How do you keep the ladybugs on your plants?

J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I just tried out ladybugs for the first time, dropping 1500 in my 3'x3'x6' grow tent to help control some spider mites through harvest and most of them just collect in large groups in various areas of the tent as if they're hibernating or something. The only time they crawl on the plant is if I throw them directly on the plant, but otherwise they just hide in packs throughout the tent.

I did notice that when I sprayed some water, they came towards the water for a drink.

Should I give my plants a light mist of water and next time introduce the ladybugs at the top of the canopy rather than the bottom at the pot level?

These ladybugs really have my interest but I just don't quite understand ladybug behavior...SOS can anyone throw me a lifeline here?
 
bass1014

bass1014

Well-Known Member
yes buy a bottle of liquid ladybug and ditch the real ones.. the mites will have liad eggs and hatched several colonies before the real ladybugs do anything.. i speak from experience, i took a plant from outside and set it in my tent due to heavy rains and such. well turn out it had spider mites.. so i had got 1000 of the lil bugs from my local garden shop.. put them in the tent and they did nothing for my plants,so after 2 weeks went by and my girls are getting eat up i bought a bottle of liquid ladybug and with in one week i had all the living bugs dead and the eggs dying. so eventually after 3 weeks and only 4 applications of the stuff the eggs and mites are gone,as for the ladybugs there still chillin in my tent just not under the leaves where the mites lived.. you can't tell the bugs what to do but you can spray the liquid ladybug where ever you want.. a lil pricey but when you have a few thousand bucks worth of weed going to shit its priceless. make sure you have good airflow.. and spray under every leaf.. good luck and KEEP ON GROWIN
 
Situation420

Situation420

Well-Known Member
You cant just throw something into an environment and expect them to figure it out. I would figure even though lady bugs probably live go by instinct and smell to determine what is a food source. The only way I could see ladybugs living on your plants is if they were raised there in the first place and have determined that spider mite eggs are delicious on their own.
 
journey1111

journey1111

Well-Known Member
Yea lady bugs seem to hate the super bright lights and warm conditions and never settle down enough to eat any pests. I recommend "no pest strips" instead! Works every time.
 
dannyboy602

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
Lady bird beetles or lady bugs will eat ravenously until their food source is depleted then fly away. Theres nothing you can do about that. I suggest you use several different species of beneficial one after the other if that's the route you want to take. Also look into beneficial mites. They can help you out a lot.
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
dannyboy602 said:
Lady bird beetles or lady bugs will eat ravenously until their food source is depleted then fly away. Theres nothing you can do about that. I suggest you use several different species of beneficial one after the other if that's the route you want to take. Also look into beneficial mites. They can help you out a lot.
Click to expand...
the problem is, that ladybugs don't REALLY eat mites..
the just don't
if you are trying to fill your reflector hoods with dead ladybugs, then they are great for that, if you ever get APHIDS, then you are golden.
they eat aphids like a bunch of rabid mofos.
but they just don't like mites, not to mention the mites will out-reproduce them like crazy, not even close.
the only predator bugs to really help with mites, are predatory mites, oh and some ladybug relative, but it's not an actual ladybug
journey1111 said:
Yea lady bugs seem to hate the super bright lights and warm conditions and never settle down enough to eat any pests. I recommend "no pest strips" instead! Works every time.
Click to expand...
Remember dichlorvos only works for a lil bit, and then just makes the ones surviving, a super mite-dichlorvos resistant...
don't ask how I know...
 
F

Fishmon

Well-Known Member
I've been looking into this subject over the last few days. A friend's first grow had what we think were white fly bodies everywhere. Anyhow from what I've gathered so far is that you need to make a humid habitat for them with a dome of some sort, a wetted sponge for them to drink from, and some food such as raisins. Apparently the adults aren't much for hunting. They prefer to lay around making babies. The youngsters however are voracious predators and can consume 50-60 mites per day. Just like everything else concerning growing every problem has a solution and it usually requires learning volumes of new stuff. Now because of the bug infestation we're going to have to learn about bud washing. The learning never ends.
 
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