1 Gallon of Ladybugs Arrived! - Pics/GIF/Vid
We are the proud recipients of 1 gallon of ladybugs that I ordered from Northwest Beneficials in Bend Oregon on Tuesday. To my door they cost $135 and made the trip in one day via UPS, arriving yesterday mid-day. The box was quite warm so I put it in the fridge right away to cool them off and slow them down until we could release in the evening.
Last night around 7:30pm we scooped out handfuls of ladybugs and deposited them on, in, over, around, and under the plants. Only half a gallon are currently released as a staggered release can be more effective than one large release. The remaining ladybugs are being kept in their bag, in our refrigerator. Ladybugs can be kept in a dormant state in a temperature range of 34-40F/1-4C for weeks on end. If they will be kept longer than a couple of weeks they MAY need food and water to survive.
I will be taking more pictures and video of them over the coming days and weeks and will be bringing them to Steemit!
Freshly arrived at our door
Opening bag for first time.
They were shipped with straw and were quite active considering they came out of the fridge.
This morning as they began to warm up and move around
This morning they are all over the squash plants
They ladybugs spend nights under the leaves to protect from rain and predators
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce
All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.
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What are the ladybugs used for?
They eat aphids, spider mites, mealy bugs, thrips and other garden pests. they are probably the best natural pest manager. Plus they help with pollination.
Cool cool. I'm assuming once they eat all those in the area they just move on somewhere else and this would/will be a yearly activity? Any issues with them getting in your house? I only ask because it seems like every ladybug in the area ends up in our house ><
The ladybugs lay their eggs on the undersides of plants and leaves, then 3 weeks later the larvae and pupa emerge for a new generation.
We have loads of weeds, bushes, trees and a creek so the chances of them moving on for us is pretty slim. Normally they will go where there is food and water, so if you have a garden in the burbs with little vegetation around then they might leave for other food sources.
I generally don't have an issue with them getting in the house, but if I find one I just toss it outside again.
Wow, that's so so many of them!
That's a lot of ladybugs. How big an area are you farming that you need that many?
I have about an acre of produce rows. Nice thing with ladybugs is you can never have too many. The recommended numbers vary GREATLY on release amounts, anywhere from 1/2 gal/acre to 5 gal/acre with roughly 75,000 ladybugs per gallon.
I had no idea they recommended that many. Even at the low end 37,500 ladybugs is a bunch. Thanks for the response.
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef416
These Asian bug imitators, come out and live in the house whenever it gets warm. We keep a cup of dish soap water on hand to catch and drown them.
They still come out but the quantity decreases each year.
When we released our online purchased ladybugs I found that soon after there was no evidence of them but when I made a post about our recent release I got this helpful comment from @garykainx
https://steemit.com/gardening/@bchick/aphids#@garykainz/re-bchick-aphids-20170619t013308765z
I still see the damaged leaves but no more evidence of more damage since the release of the lady bugs.
Thank you for the great article! This post has been featured in this week's issue of the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter!
Cool. Love the no insecticide pest control.