Cool. I got aphids in the GH, but I can't seem to get the fire ants to come in and take care of'em. They eat every other damn thing, including ladybugs...

ants will not get rid of aphids. they "farm" them for the honeydew they produce, and will attack anything that tries to eat the aphids. in fact, getting rid of the ants is step one in addressing an aphid problem.

I ordered the ladybugs from amazon, paid 10 bucks (shipping included in that) and they arrived ahead of schedule. if you put them in a green house, you don't have to worry about them flying away.

Good luck !
How can you be sure that the LB will stick around?
They have wings, you know !

I'd thought of ordering them before, but have heard (and read reviews) of how they all showed up dead! Good to see you received a lively batch, and it seems as if they are doing the trick for ya.

probably about 90% of them were alive. some were definitely dead. I'm quite satisfied with the order.

I don't know that they'll stick around. in fact I doubt they all will. I've watched plenty fly away. but I put 1500 in a 275 sf area. there's no way there will be enough aphids and whiteflies to feed them all. but from early november until I "overwintered" my plants I didn't have to spray for bugs at all, because I had about 20 of them at any given time sticking around, doing my dirty work for me.

granted I'm gonna have a lot more plants this year, but if 10% of them stick around I think I'll be ok. plus I see them humping each other all over the place, so I bet I'll have some LB larvae running around soon.

and if they all fly away, heck at 10 bucks shipped I can buy more.

as of now my seedlings are entirely aphid free, and I see almost none left on the overwinters.

here's the link to where I got them:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00533KOIC/

Good deal judo: I've told you this before, but I'll stress again. Increase your chances of ladybug and other beneficials staying by creating an environment for them. i.e., planting flowers that they can feed off when the aphid/whitfly populations decrease.

Cilantro, dill, alyssum, aster family, zinnias, marigolds, bachelor buttons.. to name just a few.

Kevin

> "ants will not get rid of aphids. they "farm" them for the honeydew they produce, and will attack anything that tries to eat the aphids. in fact, getting rid of the ants is step one in addressing an aphid problem."

*Some* ants ranch aphids. AFAIK, fire ants eat everything.

Dennis

Awesome!

Seysonn, the lady bugs stick around when there is food available (i.e. aphids). When the aphids are gone, they move on to greener pastures.

Josh

Josh, ... so to keep the LB around, you've got to have good supply of aphids: lol

DMForcier,
Agree. Back in '82 we moved out here and the cow ticks were terrible. In '86 the fire ants moved in and cleaned the ticks, centipedes, crickets, other ants, quail, horned toads and loads of other species out. They also drilled holes in the watermelons and ate the okra plants and pods too. There's a new ant here now, the "crazy ant" and it's gonna be a booger to control. You seen any yet?

Tom....we're seeing Crazy ants in Central Florida.......Talstar provides some control

doug

Thanks Doug, I'll try get a hold of some. As I understand it, the crazy ants kick the fire ants out when they move in. Wonder if the parasitic wasps that were imported will work on them too?

here it is, a few days later, and I only see a few still alive. I see lots of dead bodies. I guess it was just the end of their life cycle. if I start seeing larvae around, I'll still consider it a good investment.