LadyBugs / Ladybirds

0rt

Hey all, just went out the back today to see loads of ants farming aphids on my mint and giant daisy's.. im looking around for ladybugs.. is there anywhere in ireland that sells their larvae? I see on amazon you can buy them but they are coming from the US and the survival rate might be very low!

You can get them in the UK but the price is twice that of the US.. in the US you get up to 1500 larvae, but the UK you get 25??!

So, any help would be greatly appreciated.

redser7

Mr Middleton. Big problems with aphids this year. Thing is the ants will get the lady birds too. Fascinating to watch them with the aphids. I squish them all!

hairynipple

I tried mr midleton last year, got the ladybirds and put them onto a tree i have riddled with greenfly. They must have lasted less than a week, due to the unusual wet weather i presume

hairynipple

Im spraying that same tree this year daily with hose to try to get rid of them. Its not really working though due to the curled up leaves

redser7

hairynipple wrote: »

Im spraying that same tree this year daily with hose to try to get rid of them. Its not really working though due to the curled up leaves

Have the same problem with them idling in the curls leaves on my blackcurrant bushes. I've resorted to taking the leaves off even if its a tip. The aphids can bring in viruses and disease.

prospect

I find soapy (fairy liquid or similar) water in a spray bottle does the job on greenfly.

My honey suckle was riddled on Monday, I gave it a good dose of soapy water and on tuesday they were mostly gone.
I gave it another spray last night so I'll see how it is this evening when I get home.

donegal.

i got some butterflies off insect lore for the kids, don't know if they do labybirds.

drunk_monk

prospect wrote: »

I find soapy (fairy liquid or similar) water in a spray bottle does the job on greenfly.

My honey suckle was riddled on Monday, I gave it a good dose of soapy water and on tuesday they were mostly gone.
I gave it another spray last night so I'll see how it is this evening when I get home.

Will this be ok for the plants though? Yesterday I noticed that my 3 rose bushes are completely riddled with them. I tried a hose but this morning there was hardley any difference. I've never seen anything like this in the 5 years I've had the roses!

hairynipple

drunk_monk wrote: »

Will this be ok for the plants though? Yesterday I noticed that my 3 rose bushes are completely riddled with them. I tried a hose but this morning there was hardley any difference. I've never seen anything like this in the 5 years I've had the roses!

yes its fine, do no harm. You have to be persistant though. My auld ones roses are destroyed aswell, first time ever and its a well established rose climber. shes out twice a day spraying them. with my situation its so hard to spend time going through each individual leaf (hundreds of them)

prospect

drunk_monk wrote: »

Will this be ok for the plants though? Yesterday I noticed that my 3 rose bushes are completely riddled with them. I tried a hose but this morning there was hardley any difference. I've never seen anything like this in the 5 years I've had the roses!

Should be okay, I did it a year or two ago and the plant is still there.

I only spray in the evening when the sun is dropping.

paddy147

If you dont have ladybirds to hand..........

Homemade tomato or garlic aphid spray.


Some chopped tomato leaves or crushed garlic.

Some water

Some fairy liquid.




Mix it all together and use a spray bottle/mister to spray the aphids.



Homemade remedy that works.

drunk_monk

Thanks for the tips and advice, I'm about ready to go at the roses with the garlic and washing up liquid mix.
I'll keep this up until they are (hopefully) gone as I would be more than a little peeved to see the roses ruined!

redser7

I read of one word of warning about Washingup liquid, just use a tiny bit or it could damage some plants, plugs up the pores or something along those lines.

prospect

Gave my honeysuckle a thorough inspection and there is no sign of any live greenfly.

I'll keep an eye on it over the coming days.

I agree with redser7. Just a tiny squirt of fairy liquid into water and give it a good mix and then spray directly onto the affected area.

0rt

anyone tried Dr Bronners Magic Soap?

drunk_monk

I'm pleased to report that after spraying my rose bushes daily with the washing up liquid\garlic mix, there is hardly a green fly to be seen . I had to spend up to 20 minutes per rose bush (have 3 is all, thankfully) the first three days but now I just give them a quick spray in the evening.

Thanks again for the tips all,

DM

Sonnenblumen

A very effective alternative spray to soapy water is crushed garlic soaked in water. Even aphids cannot stand water!!