Green House Lady Bugs???

whoose · July 18, 2021

So I bought 1500 Lady Bugs to control Aphids in my green house. Put them in as per directions and saw them on the leaves. Now there seems to be very few left. Do they die off fast if the food source is gone, or do they just move away to find food? Most of the Aphids are gone.

JRinPA · August 2, 2021

I don't know the answer to your missing bugs. Someone at our comm garden bought a bunch a few years back, and the same thing happened. Gone with the wind.

I've been attracting ladybugs the last few years with overwintered parsnips. Here, I can plant in May and then instead of digging them all to eat in January/February, I leaves some in the ground. Those roots sprout in the spring and you get a bush that soon becomes a ladybug factory. I even dig up the roots in April (a big shovel scoop of soil around it yet) and transplant to where I want them - so they are not restricted to last year's placement.

Its getting late but if you planted some parsnip seed now and babied them a bit there may be a big enough root for doing this next spring. Or, maybe you can buy whole organic parsnips this winter and spring transplant them where you want the bushes to grow.

Montana sounds could but 6b is the same temp range as here. Keep them in pots and you could move the whole plant inside when it is full of ladybug larvae.

July 18, 2021	#1
whoose Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Bozeman, Montana Zone 6b Posts: 333	Green House Lady Bugs??? So I bought 1500 Lady Bugs to control Aphids in my green house. Put them in as per directions and saw them on the leaves. Now there seems to be very few left. Do they die off fast if the food source is gone, or do they just move away to find food? Most of the Aphids are gone.

August 2, 2021	#2
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 972	I don't know the answer to your missing bugs. Someone at our comm garden bought a bunch a few years back, and the same thing happened. Gone with the wind. I've been attracting ladybugs the last few years with overwintered parsnips. Here, I can plant in May and then instead of digging them all to eat in January/February, I leaves some in the ground. Those roots sprout in the spring and you get a bush that soon becomes a ladybug factory. I even dig up the roots in April (a big shovel scoop of soil around it yet) and transplant to where I want them - so they are not restricted to last year's placement. Its getting late but if you planted some parsnip seed now and babied them a bit there may be a big enough root for doing this next spring. Or, maybe you can buy whole organic parsnips this winter and spring transplant them where you want the bushes to grow. Montana sounds could but 6b is the same temp range as here. Keep them in pots and you could move the whole plant inside when it is full of ladybug larvae.