Beneficial Insects

Has anyone used any insects to get rid of pest?

I used some lady bugs once. They seemed to help but they all went into the light and cooked themselves.

What are some other insects that would be good for our garden?

I was going to catch a praying mantis but I wasnt sure if it would be a good idea. He flew away before I could decide to catch him or not. lol.

This is interesting as I have often thought about this myself. I've been leaning towards spiders. No, no. The best has got to be gecko's. Hope I've spelled that right, anyway you know where I'm coming from.

You've got to get the right type of gecko though as some will only eat at certain times of the year. You can get ones that eat all year round too. Good thing about them as well is they're fairly cheap. I'd love some gecko's, not just for the grow room but they're also good in your living space. I hate flys, which is why I like spiders, which is why I love gecko's. Or you could have gecko's for the outside of the light-space and spiders for the inside.

Peace out Widow, and I hope that I've manged the courtesy of helping you out for a change.

Yeah, I've tried bug therapy. Indoors, it really doesn't work well unless you are committed to using it with a complete pest control system. First of all, you must start it when or before pests take over. And you can't introduce bugs to plants that have been sprayed with anything, even Neem Oil, for a couple of weeks. And all sticky traps must be removed.

I've used Ladybugs for aphids indoors, with most Ladybugs dying within a day or 2. You just sweep up dead bugs for days.

I've used whitefly predators too and they didn't do the job. Basically, with the plants in the flowering room for only 9-10 weeks, the pest bugs have time to take over, and the beneficial bugs don't.

To control aphids in the growroom, I release Ladybugs outside around the growroom.

HTH

The clone king was on about this stuff today. What is it exactly? I'm sure he said something about only being able to use it while plants are in veg'.

skunkushybrid said:

The clone king was on about this stuff today. What is it exactly? I'm sure he said something about only being able to use it while plants are in veg'.

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Neem Oil is a natural pesticide and fungicide, good for a lot of things. I've used it during the first half of flowering, too. I've heard of growers with powdery mildew using it until 2 weeks before harvest with no problems.

You don't want to spray newly rooted cuttings with any oil/soap spray, tho.

HTH

I read once that the only way to be pest fee is frequent flushing of the soil. But then you have to becareful of the shock to the plants... Plus it was never said how often frequent flushing was..

i used lady bugs and they seem to work, but I kept frying them as well. So i tried removing them during "daytime" hours and adding them back at night... That was too much of a pain...

We're you thinking of the ladybugs' health or the cost of having to get some more?

ok my garage is absolutely covered in spiderwebs and spiders up in the rafters, so i guess im lucky or what?

Try and make your grow area as sterile as possible.

I sense dejavu lol

Just give the area a good clean and white gloss the lot.

Use tin foil if painting seems too much hard work.

skunkushybrid said:

Just give the area a good clean and white gloss the lot.

Use tin foil if painting seems too much hard work.

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You better hope Potroast, I mean Sir doesnt see this. He is going to take some rep points away. lol.

Flat white paint and no tinfoil.

What's wrong with gloss?

I think he is referring to the tin foil. A big no no... You may be thinking of mylar. They look the same to the naked eye.....

why is tin foil a big no no just wondering

the shiny side of tin foil can cause hot spots and burn leaves. but if you use the dull side it wont do this.

And also I have always read not to use glossy white and just use flat white. I dont really practice either since I believe I have plenty of light already. But it wouldnt hurt. Maybe one day I will get off my ass and paint. lol.

hey i was wondering if rolly pollys r bad

All right you guys, all this talk of tin foil and glossy enamel has me wanting to look for widow's old lady.

I've always said flat white paint. The shiny coverings must be stretched tight with no wrinkles or waves to work best. Here's the chart of percentages of light reflected from Jorge's latest:

Foylon 94-95
Reflective Mylar 90-95
Flat white paint 85-93
Semi-gloss white 75-80
Flat yellow 70-80
Aluminum Foil 70-75
Black < 10

There ya go, and when you buy the white paint, tell the paint guy to mix in a packet of fungicide.

HTH