Lady Bugs for pest control?

[Grim Reefer T]

I have heard people say Lady bugs are great for pest control but I cant find any more info on it. Are they good for mites? Are they plant safe? What about Asian Lady Bugs? Any side effects?

 

[StinkFinger]

Good reference site.

Beneficial Insects 101

SF

 

[ledtester]

I have heard people say Lady bugs are great for pest control but I cant find any more info on it. Are they good for mites? Are they plant safe? What about Asian Lady Bugs? Any side effects?

when it comes to mites they are ok like everything else you can try, spray bombs they are all usually temporary...my buddy is currently trying out no pest strips as it has been highly recommended. Some have a problem with them as far as chems go but again it's one of those things that most don't know that the main ingredient in them is found in our food. I know one thing after 3 days he has 2000 dead ladybugs all over the place

 

[GrumpyGrower]

If you have HID lighting the ladybugs are likely to fly into it and 'pop'.

 

[Grim Reefer T]

If you have HID lighting the ladybugs are likely to fly into it and 'pop'.

Using T5 lighting so should be ok there.

 

[The Weed]

PitViper has used them a Few Times.
You may like to pick his Brain?

The VipersNest Continuous

Click to see bugs^

 

[ledtester]

If you have HID lighting the ladybugs are likely to fly into it and 'pop'.

nonsense

 

[GrumpyGrower]

It may be nonsense, I have no experience with it. My sources are...


Jorges RX

If you introduce 100 ladybugs into your growroom on Monday, there will be only a few left by Friday. Most of them will be ready to look for a mate and will take off toward the "sun"– which is actually a high-intensity discharge (HID) light. They'll fly straight into the hot lamp and pop like popcorn!

And from a separate article,

Your luck will improve when you do some hard research and stop listening to hearsay. Check out naturescontrol.com for a little more information. There are quite a few kinds of ladybird beetles (ladybugs), none of which prefer spider mites as a main meal.

Ladybugs also have an affinity for high-intensity discharge light (HID): They fly directly into the hot lamps and pop like popcorn. All of this means that introducing ladybugs is a terrible way to control spider mites.