skip to main content

Northwestern Gardening

Why do wasps hang around in my lettuce?

13 years ago

I have a 23' x 3' salad bed this year, with a dozen plants each of 3 kinds of lettuce... butter crunch (LOVE that stuff!), romaine, and oak leaf red. I have noticed that there are always a number of wasps flitting about the butter crunch, sitting on it, crawling around it. They don't seem to be damaging it (leaf cutters)... and they aren't aggressive towards me - in fact, I had water and they don't even leave when I'm sprinkling...

Just curious - they aren't really a bother.

RainyPNW

Here is a link that might be useful: My 2010 Garden Blog - please check it out!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

Embothrium
13 years ago
Maybe they are looking for prey insects that aren't actually there.

Or are.
rainypnw
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the reply... no insects visible. I've harvested 3 heads so far (cut to 1", bottom leaves still intact, and regenerating very nicely!) - I wash each and every leaf before eating, and they are all pristine. But you think the wasps just THINK there should be insects to munch? And oddly, they don't mess with the romaine or oak leaf red plants... at all!

Hmmmmm.... curious

RainyPNW

Here is a link that might be useful: My 2010 Garden Blog - please check it out!
Related Discussions
Why Do Spinach, Lettuce Taste Like Dirt!?
Q
Comments (7)
A) I didn't mean that you should wash it in undiluted vinegar - just an acidic rinse; and vinegar is a nontoxic and mild acid most of us have around. I don't know about the current growth thing. Lowering soil pH or perhaps fertilizing with a fertilizer that tends to be more acidic is another possibility - or adding an ounce or two of vinegar per gallon of irrigation water. I don't have a lot of personal experience in trying to get rid of 'that muddy taste', so I'm going with reversing the situations that caused it in the first place as being logical. I did go as far as looking up 'geosmin' and found that acids break it down into neutral (tasting/smelling) compounds, though. B) Good question about the condensation, but I don't know the answer. Since it likes moisture and higher pH, I would think it likely that it could. Condensation has a neutral pH, which is higher than the ideal garden/container soil's pH. At least you have a starting point (geosmin). I hope you're able to ferret out the answers and come up with a workable solution. I'm guessing not, but I should ask if you're doing any kind of foliar fertigation on these plants? Good luck - sorry for the lame attempt at the joke. You should've left out the "Without the jokes ..." part. lol If it wasn't me, it would have been someone else. Take care, VR. Al
...See More
wasps around my purplehulls
Q
Comments (12)
I've noticed a lot of wasps on my yardlongs too... not surprising, given that they are just a subspecies of cowpeas. They show up as soon as flowering begins. The odd thing is, while they land on the flower stalks, it doesn't seem to be the flowers themselves that attract them. There are knobs/pads located just below the flowers, and they appear to give off a substance that is very attractive to some insects (ants & ladybugs too). The wasps & yellowjackets feeding there are uncharacteristically passive, almost as if they were intoxicated. They don't react aggressively to my presence, and I have never been stung while picking. For the most part, the wasps are beneficial, as are the ladybugs... so growing yardlongs to attract them is part of my pest control program.
...See More
Why are my lettuce leaves curling?
Q
Comments (6)
Thanks for the info, too late on watering them though, I did it this morning before work after seeing the first reply. How do you tell when the top 2/3 is dry? THe containers are a little small to stick a finger down in there, I'm afraid I'll disturb roots or something. The top layer did feel dry, some of them soaked it up faster than others but it probably wasn't dry that far down. I think some of the peat on the sides is from when I first planted them, I filled the trays and then once I watered, it mostly sank down but some was still around the edges. I have been blowing a fan on them each evening for a couple hours but when I saw them curled up like that I turned it off thinking it was too strong even on low. I've also been turning on the heat when it drops down to 50 to bring it up to 55-60. Should I stop doing that? I will use your suggestion for the rack. I didn't think the lights would make a difference. They aren't hot to the touch and I put the thermometer in the basement right next to a tray under the lights and it didn't seem any different than 6 ft away. I know the Bibb in the pellets doesn't quite have any true leaves yet, they are just starting to come up, but, should I thin those out now? They seem a little crowded to me. What about if 2 seedlings came up right next to each other? Do you snip one off or wait until they are bigger? My peppers just germinated 4 days ago but in 2 of the cells, seeds sprouted right next to another one. Thanks for all the help.
...See More
little yellow wasp looking thing hovering around my pepper plant
Q
Comments (7)
On my plants they lay green teardrop shaped cacoons that turm into the fly. The cacoons don't hang like butterfly cacoons. The kind of fly around here makes green cacoons on the top of leaves,laying flat on top with the fat part above and the pointed end below. The first cacoon I found a couple years ago I put in a jar because it was so small and I was wondering what it was. It only took a few days for a fly to come out.
...See More
Embothrium
13 years ago
The leaves of that cultivar might just be good platforms for resting and warming up. Or there is a sweetness that draws them, watch what they do closely and you may see something that is telling.
plantknitter
13 years ago
Are they drinking/ carrying water?
Does that type of lettuce have a wrinkled surface that holds water?
larry_gene
13 years ago
Wasps would have two reasons to be around lettuce. One reason is water (for mud/paper nest building), but wasps would normally gather water/mud from the ground, not the plants.

The second reason is that many wasps eat caterpillars; If your leaves have any holes in them, caterpillars are around. Wasps can "smell" damaged/chewed leaves from a great distance and it is possible the watering makes tiny fractures in the delicate lettuce leaves. The wasps would be fooled into checking it out.

Wasps spend the entire summer bobbing up and down at our vinyl roof gutters. They do this by the hour, to no apparent benefit. So your lettuce-leaf wasps may be barking up the wrong tree also.
getoffmylawn
13 years ago
Thats funny ; i googled this subject and it brought me here .
I , too . have a simpson lettuce that the red wasps love .They are no bother , and I do have something eating holes
in my leaves of my other lettuce plants , i just havent figured out what is eating them .Im sure theres something in the lettuce that keeps them happy .
nancyanne_2010
13 years ago
Could be aphid eating wasps. You don't see the aphids because the wasps are doing their job.
Ratherbgardening
13 years ago
I agree they could be going after the water. Paper wasps will make many juants a day to our pool or bird bath for water and scrape our deck for the pulp. They're paper wasps. Last year almost all of them disappeared for some reason. We've had many nests on the house for years and never had wormy broccoli. I don't use insecticides or herbicides, so I have no idea what happened to them. There aren't any this year either. Any one else missing them? The only big change was a cell tower going in, but it was in before they vanished. I'd really like to have them back.
HU-877974393
3 years ago
Lettuce bees, lettuce bees, ooooooohh lettuce bees! There will be an answer... Lettuce bees.
Lee Salt
last year
Googling why wasps love my lettuce. They are very kind to it so I leave them beeeeeeeee

Related Stories

LIFE Do You Believe in Luck Around the House?

By Becky Harris

Broken mirrors, spilled salt, an unavoidable ladder — superstitions don't seem to affect this homeowner. Knock wood

HOME TECH The Inevitable Future of Drones Around Your Home

By Mitchell Parker

As Google joins the push for airborne deliveries, it seems only a matter of time before neighborhoods are buzzing with drones. Is that OK?

GARDENING GUIDES Hummingbird or Moth? See Why You Want Clearwings Around

By Pollination Press LLC

These fascinating moths may be helpful pollinators for your garden. Here’s how to coax them your way

FUN HOUZZ How to Survive an Epidemic of Walking Dead

By Becky Harris

Tips to use around the house and garden to prep for the zombie apocalypse

FEEL-GOOD HOME Simple Pleasures: Make Do and Mend

By Laura Gaskill

Experience the satisfaction of fixing, repurposing and creating things yourself around the home

HOMES AROUND THE WORLD Houzz Tour: Local Cafe Culture Inspires a Melbourne Makeover

By Rebecca Gross

An Australian family renovates its bungalow to connect with relatives, friends and community

GREEN BUILDING The Big Freeze: Inventors Break New Ground to Keep Things Cool

By Olivia Strigari

Old-fashioned fridges can be energy guzzlers, but there are more eco-friendly ways of keeping food fresh, as these global innovations show

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING World of Design: 10 Home Gardeners Show Us Their Sweet Summer Harvests

From New York to Tokyo, these gardeners have turned their yards, terraces and rooftops into places of bounty

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES Gardening for the Bees, and Why It’s a Good Thing

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

When you discover how hard bees work for our food supply, you may never garden without them in mind again

FARMHOUSES Houzz Tour: A Farmhouse Branches Out

By Mitchell Parker

New windows and a dining room addition help a Northern California home thrive right along with its bounteous garden

Sponsored

More Discussions

Gossler Farms Nursery visit...Embothrium purchase

7

Arctic blast - NW Edition

27

Helleborus 'Garnet Frills'

4

My favorite plant, Easter 2024

4

We wants it! (But will it rule them all?)

10