Taking care of pests the way nature intended.

Taking care of pests on your plants can be done very easily without using any sort of pesticides.

Recently I discovered my plants had a small mite problem, so I decided to head over to home depot and pick up a pack of what I turn to every time I have a mite, aphid, mealy bug, or thrip problem: Lady Bugs. I placed about 50 lady bugs in my grow room and in just a few days my mite problem began looking a lot better. Lady Bugs usually come in packs of around 1500 so after you place the 50, all you need to do is put the rest back in your fridge and they should keep living for about 3 months. I usually put another 50 in week by week to account for any that may have escaped (or been eaten, i'll explain in a bit) and I release the rest outside at the end of 3 months.



For pest problems that include any sort of hard bodied or larger insect, I prefer to use praying mantis'. You will only need around 5-10 to watch over your grow room or greenhouse and they usually stick around for a lot longer than ladybugs (I've had some in mine for almost a year now) so you can release the rest you have immediately into the wild. Praying mantis will eat ants, spiders, caterpillars, beetles (including lady bugs), moths, roaches, grasshoppers, flies, etc.

Can the ladybugs get rid of the problem for good or do you just have to keep adding them? Also what do you put over your ducting to keep them from escaping?

Ninjabowler said:

Can the ladybugs get rid of the problem for good or do you just have to keep adding them? Also what do you put over your ducting to keep them from escaping?

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Any sort of mesh netting should keep them from escaping through ducting. I also forgot to mention that spraying them with sugar water before releasing will cause their wings to stick temporarily forcing them to colonize your plants. After adding them for about 2-3 weeks your pest problem should be completely taken care of and the mites shouldn't return but I keep adding them for a few months usually just to make 100% sure.

I am going out to get me some ladybugs and some mesh. Thanks

Not to disagree.....but I've found they are best as a preventative, not as a cure all. Once mites get a foothold in the room, ladybugs will only have limited success. If it's a decent size infestation, then you'll need to move on to something stronger. There are plenty of natural products available to help kill off those fuckers........

SSHZ said:

Not to disagree.....but I've found they are best as a preventative, not as a cure all. Once mites get a foothold in the room, ladybugs will only have limited success. If it's a decent size infestation, then you'll need to move on to something stronger. There are plenty of natural products available to help kill off those fuckers........

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If the problem becomes extreme, then I agree that lady bugs may have a tough time and you may have to move on to different solutions, but if you begin at the start of the problem or if its just a small infestation then they can usually take care of them quite well!

What if you just release all the ladybugs at once in a small area, could that work on an infestation?

Ninjabowler said:

What if you just release all the ladybugs at once in a small area, could that work on an infestation?

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It could! I have never had a large enough infestation that I needed 1500 lady bugs though so I've never tried it... A single lady bug can eat about 100 mites in a single day so you won't need too many.

So maybe it would be a little over kill but can you catch them and put them back in the fridge? Id do it, im a craaaazy ninja

i likey. and another thing, praying mantis' are freaking awesome! At a place I was court ordered too, we had a pet praying mantis and we would hold it and give it bugs and watch them fight XD (we were really bored) They will literally take care of any bug they encounter, even each other. And praying mantis' can be kept as a pet even so if you get stoned and bored you can play with the praying mantis. just my .02$

Ninjabowler said:

So maybe it would be a little over kill but can you catch them and put them back in the fridge? Id do it, im a craaaazy ninja

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Ahahaha yeah I'm guessing it may be a bit overkill to try that but who knows! it may just work for you!

kagecog said:

It could! I have never had a large enough infestation that I needed 1500 lady bugs though so I've never tried it... A single lady bug can eat about 100 mites in a single day so you won't need too many.

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they fly into the light..lady buggs..i put them in at nite and soon as the lite gos on there dead..

fthood22 said:

they fly into the light..lady buggs..i put them in at nite and soon as the lite gos on there dead..

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Really? What kind of light do you use? I have noticed them flying around my lights a bit but usually it doesn't hurt them at all because they won't land on it. If you spray a equal mixture of water and any carbonated soda on them, this will usually keep them from flying for a day or two when they are most active after you release them

From what the nurseries say, it's best to release the lady bugs at night when they are not actively flying around. Over night they will settle on your plants and make it their home if there's enough food. Actually, I've noticed they won't be willing to stay unless there is a decent amount of food around. It might be more beneficial to release them during a larger infestation. Releasing them with no food around will make them want to leave.
It also helps to spray the bugs off with a stream of water, if you're plants are outside, before they get too prevalent.
Spiders are good predators to have around too, as long as they stay off of the buds. There's nothing worse than swarms of gnats and flies buzzing around the plants, imo.