Has anyone had any luck using lady bugs for spider mites?

[-VT-]

Ladybugs eat soft bodied bugs.

http://www.ladybuglady.com
Ladybugs eat Aphids. Aphids are soft bodied insects that suck the juices out of plants. If you have roses in your garden, you have seen aphids. Aphids also come in a variety of colors and not all ladybugs like all the "flavors" of aphids. Ladybugs will also feed on scale insects and plant mites.

Lady bugs will eat young mites and larva. Like predatory mites they will not eat all mites.

That's what I've always thought (that ladybugs mostly eat aphids). Didn't know they eat some 'plant mites'. Wish she'd added some specificity regarding 'plant mites'. Only mites I've ever been fearful of are spider mites.

I used some ladybugs once. They flew right into the lights and died.

That was my experience also. Not all of them, but most.

 

[KarmasWheele]

lady bugs will help maintain mites if you have enough of them but as the only form of treatment forget about it.........

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Ladybugs don't eat many mites but their larvae sure do. With ladybugs the key is making them happy, and getting them to breed. Their larvae are known as Aphid Lions and they eat like ten times the amount their parents do, which is enough to do serious damage to the borg.

Probably the most effective effective 'knock down' beneficial insect is the Green Lacewing. Predator mites are great for striking a balance with smaller populations, but Lacewings are best for serious population control.

 

[The Phoenix]

i worked at two grow stores. the reps from natures control said ladybugs dont eat spidermites, but our customers kept buying them for that purpose....
boss didn't mind, they kept coming back and buying more and more....

I only care about results. I grow hundreds of outdoor plants every season, and have personaly seen mite free plants after releasing a swarm of ladybugs. I watch the ladybugs combing the plants like machines going from leaf to leaf. Not sure how they do it, nor do I care, but I've seen them knock down mite populations before they disappear. I just refuse to use chemicals of any kind on my plants, natural or not.

 

[straintester]

Thats what I said.
They eat the larvae which is the biggest problem part since they can lay some many eggs.

 

[tenoftrades]

Mr. Greengenes do you have any advice for keeping the lady bugs happy? Humidity temps?
The infestation is not to bad at the moment and just got the lady bugs in. If they can win the fight for a few weeks I should be okay.

 

[barney barn]

I always see them little jumping spiders around my plants, they like the light heat. no mites yet...knock on wood.
they must find something to eat.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

dude what i meant was it was the ONLY thing that worked for me, i tried them all, i am sorry for the misrepresentation, i used all the insectisidal soap, neem, dont bug me by fox farm, rotenone pyrethrium concentrate. i have a whole cabinet full of these products and the only combo that works perfectly is floramite and azatrol. i use it in rotation and as a combo cus a highly repsected member told me about it . again forgive me please for not being specific

Sorry for jumping the gun..... here pass it after u hit it

 

[morrisgreenberg]

no doubt brother. i know many on here have a tough time even thinking about spraying plants, mother nature like many posters already have said, will only help with small populations, this plant is a cash crop, see we need to look at what the large industry growers use, and what they do is called "intergrated pest management" or IPM. in IPM they will use a specific insecticide along with beneficial insects"predators" the key on that large a scale is using sprays that do not harm these predators. but the key is they use certain insecticides in the feeding regiment, such as azatrol and azamax. this makes the plants poisonous. so its pick your poison, have these bugs albeit in smaller numbers weakening your yields or add chemicals and whipe them out and have a splendid harvest. PS the use of azatrol will not make your end product taste funn, not one bit, just stop use 2 weeks before harvest

 

[straintester]

Probably the biggest difference in how people treat their plants is whether THEY are going to be consuming them or selling them.
People spray them with poisons don't really care that it is toxic to you or I, they only care that their plants keeps growing and they get their profit.
So of course there are going to be differing viewpoints.
Some people grow for people with cancer , aids and /or other serious illnesses so their medicine HAS to be clean and organically grown. There is a big difference.

So the Integrated pest Management doesn't have to be natural predators vs. poisons.
There is a gentlier integrated pest control management with using biodegrable insecticides along with lady bugs but even some natural ones can kill them off.
With using natural pesticides to start off with one doesn't have a huge problem later on with that has be sprayed with poisons.
Many people rely on this plant as healing medicine so this is counter productive for those that care.

 

[Neo 420]

My recent experience with ladybugs:

Bought several hundred LB's.
Appeared to control Mite population for a week and half maybe two weeks
Continued to buy one, sometimes two hundred more weekly
Mites outpaced the LB's even with my continual add-back of LB's
Maybe I should of started with more or added back more but they didn't cure my ill.
But they did DESTROY the gnats.
I am very interested in the Green Lacewing now. Will look into that.....

My results:
A WHOLE LOT OF DEAD LB'S TO CLEAN UP!
LB's did not control my mild spider mite outbreak with the amounts I used.

Kinda


I did learn something interesting. I vacuumed off what I could of the mites before harvesting and hung the fresh cut ladies on a line upside in the same room in complete darkness. They next day (10 hours later) I check on them and noticed all the remaining mites had migrated to the top of the main stems. I could not find any on the buds or leaves. The whole pod, sitting there in plain view on the cut stalk. (I assume they are trying to ingest remaining fluid?)

 

[MJBadger]

Ladybirds

Ladybirds

Lady bugs don't work so well, but there are other kinds of beneficial insects that work great.

If you don`t mind chemical control then use it , it generally it`s fast & doe`s it`s job , if you want a biological control then you need Phytoselulus

Ladybirds are good for aphids

Stay green .

 

[real ting]

Probably the biggest difference in how people treat their plants is whether THEY are going to be consuming them or selling them.
People spray them with poisons don't really care that it is toxic to you or I, they only care that their plants keeps growing and they get their profit.
So of course there are going to be differing viewpoints.
Some people grow for people with cancer , aids and /or other serious illnesses so their medicine HAS to be clean and organically grown. There is a big difference.

So the Integrated pest Management doesn't have to be natural predators vs. poisons.
There is a gentlier integrated pest control management with using biodegrable insecticides along with lady bugs but even some natural ones can kill them off.
With using natural pesticides to start off with one doesn't have a huge problem later on with that has be sprayed with poisons.
Many people rely on this plant as healing medicine so this is counter productive for those that care.

It makes more sense to think of it in logical terms instead of lumping anything other than predatory insects into a "poisons" category.

Pesticides range from safe to dangerous in the short term, long term, wildlife safety, length they stay in the plant, in the soil, systemic vs contact, organic vs manufactured.

It's obviously irresponsible and just plain dangerous to use certain pesticides at the wrong times, usually too soon to harvest or even any time in the flowering period. But using a pesticide properly will not make the end product poisonous, or less of an effective medicine. Having product that is bug damaged, or has powdery mildew would definitely make it less effective medicine.

Integrated pest management is not blasting all your plants with high doses of toxic pesticides. It also does not mean you don't use predatory insects. Sometimes it is more beneficial to the end product to use a strong pesticide, as long as you use it safely.

 

[diamondmine]

How about Spinosad, anyone tried it?

 

[Mr Celsius]

Or you guys can purchase the lady bugs that do eat mites: Spider Mite Destroyers!!!

 

[tenoftrades]

I have finished my ladybug trial, and It looks like spider mites win. I introduced about 800 LB into my indoor room 40 ft sq. The mites were established but not yet infested. The LB knocked the mites down for a few days but didn't really do a lot. The mite colony just kept growing while the LB gathered on the floor. I would pick up as many as I could and put them on the plant and some would stay on. I could see some LB feeding on mites but not many. Everyday I would take a paper-towel and smash all the little groups of mites and then spray both sides of the leaves and wash the webs off. I also added a humidifier to the room since the mites don't like a high humidity. The humidifier helped quite a bit, when I would forget to fill it up the mites would be worse the next day or two. The last week or so I have managed to keep the mites under control. Harvest is in a few days.

Neo 420 My experiance was the exact same. The LB knocked the mites down for a few days but spent most of the time on the ground away from the plant "A lot of dead ladybug to clean up". Thanks for the hanging tip I'll try that out.

This was my first thread on ICMag and the posts have been very helpful. Thanks everyone for taking the time to help a newbie.

 

[Neo 420]

I have finished my ladybug trial, and It looks like spider mites win. I introduced about 800 LB into my indoor room 40 ft sq. The mites were established but not yet infested. The LB knocked the mites down for a few days but didn't really do a lot. The mite colony just kept growing while the LB gathered on the floor. I would pick up as many as I could and put them on the plant and some would stay on. I could see some LB feeding on mites but not many. Everyday I would take a paper-towel and smash all the little groups of mites and then spray both sides of the leaves and wash the webs off. I also added a humidifier to the room since the mites don't like a high humidity. The humidifier helped quite a bit, when I would forget to fill it up the mites would be worse the next day or two. The last week or so I have managed to keep the mites under control. Harvest is in a few days.

Neo 420 My experiance was the exact same. The LB knocked the mites down for a few days but spent most of the time on the ground away from the plant "A lot of dead ladybug to clean up". Thanks for the hanging tip I'll try that out.

This was my first thread on ICMag and the posts have been very helpful. Thanks everyone for taking the time to help a newbie.

Welcome aboard Teno!!

 

[Mr Celsius]

Azamax/azatrol, spider mite destroyers, green lace wings, liquid pyrethrins

 

[Hydromite]

Ladybugs will eat spider mites, but don't reproduce well on them. Stethorus is the spider mite destroyer lady beetle and it is good for taking down a spider mite population, but needs a high population to reproduce so it dies off once the population drops below a certain point.

I've had good results with the predatory mite Neoseiulus/Amblyseius californicus. Someone mentioned Phytoseiulus (I'm assuming Phytoseiulus persimilis), but persimilis only reproduces well if the humidity is above 60%. (And most grow rooms are under that.) Two other mites, Mesoseiulus longipes and Galendromus occidentalis also do well in lower humidities, but I haven't tried them. Californicus will also eat small insects and insect eggs and can live off of pollen, so it will stick around longer than beetles. (Neoseiulus fallacis has a similar diet and will usually colonize after a release or two if used outdoors.)

The thing about using beneficial insects is you have to release them when you first notice the problem. There's a lag time - my experience with californicus is about two weeks - before the beneficials you release reproduce enough to have much of an impact on the pests. I've also noticed with californicus (released on a dense spider mite infestation) is that the spider mites tend to string down a lot from the plants during that first two weeks. I haven't seen it happen like that with the worse spider mite infestations I've witnessed, it's a pretty scary sight. Maybe the spider mites are trying to escape? But after being patient and waiting for my predator mites to reproduce, the spider mite population started dropping with no other interventions.

Biological control works best when combined with physical control measures. Dunking/rinsing your plants with water can knock a spider mite infestation back some. (I threw mine in the shower.) Spider mites drown pretty easily, while predator mites can survive up to 20 minutes of immersion in water. You can do this during the first couple of weeks while you're waiting for the predators to establish to slow down the spider mites. High humidity also favors the predator mites and hurts spider mites - spider mite ideal humidity is 40%, californicus is 60%, but it will reproduce at humidities as low as 40% (depending on temperature).

Another note with using predator mites: most come in a dry carrier, either corn grit or vermiculite. The carrier will stick to buds, so if you're releasing during flowering you can put them in envelopes and staple/tie the envelopes to the leaves to prevent the carrier from getting everywhere. If you can find predator mites shipped on bean leaves (the plant they're usually raised on), they will be healthier and start reproducing faster, but they're a good deal more expensive.

 

[captianchronic]

Ladybugs are more of a prevention method rather than a solution. When the borg showed up at my house, i just killed my plants and cleaned my room and started over. I have smoked spider mite bud and its nasty.. I would start over and use neem oil and lady bugs. Also wrap fly paper around the base of the stalks on your plants. Keep pets out of the room and don't go into the room after being around other plants. Dont waste your time trying to kill the bugs. Just my opinion.