I am new so show mercy on me as I am not familiar with how formal this
newsgroup may or may not be! :-)

I am very new to gardening/planting. I have several new indoor house plants
& I have way to many reference books!

My situation is this:
I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice
teeny tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown. Horror!
My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First
,did we do the right thing? Next WHAT are the teeny tiny little black
things? And finally why did the other lady bugs leave & will they return?
Any kind suggestions will be gladly appreciated.

ps. the lady bugs are from our home.
Thanks kindly.
Sandra

Aphids more than likely, and yes lady bugs is the best way to do it. Next
best way is a pint spray bottle of water and a couple drops of liquid
detergent sprayed on them a couple of times. Then you might put the pot in
front of a fan. Aphids hate moving air.

Dwayne

"bunnie" wrote in message
r.com...
I am new so show mercy on me as I am not familiar with how formal this
newsgroup may or may not be! :-)

I am very new to gardening/planting. I have several new indoor house
plants
& I have way to many reference books!

My situation is this:
I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting
them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice
teeny tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown.
Horror!
My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First
,did we do the right thing? Next WHAT are the teeny tiny little black
things? And finally why did the other lady bugs leave & will they return?
Any kind suggestions will be gladly appreciated.

ps. the lady bugs are from our home.
Thanks kindly.
Sandra

Dwayne wrote:

Aphids more than likely, and yes lady bugs is the best way to do it. Next
best way is a pint spray bottle of water and a couple drops of liquid
detergent sprayed on them a couple of times. Then you might put the pot in
front of a fan. Aphids hate moving air.


Also, if you're placing ladybugs on plants, you can spray them with a
light sugar solution first. The sugar will glue their wings together so
they can't fly away. By the time they've cleaned the sugar off they will
have gotten used to the plant they're on (particularly if it has tasty
aphids on it) and won't be so tempted to flee.

On the other hand, once they've eaten all the aphids, they're out of
there in search of tomorrow's meal. You need to strike a balance between
aphids and ladybugs if you want the ladybugs around. (I'm not suggesting
you buy aphids to place on your plants to attract ladybugs)

Yes aphids! I did figure that out last night!

YES! Flying OFF! That is what kept happening! They kept flying off & we kept
returning them to the plants. Spray the lady bugs with the sugar solution or
the plants? If I am to spray the lady bugs, do I spray them away from the
plant? I have several lady bugs indoors usually. I am careful to dispose of
dead ones I hear they attract all kinds of other yucky bugs. When we moved
in 3 years ago they were here & seem to come out mostly in spring.

Today the plants do look much "cleaner". What will the lady bug do to the
plant once all the aphids are gone? Maybe I should buy more plants rather
then buy aphids.... hee hee hee :-)
I will tell my hubby you said so!
Thank you so much for the help.
Sandra

I am new so show mercy on me

Nah, we will rip you apart like everybody else. ;-)

I have way too many reference books!

Impossible. Just don't try to digest them all at once.

I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice teeny
tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown.

Could be aphids, or any one of a number of insects. They can probably be
dispatched with Raid or similar houseplant insecticide. Follow the directions
on the can.

My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First, did
we do the right thing?

There is nothing wrong with using predator insects for pest control. However,
as you saw, it doesn't work very well for houseplants inside the house. It
works for greenhouse crop management. The ladybugs probably will not return. In
the future, if you find ladybugs in the house, the best thing to do is put them
outdoors (except in the dead of winter), where they can lead normal lives &
multiply.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

I am new so show mercy on me as I am not familiar with how formal this
newsgroup may or may not be! :-)

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting
them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice
teeny tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown.
Horror!
My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First
,did we do the right thing? Next WHAT are the teeny tiny little black
things? And finally why did the other lady bugs leave & will they return?
Any kind suggestions will be gladly appreciated.

Well, your son was probably correct -- assuming the little buggers are
aphids, ladybugs will do wonders. Ladybugs are great as they're carnivorous
little stinkers -- they love the taste of small insects like aphids.

As for why they didn't stay -- could be a couple of things. First and
foremost, they need food so they will not hang around if there's no food.
You might want to try putting a net around the plant before putting the
ladybugs into it (i.e., one they cannot get out of) or you might just want
to buy some ladybugs and put them and the plant outdoors for a bit.

ps. the lady bugs are from our home.

From inside your home or outside?

James

If the lady bugs don't work you can try using some thing with a bit more
kick. You can either buy insceticidal soap from mixing a bit of palmolive
and water and spraying it onto the plants with a spraybottle. Or you can use
commercial garden pesticides, but those kill everyything.

Ladybugs rarely stay on a plant for more then a day or two.


"bunnie" wrote in message
r.com...
I am new so show mercy on me as I am not familiar with how formal this
newsgroup may or may not be! :-)

I am very new to gardening/planting. I have several new indoor house
plants
& I have way to many reference books!

My situation is this:
I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting
them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice
teeny tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown.
Horror!
My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First
,did we do the right thing? Next WHAT are the teeny tiny little black
things? And finally why did the other lady bugs leave & will they return?
Any kind suggestions will be gladly appreciated.

ps. the lady bugs are from our home.
Thanks kindly.
Sandra

Loved your laugh in the beginning of your post..... gave me a real chuckle!
:-)
Okay... yes the lady bugs are from indoors....we have had a steady stream
for over three years. VERY old home. There are 3 in there today. I did not
continue to return the 2 that left yesterday.... so I guess there is a party
going on in that planter. My son is loving the being right part.... thanks
like a fourteen year old needs any more ego! :-)
Much thanks to you all....
Sandra

Stay with the lady bugs if you can, but put a teaspoon of honey in a cup,
and add 2 teaspoons of water. Mix it up and put some of it on a cotton
ball. Then lay the cotton ball in the pot with the plant. This will give
lady bugs additional food and will help keep them near the plant.

Dwayne

"bunnie" wrote in message
r.com...
I am new so show mercy on me as I am not familiar with how formal this
newsgroup may or may not be! :-)

I am very new to gardening/planting. I have several new indoor house
plants
& I have way to many reference books!

My situation is this:
I have some adorable little hen & chicks mix & a few days after potting
them
they seemed to burst open & multiply. Wonderful! Except I began to notice
teeny tiny little black "things" moving inside the inner most crown.
Horror!
My 14 year old son said to put some lady bugs on them. I did. I put 3. One
of the lady bugs has stayed for 3 days. The other two abandoned me. First
,did we do the right thing? Next WHAT are the teeny tiny little black
things? And finally why did the other lady bugs leave & will they return?
Any kind suggestions will be gladly appreciated.

ps. the lady bugs are from our home.
Thanks kindly.
Sandra

AWESOME TIP!
Thanks so much!
We have noticed a definite clearing of the aphids, & 3 lady bugs show up
throughout the day. The planter is near a warm window & they periodically
fly off & onto the window.... I am getting the honey out right now!
Thanks again ;-)
Sandra

My wife and I caught about 16 of them last fall and put them into a room
with the "plants" and closed the door. She has nearly 20 plants that she
kept there. Some were full of aphids. After a 3 weeks most of the lady
bugs were gone and she killed a couple of "fat" spiders. Lady bugs
hibernate when living outside (she looked it up on the Internet), but with
the extra food on the cotton balls, they managed to rid us of the aphids.

We have since moved the plants out of that room and most of them go outside
when we get a really nice day.
We hope they went into hibernation, and if so, we will try to put them
outside in the spring after they wake up.

Dwayne


"bunnie" wrote in message
...
AWESOME TIP!
Thanks so much!
We have noticed a definite clearing of the aphids, & 3 lady bugs show up
throughout the day. The planter is near a warm window & they periodically
fly off & onto the window.... I am getting the honey out right now!
Thanks again ;-)
Sandra

I did put a cotton ball in water & a dab of sugar (out of honey) & today
there are four lady bugs there & barley a trace aphids. It must be working I
am so excited & the kids are loving this experiment. Of course my son wants
to look at the "food-chain" under the microscope! ewwwwwwww
thanks so much
Sandra

In article
,
says...
Of course, these are not technically "ladybugs." They're Japanese
beetle-ladybug-look-alikes.

They are as lady a bug as the native ones you are
thinking of, even a bit more aggressive, just native to
Asia.
--
Good judgment comes from experience,
and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.


Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!