Hi there!
I am new here and new to the world of gardening (vegetable or otherwise). I am a 31 year old South African woman and I started my vegetable garden at the end of last year.
At the moment I have gemsquash that are blooming with a few radishes in between - they are planted in a huge barrel that my husband cut in half for me. For the past month I've been struggling with aphids but after doing research on the web I decided to go with the hand-removal of these pests by spraying them off every morning and late afternoon with water. (Luckily I only have two squash plants at the moment so it only takes about 15 minutes to get to every leaf).
In the other barrel I have bush beans that have been growing for about a month now so they are not flowering yet and are still growing.
This afternoon I found my first ladybugs - one on the squash plant and one on the beans. I have no flowers at the moment (growing Asters now but I think I started too late in the season with them) and have some cucumbers and bell peppers that are a couple of weeks along.
How do I keep the ladybugs now that they have started showing up?
I also have a tray with loose leaf lettuce that are growing nicely and found a small spider (about 2/3 of a cm) and light brown, in the tray. Will the spider also help keep the pests away? Do spiders pose a threat to the ladybugs?
Any ideas and help on how to keep these ladybugs in my garden is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
EElse
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sweetiepie
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applestar
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@Asica, did you mean the soap spray will take care of the aphids? -- not for keeping the ladybugs, I think, since soapy water will kill them by suffocating them as well as the aphids and particularly ladybug larvae are vulnerable being soft-bodied, short legged and close to the leaf/stem surface (Insect breathing holes are typically located along the body close to the base of their legs). Ladybug eggs may also be dessicated by the soapy spray.
The ladybugs should stay as long as there are aphids for them to eat. They also need flower nectar and pollen. You say you have no flowers @EElse, but is that true? No dandelions, no grass in bloom?
If any of your radish show signs of blooming, let them. Cilantro and dill, fennel are also good -- any of those with umbels of flowers -- carrot family. I will have second year carrots, celery, and parsley blooming during the growing season, as well as other wildflowers. And any of the fruiting crops bloom, you know.
I think my indoor Lady Patrol (ladybugs) are frequenting the orchids, tomatoes and pepper blossoms, right now. I thought they might like the avocado blossoms (lots of nectar and pollen), but I haven't seen any in those. I did have arugula blooming earlier, and my very confused "Thanksgiving" cactuses (that bloomed before Christmas) are now full of second flush of flower buds and are looking like they will bloom in time for (or before) Easter.
If you are willing to buy something, you could buy a beneficial insect attractant. When I buy ladybugs to release in the Winter Indoor Garden, they come with a packet of powder labeled ladybug food, which is dissolved in water and sprayed onto the foliage before releasing them to entice them to stay (described as containing nutrients -- and I think pollen protein -- needed for the females to lay eggs) I've been keeping the dry powder in the fridge and occasionally spraying with it to feed them.
Yes, the spider will also protect your plants and yes the spider might also manage to catch the ladybugs and their larvae. But spiders don't discriminate and they will eat whatever they can catch. I would let it stay.
The ladybugs should stay as long as there are aphids for them to eat. They also need flower nectar and pollen. You say you have no flowers @EElse, but is that true? No dandelions, no grass in bloom?
If any of your radish show signs of blooming, let them. Cilantro and dill, fennel are also good -- any of those with umbels of flowers -- carrot family. I will have second year carrots, celery, and parsley blooming during the growing season, as well as other wildflowers. And any of the fruiting crops bloom, you know.
I think my indoor Lady Patrol (ladybugs) are frequenting the orchids, tomatoes and pepper blossoms, right now. I thought they might like the avocado blossoms (lots of nectar and pollen), but I haven't seen any in those. I did have arugula blooming earlier, and my very confused "Thanksgiving" cactuses (that bloomed before Christmas) are now full of second flush of flower buds and are looking like they will bloom in time for (or before) Easter.
If you are willing to buy something, you could buy a beneficial insect attractant. When I buy ladybugs to release in the Winter Indoor Garden, they come with a packet of powder labeled ladybug food, which is dissolved in water and sprayed onto the foliage before releasing them to entice them to stay (described as containing nutrients -- and I think pollen protein -- needed for the females to lay eggs) I've been keeping the dry powder in the fridge and occasionally spraying with it to feed them.
Yes, the spider will also protect your plants and yes the spider might also manage to catch the ladybugs and their larvae. But spiders don't discriminate and they will eat whatever they can catch. I would let it stay.
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EElse
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Thank you all for your comments and advice.
I've tried the soap spray but with the heat here in South Africa it burns through the leaves so I just spray them off with water now. I'm glad I did that as I think the soapy water would have been bad for the ladybugs. I saw the ladybug yesterday on my squash plant but didn't see it today, I hope it was just hiding somewhere I didn't check. The one on my beans is gone. I have also noticed a LOT of red bugs, I think they're cotton stainers/red bugs on and around my squash plant. Are they harming the plant or do they also eat insects? Could they be keeping other ladybugs away?
Thank you sweetiepie, I will try that, I already have quite the ant infestation so I don't think adding sugar will make much of a difference... They're already there....
Thanks jal_ut
applestar: Thank you very much for your comment. I have quite a big yard but it is not really conducive to planting (my husband turns the car around in the back yard every time he gets home) so creating a garden is not really a possibility at the moment. Thus I plant in containers. The reason why I mention this is because in my front yard I have a few trees that blossom every now and again (don't know what type, I'm really very new to gardening) and thus are quite far from the vegetables that I planted so I don't think they will work in attracting the insects for the vegetable garden.
I will let the radishes go to flower, thank you for the suggestion - they really were just planted as 'decoys' or 'repellents' for the bothersome insects. I have others planted in another container that I will harvest.
Thank you everyone!
I've tried the soap spray but with the heat here in South Africa it burns through the leaves so I just spray them off with water now. I'm glad I did that as I think the soapy water would have been bad for the ladybugs. I saw the ladybug yesterday on my squash plant but didn't see it today, I hope it was just hiding somewhere I didn't check. The one on my beans is gone. I have also noticed a LOT of red bugs, I think they're cotton stainers/red bugs on and around my squash plant. Are they harming the plant or do they also eat insects? Could they be keeping other ladybugs away?
Thank you sweetiepie, I will try that, I already have quite the ant infestation so I don't think adding sugar will make much of a difference... They're already there....
Thanks jal_ut
applestar: Thank you very much for your comment. I have quite a big yard but it is not really conducive to planting (my husband turns the car around in the back yard every time he gets home) so creating a garden is not really a possibility at the moment. Thus I plant in containers. The reason why I mention this is because in my front yard I have a few trees that blossom every now and again (don't know what type, I'm really very new to gardening) and thus are quite far from the vegetables that I planted so I don't think they will work in attracting the insects for the vegetable garden.
I will let the radishes go to flower, thank you for the suggestion - they really were just planted as 'decoys' or 'repellents' for the bothersome insects. I have others planted in another container that I will harvest.
Thank you everyone!