop will be cleaned within a week. Bad news is they take a week to get them. I order from www.insectary.com. look at the mite selection and choose the one that fits your temp and humidity best. They aren't cheap, but they are effective. You'll need to get the vials not the sachets.

I release them by opening the vial and let them crawl out on the leaf, letting several go at a time and then changing leaves. I found that better than using vermiculite.

@ toquer, thanks for that. I will save this link.

My groom runs around 79 at lights on and 72 at night. Humidity during flower is lowered from 60% to 40%.

I need something that will knock out white flies and or thrips also.

Thanks again for stopping in and I am open to more remedies.

 

[m8ty]

I can relate to the white fly problem, had them on my last harvest, it seemed like thousands of them, sucked the fan leafs dry, I gave up man, harvested and cleaned the tent out, they are all gone now. I sprayed with pyrethrin with limited success, I guess it was all the eggs, they would just bounce back :[

 

[Coir]

I have never seen ladybugs work when released into a grow room or greenhouse. The ladybug larva will do a good job but have a very short life before transitioning into an adult. With so many insectaries around now and such a huge selection of predatory insects that actually work really well, there is never a reason to use ladybugs in my opinion.
Remember though that the trick with biological insect control is prevention first. Releasing small quantities on plants before any infestation works better than waiting until the plants are covered. If things do get out of hand before you realize there is a problem, it becomes a numbers game. The more predators you release, the better off you will be. I would not go to battle if I was outnumbered 100(or 1000, or 1,000,000) to one. I want to be on the winning side so that means releasing predators in much larger numbers than the enemy! The only time I have seen predatory insects fail is when the person using them did not apply enough. I have heard so many people say they don't work but when I ask them for details, it usually ends up they only bought the smallest(read this as cheapest) amount possible and then wondered why they never saw good results.

 

[toquer]

@Coir totally true about the numbers game. I get a shipment every month of amblyseius andersoni. Hungry microscopic fuckers that easy almost anything. They come in breeding sachets and every plant gets one. At the end of flower they have a couple sachets hanging on there. Call it overkill but since implemented if I see mites the colony is about the size of a nickel and they're all dead already anyways. Watching them eat is fun too.

 

[Coir]

@Coir totally true about the numbers game. I get a shipment every month of amblyseius andersoni. Hungry microscopic fuckers that easy almost anything. They come in breeding sachets and every plant gets one. At the end of flower they have a couple sachets hanging on there. Call it overkill but since implemented if I see mites the colony is about the size of a nickel and they're all dead already anyways. Watching them eat is fun too.

I do the same thing but with A Cucumeris(much more cost effective). I do think andersoni are a better predator for mites, especially broad mites but cucumeris will eat anything too when they are starving. While thrips are their preferred food choice, they can live on and will eat anything they come across. The slow release sachets are the greatest invention! So easy to use and such affordable insurance.
Where are you getting your andersoni from and do they have a minimum order? Some places only sell them by the case since they are not as popular as some of the other predatory mites.

 

[straincreation]

Hey, so coir and toquer got the right idea here with the preditory mites. So my suggestion if your gonna use lady bugs is you have to make them a home.
So here is what i did i use.
What you need: clone tray, and dome.
Sponge natual sponge like the ones people use for showers the big brown ones, ill see if i can find a link.
Food of some sort i used raisins worked fine.
Also make sure that the dome is the one with a semi circle not the 4 little holes.
So gake the tray and place the (soaked sponge) in the tray this is the water supply. Then take the food and sprinkle some in the tray put lady bug container in and release with doome on. They come and go as they please bit stay there and alive when there is nothing to eat on the plants for thw time being.
Also get rid of traps and all that stuff that you need to remove cups, etc.
Well i hope this helps BOL!
Happy farmin;)

 

[spore]

leaving the sticky traps in...lol rookie mistake!

 

[larebowm]

Sticky traps.lol I forgot where I placed on once.try getting that shit out of your hair lol

 

[jimbooo]

Predatory mites are far better IME. Ladybugs are pretty, but not much use otherwise haha