The thing about lady bugs, is that they are great for your marijuana crop!
Get a couple of these little beetles in your grow system and they could be the best pest control method you’ll have ever used. You have to get it right though, you can’t just throw them in and hope for the best. They need nurturing and a sustainable place to nest. So follow these few guidelines and you’ll never look back.
Firstly, the whole reason these critters as so useful is because they eat spider mites. If you introduce lady bugs during your crops vegetative cycle, you probably won’t have to worry about those kinds of pests during flowering. You can however use them during flowering – if you are okay with a few beetles in your bud (that does happen, so be warned and warn those who might smoke your bug bud).
Secondly, Ladybugs only have a life span of about 3-9 months. This means letting them loose on your plants will only be a temporary fix, the solution? You have to give them a place to nest. Here are those guidelines we were talking about.
Unfortunatly lady bugs are not sold in SA according to our research. So your best bet is to try an attract as many lady bugs to your grow by creating a nesting ground. Put a box close to your grow. Make sure it has a small gap or hole in it for those who are curious enough to venture out and start picking at the mites right away. Set the mood for the rest by stocking up the box with raisins that have been soaked in water and a keep wet sponge of reverse osmosis water in the corner. Hopefully you’ll have a thriving little lady bug population ready to keep your crop mite free at all times. It is also worth mentioning that you should probably keep your new ladybug colony out of direct light.
It seems like a lot of effort but it goes a long way with ladybugs because they are hungriest during the larvae and pupae stages of their life cycle. So you would much rather go through the effort to have them around. Unless you just need to save your project plants, then releasing a batch of ladybugs might very well take care of your problem. Just be sure to continuously check under your leaves for infestation because we all know how persistent spider mites can be.
Ladybirds are naturally attracted to high pollen plants, such as sunflowers, if you are able to have these plants in your garden, you will be able to attract lady bugs. We suggest researching what plants will thrive in your climate that will help attract these beautiful bugs.
Any ladybug tips you wish to share? Any special ways your able to attract lady bugs to your plants?
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