Nature and Gardening

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All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.

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Ladybug lures (self.greenspace)

submitted 1 year ago by espy to c/[email protected]

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I've been considering buying ladybugs to release in my patio to help with plant pests (mostly aphids). But I can imagine them all just flying away. So I was wondering if any of you have tried "ladybug lures" and if they work at all? They seem to be pheromone based and it sounds promising.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

If I have enough aphids, they're kind of already enough of a lure. The plan of let them run wild until the ladybugs show up only really works if they're on mature plants that won't die in the meantime.

But also, I have better luck keeping them around for longer if I make sure to spritz some water all over the plants every morning/evening after release (until I find eggs on a leaf at least). If they've got food and easy to access water, like droplets on leaves, they tend to stick around.