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northtexasdude

success with lady bugs in the rose garden?

northtexasdude
10 years ago

Hi All,
I am about to place an order for 1500 live lady bugs. This year the aphids are BAD. I spray my dish soap, kill a bunch and in a few days entire leaves and buds will be covered again. So I am going to experiment with lady bugs. Does anyone have any success or failure stories with lady bugs in their rose garden? Aside from an endless supply of aphids, anything you did to keep them from flying away and in the garden all season? thanks!

Comments (12)

  • anntn6b
    10 years ago

    I come by my ladybugs naturally. They live near my rose and other gardens.

    But, and this is big, our so-called grass lawn is a mix of grasses and weeds. The weeds come up early. The henbane in that weed mix is excellent ladybug habitat. So I have ladybugs and their larvae ready to start chomping on aphids just as soon as the aphids emerge.

    I have another perennial weed with big flat strap like leaves and it is the secondary (and later season) habitat for the ladybugs that love to lay their eggs there.

    If you have an immaculate lawn and roses, those ladybeetles are going to have a tough time making your garden their home. They really need a mix of plants to live on and pests to eat.

  • michaelg
    10 years ago

    I have never bought them, but people here say it is a waste of money, since most of them just fly away.

    There is a spell every spring when aphids get ahead of the predators; then they always subside. If you just wipe off the encrusted growth tips twice a week, that's enough to prevent any substantial damage. (Also, you'll have a genuine green thumb.) Soap spray would kill the larvae of predators including ladybugs. I don't know whether that would be a factor or not.

  • catsrose
    10 years ago

    Like Ann, I come by mine naturally and have enough other vegetation to support them. But I have bought them for other gardens in other places and it does seem that they stick around if you have plenty of habitat for them. Ditto for praying mantis. If you have a weed-free lawn ad a very tidy garden, perhaps you could delegate an out-of-the-way corner to let weeds grow. I don't which plants ladybugs prefer to nest in. I don't have henbane, but obviously I have something they like.

  • kittymoonbeam
    10 years ago

    Lady bugs will lay eggs on sweet alyssum. The little immature bugs look very different so don't do them in by mistake. They like any little nectar flowers like dill and alyssum. They do appreciate some tall grassy stuff. You can buy some bug chow that you mix with water and shake around on the leaves to feed them until they get settled.

  • Poorbutroserich Susan Nashville
    10 years ago

    After reading all this great advice I'm going to give it a try. Hose blasting is controlling them but I'm a bit nervous. Last year they killed my Cosmos...
    Thanks!
    Susan

  • lou_texas
    10 years ago

    Watch out for those Asian biting, stinky, orange/black ones. I don't think you want to encourage them. This is the first time I've seen them in my garden. I was happy to have them until I found out more about them on the Texas Gardening Forum. Lou

  • jerijen
    10 years ago

    If you can get ladybug LARVAE, they will do more for you than ladybugs will.

    Jeri

  • buford
    10 years ago

    HMM, I guess I'll have to stop pulling up the henbane! I usually have many ladybugs. I do have spots in my yard that are 'wild', so maybe that helps.

  • Holly Kline
    10 years ago

    Old post, but. . .before you release them, spritz them with a 50/50 mix of water and flat Coke. The sugar will "glue" their wings together so it's harder for them to leave. I have used them for two years on my aphid problem, and it's always a big help to me.

  • maplerbirch
    10 years ago

    During hot sunny periods of Summer I often spray down the leaves of trees, shrubs, Perennials and even annuals during the early morning hours when I know that the sun and humidity will allow the foliage to dry before noon, but also leaving enough moisture in the soil for days ahead.
    Last year, during the severest drought in this location while I've been here, I discovered several ladybugs on my 'mother' rose plant. Later discovered Ladybugs on one of the daughter rose plants.

    I too have wild areas around my garden, in fact entire forests define my landscape in a major way, and it seems to me that once the environment is correct, the Ladybugs will find a home and protect my roses from aphids.
    It was the most amazing discovery that occurred during the more than 15 years at this location. :)

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    10 years ago

    It's fine and dandy if they all fly away. What you want to have them do is lay a bunch of eggs before they all fly away.

    The larvae of them eat 50x as many aphids as the adults do. They look like little alligators with red stripes. Once you get a crop of those going, balance will be restored to The Force.

    Just never use pesticides so you don't kill them off in the future.

    eggs
    {{gwi:250752}}
    larva -- hungry!
    {{gwi:244980}}