Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Everyone,
We are in need of ladybugs as we have aphids that are getting worse.
We've asked all our friends and no one has any. Is it the wrong time of year?
My cauliflower seedlings, as well as other plants are not going to survive if I don't get them under control soon.

Or does any body have any other ideas?

grow sow thistle , they are weeds so you can find them everywhere, they have dandelion - like seeds that blow in the wind and sprout very easily. At my place the aphids will prefer the thistles before any other plant. My AP is virtually aphid free thanks to the thistles (and the wife's roses), plus an excuse not to weed the garden!

My system is 3/4 enclosed i had heaps of trouble with aphids and other bugs , i just kept catching huntsman spiders that bothered Mrs Terra and introduced them , some have taken up residence , lots of spider webs between the grow beds , also now have some resident small lizards that i see occasionally , no bugs for 6 months now ,hopeing it works through the winter .

Keeping ladybirds around until you need them is the trouble , i have read they will over winter on Dwarf Oleanders ,White Correa , Daylilies. They show up here first on strawberries , there is a artifical lure called Predalure that brings them in havnt heard any reports good or bad so that may or may not help .

Short term if you make a fitting that fits a vacumb cleaner that you can bleed off excess suction and have a length of soft hose you can clean up your plants pretty quickly , i use this system to hunt harlequin bugs they are my major pest chooks wont even eat them .

Another alternative is to purchase some lacewings.

http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au/product/l ... -predators

I harvested some ladybirds the other day for my leb cress from our fig tree. They had been nibbling away at sugar crystals on the fig ends.