Btw I have seen the ladybugs before at OSH but usually have had less luck finding in home depot of Lowes. I rather see if any of you could recommend a good online seller of ladybug and lacewing eggs.

Nullzero....

I am in the same boat. I too failed with Neem oil...failed with Organicide and am currently watching the failure of an organic insecticide soap. In fact, after reading that they can reproduce through asexual reproduction I have concluded that went ahead and did just what I told them they could do!

I just bought a container of ladybugs to used on severely infected plants I am growing at the school I teach at, but since this is a fairly small garden I am not sure what will happen...either way, I will post results here. Good luck with your problem and hopefully some more tips will come our way

Do you have any ideas as to what caused such a major infestation? Have you been using lots of high nitrogen fertilizers for example? They think of it as candy. ;)

Reason I ask is even if you can get them controlled, they will only return unless the cause of the infestation can be identified.

If squeezing and finger squishing doesn't appeal, you know you can wash them off the plants with just a strong stream/bast of water. I have always had good results with just the soapy water/oil spray recipe - 1 T liquid Murphy's Oil Soap in 1 gallon of water, sprayed especially under the leaves in the early morning.

Good luck.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Aphid control discussions

Yes digdirt and I add this: spray the underside of the leaf, WF congregate near the petiole, and you most spray every few days as eggs hatch that frequently.

I have been using fish emulsion as my main fertilizer. I guess its high on nitrogen :(.

No, fish emulsion isn't high nitrogen in it's basic content. But if you have been using too much of it it or using it too often then yes, it can easily become too much.

How much of it have you been using and how often? Have you been using it as a root drench or spraying it on the leaves? Do you have the big, lush-looking plants that can be an indication of excessive N fertilizer use?

Dave

I have been using it as a root drench. I think what caused the aphids to breed like crazy was my indoor garden with lights. I was using indoor lights to foster the growth of new vegetables. They started to multiply like crazy indoors. When I took the vegetables outside it made matters worse and they spread to some plants.

I started using the Dirt Devil (hand held computer keyboard cleaner vacuum) a few weeks ago. Every 3-4 days I go out vacuum them off, then dump them onto concrete far from my container veggies. Works great. It's only $20 +- for the vacuum and works great.
I tried soaps and solutions, but damaged my leaves... so tried this and it does the trick.

I hope tomatonut will post about how the bought ladybugs work...I'm always a bit sceptical about insectary-raised beneficial insects because a) quality-control is an issue with captive bred insects. They can quickly become more adapted to the artifical rearing conditions than the real world, and then how they're handled since they left the insectary can affect them, too (high temps especially bad).

And b) unless they're in an enclosed space like a greenhouse, they may just bugger off (even in a greenhouse they may manage to bugger off!). I've had some experience of that when doing work with trichogramma wasps. Maybe ladybugs are more robust and have a better work ethic, I dunno.

When I was raising chinese cabbage seedlings en mass in a glasshouse for a work project I used to use insecticidal soap with a little success, or else just wash them off with a stiff spray of water. Frankly I found that just as effective (or ineffective) and never bothered with the soap for home use.

But it's all just a holding action. You're never going to kill them all, if you miss even one they can just breed up again, which they do FAST! In my own garden I just try to provide habitat for predators. The ladybirds in particular were everywhere over the summer just gone, bless them, but now it's winter here so the good bugs are mostly gone.

Luckily I rarely get bad infestations. At the moment I have currant lettuce aphids on my lettuce but at least they don't clump like many other aphids do, so they're not weakening the plants too much. We're on water restrictions so rinsing them off the plants with the garden hose is a no-no unless I do it between 6am and 8am on a Sunday or Wednesday morning. Fat chance! I just wash the lettuce extra carefully before I eat it, and concentrate on growing greens they don't seem interested in - baby spinach, rocket, cress, endive. If I take a break from growing lettuce for a month or two that might fix the evil little beasts!

Aphids are attacking two of my fifty apple trees. All of the trees receive similar care. There are native lady bugs feasting on them but there is no way they can keep up. They only go after the new growth and left unchecked they totally destroy the new growth.

I have had the same problem with my orange trees. One tree will have aphids and the adjacent trees do not.

I use water in a back pack sprayer along with my fingers to wash them away. It is affective but very time consuming. I just purchased some Dr Bronner's peppermint soap to add to the water. Hopefully it will kill the aphids without having to spend so much time trying to wash them off.

Zeuspaul

Check the ant activity. Wherever I find aphids, I find ants. Ants will distribute aphids to fresh growth. Amdro works well, but it has doubled in price. Consider Tanglewood to spread at the base of trees so the ants get trapped and can't distribute the aphids. Good luck.

I will recieve my 1500 Ladybugs today, hope I haven't made a grave mistake releasing this many bugs.

Brass tacks, where do you purchase tanglewood? I had found a product similiar to this in San Diego, but I've not been able to find it here in GA. anywhere online? thanks!