I found thousands of aphids on my peas - yuck!. I've been spraying them off with water every morning and when I walk through the rows, I get them all over me. We got some spray to put on them but haven't had the chance to do it yet since it says to do it in the early morning.
Here are some pics.
[url=https://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/?action=view¤t=100_0512.jpg][img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/th_100_0512.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/?action=view¤t=100_0509-1.jpg][img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/th_100_0509-1.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/?action=view¤t=100_0513.jpg][img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/th_100_0513.jpg[/img][/url]
They're all over the ground too
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Francis Barnswallow
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 696
- Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:28 pm
- Location: Orlando
>>one lonely little lady bug tonight
it's also a chicken and egg thing.... if you've got a "normal" (whatever that is !) population of lady bugs / predators, their population will expand as the food supply (aphids, in this case) expands.
but predator populations always lag - so it's a nail biter of "are they or are they not?" going to appear.
praying mantis is another bug with an appetite for aphids.
it's also a chicken and egg thing.... if you've got a "normal" (whatever that is !) population of lady bugs / predators, their population will expand as the food supply (aphids, in this case) expands.
but predator populations always lag - so it's a nail biter of "are they or are they not?" going to appear.
praying mantis is another bug with an appetite for aphids.
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30543
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Note that the insecticidal soap will also kill the ladybug and dry up any ladybug eggs.
Sometimes, if you can suppress the aphid population by hand picking/squishing and washing off, the predator population will catch up. You have to watch out for the beneficials and their eggs though. I accidentally cut off a cherry leaf with ladybug eggs on it and am waiting for them to hatch so I can put them back.
Right now, in addition to the other beneficial attracting flowers already planted around the garden, I'm letting grass grow and bloom where I can. The beneficial insects swarm for them and I need to attract the aphid mummy makers and aphid snatching robber flies, Ladybugs are already laying eggs and I just need to be patient and wait for the re-inforcements to hatch.
Some of the numerous praying mantis ooths have hatched the earliest geoup of baby mantid babies and I see the tiny fragile looking assassins walking around sometimes -- usually when I'm weeding, I manage to scare them out of hiding. I imagine aphids are about their size.
Spiders are not as helpful except when the aphids fall to the ground, but I do see some hunting spiders crawling around, and the web making spiders are catching the winged aphids.
I also see the small birds feasting among the branches of aphid prone trees. I think they sometimes also try to eat them off the vegetables, but they are not very gentle or, I suspect, successful because they seem to prefer the trees.
Sometimes, if you can suppress the aphid population by hand picking/squishing and washing off, the predator population will catch up. You have to watch out for the beneficials and their eggs though. I accidentally cut off a cherry leaf with ladybug eggs on it and am waiting for them to hatch so I can put them back.
Right now, in addition to the other beneficial attracting flowers already planted around the garden, I'm letting grass grow and bloom where I can. The beneficial insects swarm for them and I need to attract the aphid mummy makers and aphid snatching robber flies, Ladybugs are already laying eggs and I just need to be patient and wait for the re-inforcements to hatch.
Some of the numerous praying mantis ooths have hatched the earliest geoup of baby mantid babies and I see the tiny fragile looking assassins walking around sometimes -- usually when I'm weeding, I manage to scare them out of hiding. I imagine aphids are about their size.
Spiders are not as helpful except when the aphids fall to the ground, but I do see some hunting spiders crawling around, and the web making spiders are catching the winged aphids.
I also see the small birds feasting among the branches of aphid prone trees. I think they sometimes also try to eat them off the vegetables, but they are not very gentle or, I suspect, successful because they seem to prefer the trees.
I need to find a picture of this egg, I am the worst for killing good things. I let out a bunch of lady bugs and was ticked off when they all seemed to be gone, within a day or so, I know they are not all gonna stay, but I thought for sure a few would. A few weeks went by and little by little I started seeing more, wondered if they laid eggs ( package said something about larva, etc). Off to find picture. 