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Fig3825
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Beneficial Insects

Does or has anyone purchased beneficial insects off the web or from your local nursery and released into your garden?

I found a site where I can get a trio of ladybugs, lacewings and nematodes for relatively cheap. Between those three beneficials, I think pretty much the entire spectrum of pest bugs would be on their meal list...

Any input or experience here?

I've heard a couple bad reports about ladybugs being territorial and flying home as soon as they are released. I've also read that some nematodes can actually damage crops...but, again, I have no experience on the subject...

JONA878
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Never heard about them going home...but you do have to have the pest in your garden ready for them. if there is nothing for them to eat..then off they go.
Commercial glasshouse growers actually introduce some of the pests into their houses so that the benificials have something to start on.
then they just keep a balance between the two.

carol_in_va
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This spring I sprayed nematodes all over our yard and garden, mainly targeting Japanese beetles and fleas, as Frontline hasn't worked for my two small dogs for the past couple of years now. *knock on wood* I've not seen a flea this year yet and my yard and garden did not suffer in the least. I've started seeing a couple Japanese beetles, but I just pick them off and put them in my jelly jar of death (soapy water) that I carry with my through the garden.

I did also buy ladybugs when I saw aphids on my roses this spring. They settled in and made a home on the rose bush and in the straw on the ground around it. The key with ladybugs is to follow the directions for releasing them properly. It has to be done at night and preferably right after a rain. If no rain, then water the ladybugs and the area you are releasing them onto before release so they don't fly off in search of a drink.

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Fig3825
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The problem I fear I will face is simply not enough food for the beneficials to stick around for. I know something is eating my stuff, I just have no idea what it is at this point. And the damage is not devastating at this point, but I fear it may get that way once my mesclun and lettuce type veggies start taking off. I had a garden a couple years ago and we could only tend it on weekends due to its location. We would see spinach and whatnot coming up, then a week later, it would look like swiss cheese. I spend around a half hour to hour most evenings checking stuff out, but most often it's cursory. I flip a few leaves here and there and pretty much look at everything on top.

I'd like to find something that affords me some peace of mind. I know it's sickeningly silly, but I stress about the bugs daily. There are so many positives and negatives to each and every angle, I just can't figure the right approach. I want to prevent, not recover.

How does a successful gardener accomplish this?

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Kisal
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I don't agree with treating a garden because "something" is eating the plants. The first thing to do is to find out exactly what that "something" is. Otherwise, you can waste a lot of money and time treating for one insect, when what is actually attacking your plants is a critter that isn't susceptible to whatever treatment you're applying. If the pest turned out to be something like snails or slugs, you could treat forever for insects and it wouldn't do a bit of good. Just something you might want to consider.

Go out a couple of times during the night with a flashlight and carefully examine your plants. Look closely at the stems, undersides of the leaves and tops of the leaves. You'll probably find the thing that is eating your plants, and then you'll know exactly what treatment to use.

Also, I don't think there's one, single "preventative" that will be effective against every garden pest. IMO, it's better to treat for the pests that are causing problems, but keep a close eye on your garden, so you'll see them when they first show up. That way, things don't get out of hand. JMO. :)

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Fig3825
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Let's start with cucumber beetles. Killed one yesterday. Then add some aphids, but I killed those earlier with a toxic garlic/pepper spray that nearly also killed my snow peas - haven't seen any more. Then we have some black ants here and there, but I don't know if they are contributing. That's all I have physically seen in my searching. And the majority of the damage is either complete leaves falling off (peppers, squash) or being eaten off or holes being eaten in the leaves or various sizes - from pencil tip to dime size holes. There are also some leaves getting chopped off.

No evidence of slugs or snails, though. I left a tray of beer out in each of the beds and no slugs appeared nor do I see any slimy tracks indicating their presence.

Someone in another thread told me my soil may be low in nutrients, which may contribute to the leaf and stem dropping. I confirmed low nitrogen and slightly elevated potassium levels. But, as I said, I am trying to address my fertilizer needs in another more appropriate thread.

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Kisal
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Well, cucumber beetles are chewing insects, and aphids are sucking insects. They require different treatments.

A product such as neem oil, which leaves a residue on the leaf surface, can be used as a preventative against chewing insects. However, it won't have any effect on aphids and other sucking insects, unless used as a contact insecticide and sprayed directly on them, as you would use a soap solution.

The only "preventative" for sucking insects that I know of would be a systemic insecticide, and I sure wouldn't use anything like that on something I planned to eat. For that matter, I wouldn't use a systemic insecticide on any outdoor plant, because it could kill the bees and other pollinators. :(

carol_in_va
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I read somewhere around here that it's all about balance, and eventually it will balance out without too much interference from us. I overlook a few holey leaves and pluck off bad bugs such as stink bugs, Jap beetles, bean beetles, potato bugs, etc. as I see them and dispatch them into a jar of soapy water. The ones I pluck off won't be reproducing, so that's a kind of management. To interfere too much disrupts the balance and often you find you've shot yourself in the foot. Sometimes by treating for bad bugs, you kill your good bugs in the process, leaving your garden open to a whole new kind of invasion. You can't get rid of all the bugs, they're a fact of life, we just have to find some harmony. Frustrating? Yep. I'm a newbie, but I'm finding less is more so far. :wink:

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Fig3825
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Has anyone tried the [url=https://www.gardeners.com/Summerweight-Garden-Fabric/11749,default,pd.html]Summerweight Garden Fabric?[/url]

carol_in_va
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That's neat, and it seems it would likely well protect your food crop, but it kinda ruins the whole garden effect for me. Just my opinion, fwiw.



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