Spiders & Other Bugs Love This Heat

16 years ago

Paul James says that spiders in your garden are a good sign, I just can't remember what those signs are. This a.m. the spider world came alive at my house and I actually had to use a broom to sweep through the webs and inhabitants! Seeing other bugs that I'm not familiar with too. Is anyone else experiencing "bug invasion", mostly spiders? Just to clarify, this is all outside activity, inside of my house is off limits to all critters!

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Comments (10)

caavonldy
16 years ago
I haven't noticed many spiders, I have lots of red ants. They are really mean. Every time I go outside, I get bit.
wanda
16 years ago
Not a lot of spiders in the house, but I'm seeing webs outside. I welcome them in the garden, as long as they're not spider mites. Spiders eat tons of bugs, but I don't want them indoors either.

wanda
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Kaliea, I think mites choose citrus at random. I don't think one has less chance of contracting mites than others. You need to improve the environment so mites don't return. Humidity should be at least 50%, air circulation is important..so a humidifier and fan are needed. Daily misting helps keep bugs at bay, too. I was told by a woman who owns a citrus nursery to spray citrus with Fish Emulsion. So far it's worked great..not one mite. GardensAlive also sells sticky traps that work great, but since you're able to control them w/soapy water, continue doing so..Make sure all signs of mites are gone before stopping this organic insecticide, otherwise all it takes in one bug and you've got the same problems again. Air circulation is very important, especially in winter when our heat is on. Too hot a room and bugs come marching in. Toni
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Firstly, thanks so much for all the discussion about the little beggers. I whole-heartedly concur with Ted that bringing in that fully growing plant was probably my biggest mistake. Equally, using the soil that came out of the 4" pots that the Dahlias had grown in all summer was another one. I'm not completely convinced that dusting or soaking the tubers in some solution is mandatory, but I'm certainly leaning in that direction. This fall all that work will be done out-of-doors and the tubers will come in clean, and into new clean soil. Meanwhile, I have just had a great conversation with a woman at the company whose link is below. They are Canadian sellers of natural pest controls, including mite predators. While I too am concerned about letting things lose in the wild, I'm going to trust someone else in this case as I can only have so many areas of expertise...;-] She has recommended that I get 2000 predators in vermiculite to cover my 90 sq.ft. of trays indoors. She said they can go on after the tubers are planted, as long as its not too long after (e.g. days are fine.) The predators cannot be stored and should be used as soon as received. She has further recommended that I get another 2000 during the week (or so) I am going to be taking cuttings, as stress is another factor in mite growth. Predators like 75F (23C) and ~65% humidity. I will get some more when the plants go in the ground outside. Cost is C$45 for 2000, plus a C$12 shipping charge. So that's very reasonable considering I'm trying to keep some C$600 worth of tubers from going to waste. I'll let you know how it goes. She did recommend I completely scrub everything and try and ensure I've gotten rid of as many ahead of time as possible. That sorta made me laugh...if they can't overcome mites that are there...what use are they? But ok, I'll give them as much of a leg up as I can. Every other plant in my house is still being tossed, including the soil, and all planters thoroughly cleaned just in case. Cheers, Russ http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/catalogue/getprod.cgi?1023A1
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We are in Canada so as far as I know, most of our bugs are harmless. I think if one of our centipedes bites you (pretty rare) it is like a bee sting. My mom just hates them, she lives in a ground floor apartment and she sees them a fair bit. They kinda pop up unexpectedly in your bathroom, so she has gotten a bit phobic. In our house, we have a no kill policy - as long as you are not a mealy bug! So we either live with the bug or put him outside. Once we found a catapiller type-thing in our produce drawer and we feed it, and watched it transform into a moth. For the record, the transformation looked painful :-)
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First, spider mites are much rarer on outdoor plants than many folks suspect. They dislike cold and high humidity and will seldom be present in winter or early spring - they prefer the heat and dryness of summer....or indoor conditions :-) And they are relatively easy to control on outdoor plants by simply hosing down the plant frequently with water. The webs are from regular garden spiders = harmless and beneficial. Second, Japanese maples are rather prone to damage and dieback from late spring freezes. But they are very recoverable as well. Generally, it is best to just leave them until later in the season after they have releafed and you can see what portions may actually be dead and then remove as needed. They are much tougher trees than most imagine. Thirdly, the insect on the spruce looks like an aphid or adelgid (aphid relative). These too are also relatively easy to control, starting with just blasting them off the tree with a strong stream of water. Or you can resort to more serious chemical measures if necessary.
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melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
16 years ago
I've seen a lot of spiders this year. Just the other day there was a large, furry black one on the door handle! I love them, though, b/c I know they represent just a small portion of the arthropod diversity that has built up in the yard over the last few years.

A couple weeks ago a pest company came to the door, offering services. When I declined, they looked at my porch light that was covered in webs (admittedly I hadn't cleaned it in a while) and mentioned that many of the people in our neighborhood were finding spiders to be a particular problem. I said "They're not a problem for me!" ;-)

I do prefer they live outdoors, however. When I find them in the house I'll usually move them out.
youreit
16 years ago
I love the spiders, too! Those fat, juicy ones are all over my yard, and have been for about 2 weeks. LOL The webs are extremely strong, so I hold a stick in front of me, and gently move them out of the way if I need to get through.

I've seen more than the usual of the large "wolf" spiders, too. It's a little disconcerting the way they follow my every movement, but I know they're just looking for num-nums. :D

Brenda
lusty
16 years ago
I have a lot of spider webs mostly just on my plants, not really blocking any paths.

I was watching a hummingbird performing his ablutions on my little solar bubbler fountain on sunday morning, and saw another, smaller, hummingbird flying around. Except that he turned out to be of the unusual burrowing hummingbird family ;-) I _think_ it was a Cotinus mutabilis, that was burrowing into the leaf mulch to lay some eggs. I didn't get quite a good enough look to identify him, though, and didn't want to go digging him out.
CA Kate z9
16 years ago
Ant invasion in the house, spiders in the arbor rafters, not so many in the gardens.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
16 years ago
Saw a tarantula hawk this afternoon. Yikes! That was a scary beast.
youreit
16 years ago
Wow, I had to look that one up, Hoov. How big was it? It looks like something out of Harry Potter which should be left unseen. :D

Brenda
slave2thefur
16 years ago
Tarantula hawks are really beautiful insects - bright orange wings with an iridescent turquiose body, about an inch and a half long. At the SD Wild Animal Park's native garden, we watched (and taped) a dozen of them nectaring on flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: one in my garden
socks
16 years ago
Spiders would be a sign that you have a healthy ecosystem in your garden. Your spiders are finding things to eat, and no doubt things are eating the spiders. I have been delighted to see lizards in my yard recently.

Spiders & Other Bugs Love This Heat

Comments (10)

caavonldy

wanda

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melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/

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