On May 18, 9:20*am, Janet wrote:
In article 1e63d63e-9d57-49e4-83ce-84253b8dbd76
@c26g2000vbq.googlegroups.com, says...







On May 17, 7:21*pm, Janet wrote:
In article 422b0eec-8d66-45b5-96ad-
,
says...

On May 17, 12:43*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-05-17 12:24:06 +0100, Dave Hill said:

On May 17, 12:11*am, Janet wrote:
In article , says...

Just noticed plenty of aphid activity on a few plants, was thinking of
(or
rather being nagged into) ordering some ladybird adults & larvae and a
house
and food.

Would I be better off spraying the infestation with aphid-killer and
chucking 40 quid over the fence instead? I still have a hard time belie
ving
that if I buy ladybirds, they're not going to bugger off into the atmos
phere
without even a thank-you as soon as my back's turned. I reckon I might
as
well buy a 40 quid jam jar full of air and release it into my garden, a
nd
have the same chances of finding some of it still there the next day.

Anyone with opinions/experiences?

* You can get birds to clear the aphids a lot cheaper, just hang a pean
ut
feeder close to the aphid infestation to show the birds where lunch is. A
t
this time of year they prefer live food to feed their young.

* *Janet

There is no way I would try to get birds to clear aphids from a
glasshouse.

Really? They're in and out of ours all and every day. *We hang bird
feeders in there to encourage them and there's always a box of crumbs
by the till for them to feed from. *Customers love to watch them, too. *
I think there have been two occasions of birds flying into the glass
that I remember and that could happen any time, anywhere.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Not amongst a couple of thousand cuttings and young plants.

* The OP mentions his aphids on "a few plants". Not a couple of thousand.

* Janet.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

No Janet,
I was saying that I would not want birds in and amongst MY cuttings,
thought it was clear, but looks as if I was wrong.

* OK Dave. I thought we were all trying to give advice relevent to the
OP's situation.. looks as if I was wrong too :-)

* *Janet- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's an interesting point Janet.
I was widening the discussion to make it if interest to more people.
If you have plenty of active Ladybirds and /or Lady bird Lave then no
point in buying in any more ladybirds, but if you have a lot of Aphids
and no sign of ladybirds then could be well worth buying some in as
trhey will get to work within a day.
If the aphids are on shrubs or other firm stems then the bird option
may be an idea, but if it's going to take a week or two to attract
them in the aphids could have got out of hand.
On soft growth such as young annuals then I wouldn't want birds going
in after the Aphids, in my cast a couple of birds geting into the
bench of Dahlia cuttings could prove costly as they could on young
tomato plants.
We have aphids comming on strongly here with winged females appearing
in the last 24 hours, so not the time to hope that a few local lady
birds will find them, by the time they have laid their eggs and
hatched the aphids could be 50 to 100 times as many, so it's spray
time for me, just where needed.
I havn't seen a ladybird for the last 3 weeks, they were around in the
hot spell but no food for them then.
Thats the problem with giving advice that is to be seen by many people
who may have a similar problem but with some circumstances changed.
It's not a case of "One size fits all".
David Hill
In a damp South Wales, where we have at last seen a little sunshine.