Re: Best place to buy ladybugs

"Omelet" <ompomelet@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:ompomelet-42B2E0.04191018052008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In article <g0o1e1$d9j$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> "Katey Didd" <spamless@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> > I have a very small scale garden, but I think it would work the same,

>> > if
>> > you have time and a bigger space.
>>
>> This sounds workable in a small garden but ours are/were large. The 
>> ladybugs
>> my ex-husband bought didn't read the book. In two days we didn't see
any
>> left in the garden. I'm sure there were a few but we had to resort to a
>> chemical spray.
>
> Chemical spray will deter all kinds of predatory insects.  While I do
> use sevin when I absolutely have to, (it biodegrades rapidly so seems to
> have minimal impact on my spiders, assassin bugs and ladybird beetles),
> I try to minimize that as much as possible.

I have Sevin dust. We only use chemicals when the bugs are getting out of 
hand. We have many acres of woodland behind us so all kinds of critters
come 
from back there, both good and bad.

>
> Placing some birdhouse gourd nesting houses for house wrens, keeping
> some areas (for reptilian and amphibian predators) damp in the yard,
> rocky areas where they can hide, and jealously guarding  my spiders does
> a lot for me.  I'm also getting a healthy population of Anole lizards
> and fence lizards. :-)

We're too far north for anoles. We do have fence lizards and skinks, box 
turtles, frogs and toads and many kinds of s****s. I've yet to see any of 
them in the veggie garden. Our biggest problems are the squash vine borers

and cabbage worms on the collards. I used that bacteria for them last
summer 
but it was only partly effective. Most of the leaves were badly damaged 
before it stared to take effect. The plants were really set back last
summer 
between the worms, the heat and the drought.

>
> I don't have a lot of extra geckos right now like I've had in the past,
> or I'd offer to mail you some. <g>  It's getting to be a bit hot now
> tho' to ****p live lizards.
>
> See if you can get  your hands on some toad tadpoles. Raise them up in
> an outdoor tem****ary pond.  I keep finding the cuties in unexpected
> places!

Because of the ponds we're loaded with toads and frogs and newts.

>
> I'm still going to have to use BT tho' for brassicas and my passion
> vines, but that won't kill predatory insects.  It only works on larval
> forms of pests.

We use it also. :^)

> -- 
> Peace! Om
>
> "Human nature seems to be to control other people
> until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein