Predatory Bugs?

[Reebs]

just wondering if anyone else has experience with predatory nematodes & or predatory insects for spider mites?

i just ordered some online by referral of a friend that had great success, and i was just wondering anyones experience..

the nematodes are for thrips, fungus gnats, anything that could live in the root zone, supposedly 250 species they eat, and then they dies when they finish killing off everything.

 

[ronvmpc]

I've used lacewings with great success. Both with mites and root aphids. They will take a couple weeks to work but once they start reproducing kiss your insect problems good bye.

As far as nematodes I personally never used them but friends have told me great things.

What insects are u having a problem with?

 

[MrBelvedere]

just wondering if anyone else has experience with predatory nematodes & or predatory insects for spider mites?

i just ordered some online by referral of a friend that had great success, and i was just wondering anyones experience..

the nematodes are for thrips, fungus gnats, anything that could live in the root zone, supposedly 250 species they eat, and then they dies when they finish killing off everything.

Yes they work great as a preventative. If you are at beginning stages of a spider mite infestation it is too late probably. Order them on a recurring basis as a good preventative.

 

[Reebs]

right now i'm noticing fungus gnats and thrips. i do have a very small spider mite problem in veg and i'm trying to stay away from any type of spray because i've noticed it changes the outcome of my concentrate.

i have almost every single spray for mites, and i've used them all at some point in time, i can manage the mites but the gnats are getting a little out of control for my liking.

i primarily set out to get the nematodes, but talking to the lady on the phone i decided to try 1000 predatory mites i think they were to try in my veg.

 

[We Solidarity]

Yes they work great as a preventative. If you are at beginning stages of a spider mite infestation it is too late probably. Order them on a recurring basis as a good preventative.

This is not true, if you order predatory bugs and don't have anything for them to eat you're wasting money. Predatory bugs are used primarily to manage existing pest populations - organic sprays make the best preventative.

That being said there are many many predatory mites (usually the cheapest and hardiest predators) for every kind of pest, larger bugs can be very effective but are expensive and will die out/leave if they have trouble finding food.

All that being said, bugs on plants are still bugs on plants, which is something most gardeners try to prevent for a crop you smoke.

 

[Seamaiden]

Look up @Coir 's posts about using predatory bugulars. I'd say he's also got lots and lots of experience, and good advice on the subject.

 

[MrBelvedere]

This is not true, if you order predatory bugs and don't have anything for them to eat you're wasting money. Predatory bugs are used primarily to manage existing pest populations - organic sprays make the best preventative.

That being said there are many many predatory mites (usually the cheapest and hardiest predators) for every kind of pest, larger bugs can be very effective but are expensive and will die out/leave if they have trouble finding food.

All that being said, bugs on plants are still bugs on plants, which is something most gardeners try to prevent for a crop you smoke.

Right, that's why they need to be shipped on a recurring basis, because predators die if there are no are no bad mites to eat. You always want to the predators to die out from lack of food. That's the whole point of it.

 

[happy b]

Iv never used em for spider mites but iv used the ones for fungus gnat larvea and they worked great.

 

[ronvmpc]

one spray that i like to use is green cleaner and hopefully this won't jinx me... "liked to use". I swear by it when bugs enter the garden and it will dust spider mites of ur plants like they were dead skin. Use a second time to kill eggs. then i used it a third just in case. It also handled a thrip problem i was having recently. Its also 100% safe to use. Also spinosad for thrips it will do the job. If your in veg I crushed up mosquito dunks and diatomaceous earth and spread it over my soil with blue sticky traps. Let the soil dry out till u could see the plants needed water. Fed them then flushed the hell out of them. Destroyed them no problem. Though I wouldn't recommend dunks in flower. and for organic theres always caps stuff.

One thing I wouldn't recommend in an indoor environment are lady bugs. They do the job but shit and die all over the place. very messy. I found lady bugs on me while I was at work!!!

But if it were me and wanted some bugs to handle my gnat and thrip problem. Lacewings ftw.

 

[Sunbaked]

if growing in soil, cover with 1/4 inch of sand and that will kill the gnat larva under the soil. It smothers them and they can not fly out of the sand. worked for me every time . Instantly. I order 18000 lady bugs twice a season for mites outdoors. controls the mites good.

 

[Savage Henry]

This is a damn good read on the subject:https://extension.umass.edu/floricu...-doc-ppt/15Section B Insects and MitesWeb.pdf