On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 22:50:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:



In the greenhouse we call the 'small double', we grow P. mollissima,
antioquensis, exoniensis and two or three others. In ALL our greenhouses we
use biological control. They really do work. My husband has had this
nursery for 24 years but he was one of the pioneers of biological control
back in the 50s in Essex, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces and selling
the plants of those.
Do try to use this. But you have to have a steady nerve! You must NOT
spray before (or after) introducing them, and you must allow them to do
their work, getting new supplies and adding them as necessary. Ours come
every two weeks or so from Kopperts and are either in little paper sacks
that they eat their way out of or in small plastic bottles that we open and
leave lying around, here and there. This site gives information but I think
Kopperts supplies only to the horticultural industry - I may be wrong.
http://www.koppert.nl/e002.shtml
The glass houses are open to the skies on every half-way clement day and
birds swoop in and out and even best in them and help to reduce the pest
population. We encourage them by putting balls of fat/seed and peanuts all
over the place and our customers really do love the bird population they see
and hear in this place.

I was forced down the 'green' route, not altogether unwillingly I
might add, but because I found I had red spider mite and nothing
seemed to control it. So I got some Phytoseiulus, and they saw to them
really effectively. Now I've got thrips, which AIUI are amenable to
conventional insecticide. But having seen how effective the Phyto were
on the RSM, and not wishing to kill them off anyway, I'm going to try
Amblyseius to control the.

The nice thing about using bugs to eat bugs is that you just sprinkle
them on and let them get on with it; no preparing pump-up containers
of insecticide and spraying every few weeks. Really appeals to my lazy
streak!


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net