"Jake" Nospam@invalid wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:43:00 -0000, "Phil Gurr"
wrote:
Phil, I asked them and they say that for your £9.95 you'll get 250 of
the little critters and yes, they can overwinter in the right
conditions. The Ladybird pack works out at £8 for 250 so, mite for
mite, they're cheaper. I suppose it depends on whether you want £49
worth of them or not. Dragonfli are experimenting with a more
voracious creature that might replace their "Mighty Mite Foliar" but
haven't said any more.

I didn't ask what the "terra" version of their product was (I assume
hypoaspis) but you get 500 of those so again Ladybird are cheaper if
my assumption's right and you want the quantity.

All that said, I wonder about all these microscopic creatures. We buy
them and do the necessary with them but are they actually doing what
we've paid for them to do?

I monitored the introduction of Amblysieus last year and although the
build-up was slow, by the end of the season the RSM had all gone and the
predator was rampant. I shall monitor right from the start of the season
this year and introduce a smaller dose of the predators if the RSM appear
and the predator does not overwinter. Spraying is out of the question as
this is a food crop under glass.

Phil