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- #181
OlderStoner
Well-Known Member
OK...phase 1 of the counter attack on the spider mites began today. A box of ladybugs arrived. I ordered these from one of the big box stores. Shipping was quick, only 2 days. In fact when I was notified they had arrived I rushed to my house to get them out of the hot sun. I was surprised at the quantity of them. There were two mesh bags inside of the box. I only opened one of them and there had to be at least a couple of hundred in it. The other bag looks like it has even more of them but I placed that bag back in the box and then the box went into the refrigerator until I get home. I gotta tell you this is kind of neat. I know they are just bugs but I also know they are living, breathing beings. I place a flat plastic plate on the floor and put fresh spring water into it. And then I poured some honey out onto an area of the tarp. Some of them discovered the water, some discovered the honey. But most of all, some of them discovered those damn spider mites on the plants. I noticed a few of them digging deep into the buds of the Cotton Candy plant and the other White Widow plants. I can only assume they were going in there for the spider mites and their eggs. All of the flowering buds got some attention from the newly arrived friends of mine. Soon they were flying around the room and exploring the other plants.
I know that with the number of spider mites in the room right now, they will probably eat all of them in just a couple of hours, or for sure by tomorrow morning, all the spider mites will be gone. That's my thinking anyway. I will let the lady bugs stay as long as they want, unless they start eating the plants. Tonight I'm going to build a small terrarium with some branches and leaves and then put plenty of sugar water, honey and whatever else I can research that they like to eat. If they hang around long enough the eat all the spider mites and their eggs, they've been well worth the cost, which was only about $20 including shipping. When the time comes I will release all of them into the outdoors. I read an article yesterday that the local government officials released over 6,000 lady bugs in an area to eradicate whiteflies. So releasing them into the wild is something that's already been done down here before.
Hope this works because I like the idea of using natural predators instead of chemicals, organic or not.
I know that with the number of spider mites in the room right now, they will probably eat all of them in just a couple of hours, or for sure by tomorrow morning, all the spider mites will be gone. That's my thinking anyway. I will let the lady bugs stay as long as they want, unless they start eating the plants. Tonight I'm going to build a small terrarium with some branches and leaves and then put plenty of sugar water, honey and whatever else I can research that they like to eat. If they hang around long enough the eat all the spider mites and their eggs, they've been well worth the cost, which was only about $20 including shipping. When the time comes I will release all of them into the outdoors. I read an article yesterday that the local government officials released over 6,000 lady bugs in an area to eradicate whiteflies. So releasing them into the wild is something that's already been done down here before.
Hope this works because I like the idea of using natural predators instead of chemicals, organic or not.