how would you attract LadyBugs

iLikeWaffles

Which plants would attract ladybugs to my garden.? Noticed these little f'ers all over my strawberries today.




Not sure what the are theres loads of them. Asked a friend and said to add some washing up liquid to a spray bottle and give them a once over but i'd presume its a short fix.

Also where would you find ladybugs or can you buy them anywere?

paddy147

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

Which plants would attract ladybugs to my garden.? Noticed these little f'ers all over my strawberries today.




Not sure what the are theres loads of them. Asked a friend and said to add some washing up liquid to a spray bottle and give them a once over but i'd presume its a short fix.

Also where would you find ladybugs or can you buy them anywere?

My girlfriend just added a load of ladybirds to my garden to eat up the wooly aphids on the baux balls.


We got them from her allotment today,as theres loads of them out on the allotment.:).

I also noticed a breeding pair of ladybirds on my birch tree and foxgloves this evening,and then I noticed several small ladybirds too.They like to sit inside some of the flaking birch bark,and they also nest inside the bark too.

Happy days.:D

PS-As far as I know,you can buy Ladybirds from the likes of Mr Middleton in Dublin City Centre.

You can also go into most fields in the country and you will find them on blades of grass and in meadow type felds too.

iLikeWaffles

Good stuff cheers

macraignil

Looks like an aphid/greenfly to me as the image title says. I have found the washing-up liquid solution worked well for clearing an infestation. You can find ladybirds in strongly growing green vegetation particularly around common stinging nettle patches. You can easily collect some in an old jam jar to release on your plants but they are very likely to fly away again. I grow Jerusalem artichoke which regrow each year to a height of over eight feet and seem to always attract some ladybirds and some other predator insects. You can buy ladybird larvae off the internet on a number of sites and also lacewing which are supposed to eat lots of aphids. You can also make or buy shelters for lacewing to help the predators survive the winter. I have also read of organic growers increasing their watering of crops to reduce nitrogen levels in the soil which they link to their plants vulnerability to aphid attack.

muckyhands

Any plant that attracts aphids/ greenfly will help attract them- the number one thing for ladybugs is a food source.

Roses, Red clover, Stinging nettles, Thistles... On my allotment I find ladybug eggs on weeds like Dock...

Providing sites where they can hibernate is needed too- Take a plastic bottle, cut the ends off, cut up thick corrugated cardbord cutting across the 'tubes', roll it up loosely inside the bottle and pop some twigs in there too, preferably hollow ones like bamboo canes. Put it somewhere safe and dry, angled downwards a bit to keep out the rain.

In fact any plant with hollow stems makes a good hibernating place- from Sweetcorn to Verbena.....

So put these in a safe dry place when tidying up the garden each Autumn, they could already be occupied by ladybugs etc.....

If collecting ladybugs yourself make sure you know what Harlequin ladybugs look like- invasive species from Asia that threatens native Irish Ladybugs.

http://www.habitas.org.uk/ladybirds/harlequin.html

redser7

They love nettles. You should leave a bit growing or if you have space even introduce a small patch (but keep it in check). Is great for harvesting for nettle tea and mulch too for nitrogen loving plants.
For dealing with the aphids ... I had an infestation start on my strawberries in pots in the tunnel a while back. I took the plants out and sprayed them with the hose to physically knock them off. Do it somewhere away from other plants. Did it again a couple of days later to get any straglers. Problem solved. If the plants are in the ground you can do the same but toss a handful of soil over the area beneath the plant to cover them over. It's quite effective and quick. Trick is to have a regular quick check around and catch them before a full infestation gets hold.

Oldtree

The ladybird life cycle is 6 weeks so if you can wait they will come if there is a food source. Spraying chemicals or washing up liquid on the aphids will also kill any ladybirds that are there, as insects they breathe through their shell and will suffocate. Once you start spraying it would have to continue. It is best to have patience and they will come.

Saying that they are very slow to come to the roses in my front formal garden, and the Plena cherry is always attacked, whereas in the back wild garden no problems at all, including in the polytunnel. So I squish them on the roses when there is too much of a buildup (and I hate doing that as i dont like to kill anything) but could only do that on the cherry I could only do that while the tree was small so now I just put up with the damaged growth pattern of the tree.

iLikeWaffles

redser7 wrote: »

They love nettles. You should leave a bit growing or if you have space even introduce a small patch (but keep it in check). Is great for harvesting for nettle tea and mulch too for nitrogen loving plants.
For dealing with the aphids ... I had an infestation start on my strawberries in pots in the tunnel a while back. I took the plants out and sprayed them with the hose to physically knock them off. Do it somewhere away from other plants. Did it again a couple of days later to get any straglers. Problem solved. If the plants are in the ground you can do the same but toss a handful of soil over the area beneath the plant to cover them over. It's quite effective and quick. Trick is to have a regular quick check around and catch them before a full infestation gets hold.

Yes want to have a little nettle patch out the back for nettle tea. How would I get it to grow? If I take a cutting off a bush will it grow on in a pot, do they prefer shade or full sun? Will I look for nettles that have a seed pod and plant those...

If I have the nettles would only make sense to have the auld doc leaf beside them can they grow from cuttings?

redser7

Just dig up a clump and transplant it. Dig deep and take as much soil around the roots as you can to avoid disturbing them. Should work. Instant plant if it does

paddy147

Also try to attract in "hover fly".

The hover flys young love to eat up greenfly and other little nasties and the hoverfly itself drinks nectar and pollinates,like a bee does.

So its a double bonus for any garden.:D

LordSutch

Ladybugs?

Are ladybugs the same as Ladybirds?

paddy147

LordSutch wrote: »

Ladybugs?

Are ladybugs the same as Ladybirds?

They sure are.:D

And theres around 18 different species of ladybird in Ireland,3 of these species are very rare and hevent been seen in quite a while.

muckyhands

Oldtree wrote: »

The ladybird life cycle is 6 weeks so if you can wait they will come if there is a food source. Spraying chemicals or washing up liquid on the aphids will also kill any ladybirds that are there, as insects they breathe through their shell and will suffocate. Once you start spraying it would have to continue. It is best to have patience and they will come.

Saying that they are very slow to come to the roses in my front formal garden, and the Plena cherry is always attacked, whereas in the back wild garden no problems at all, including in the polytunnel. So I squish them on the roses when there is too much of a buildup (and I hate doing that as i dont like to kill anything) but could only do that on the cherry I could only do that while the tree was small so now I just put up with the damaged growth pattern of the tree.

Hindsights a wonderful thing, a little give and take/ understanding is all thats needed.

Thunderbird2

How would I get rid of ants off a cherry tree
They seem to be farming the aphids and fighting off the lady birds

Supercell

I've five rose bushes out the front and three of them are covered with the greenfly and two of them have none at all. The roses were Lidl specials picked a while ago so I've no idea what varieties they are. Are there some varieties that are not tasty to the greenfly or is it just a matter of time?
I think I'll go looking for the ladybirds this weekend to introduce.

Merch

Not that you might want to attract them (not sure how you would)
When doing some work on a roof under a tree, I saw wasps were devouring loads of aphids, the aphids looked just like the image.

muckyhands

Merch wrote: »

Not that you might want to attract them (not sure how you would)
When doing some work on a roof under a tree, I saw wasps were devouring loads of aphids, the aphids looked just like the image.

Wasps also take caterpillars. Very useful in their own way, annoying as they can be later in the year. If they can be left be, they should.

paddy147

Ladybird houses and nesting sites in the garden will also help to keep them in your garden and keep them happy too.

Amazing what a few bits of willow and some twine can do,when placed at the base of the birch tree.The ladybirds love it.:D