Ladybirds Do you have an aphid problem in your garden? You can rid aphids by using ladybirds.
It is ideal to introduce ladybirds into your garden as soon as you see any aphids for natural pest control.
Ahids are a very common garden pest and they can damage many plants such as roses and trees and also vegetables.
Aphid types include greenfly and blackfly.
It is recommended to purchase ladybirds to put into your garden to increase the population for natural control of aphids.
Aphids damage your plants by sucking the sap out of plants which in turn weaken the plants, and the foilage can discolour and drop.
Aphids make honeydew which goes black on the plants and transmits plant viruses ruining your plants.
There are 3 biological control products for natural pest control of aphids.
They include ladybird larvae, lace wing larvae and parasitic wasps.
Ladybird larvae are predators which eat other small insects.
Lacewing larvae eat small insects which include thrips and young caterpillars.
Finally, parasitic wasps are very small wasps that lay eggs inside aphids and their larvae rids the aphid.
Parasitic wasps breed very quickly and fly around in search of the aphids.
These are ideal for use in greenhouses.
When purchasing ladybirds, they will find the aphids straight away and lay up to 20-50 eggs a day to control the pest problem.
The ladybird eggs usually hatch within a 4-8 day period depending on the weather.
To ensure best performance of the ladybirds, it is important to ensure there are no ants in the area which the ladybirds are going to be placed.
Ladybirds can be ordered from Gardening Naturally, and more information can be found at http://www.
biological-control.
co.
uk.