Things are under control

It is amazing how a night's sleep lends moderation to panic, or any other excessive emotion. When I checked out the tomatoes the next morning, I concluded (with much relief) that this was not an epidemic of tomato fly or other such potent critters. So, I gave them a thorough bath in a home made soap and oil spray, washed that off later that night and brought home some live lady bugs.

I did want to give it a day to wash off the soap and not have my friendly ladybugs want to ingest soapy stuff. By the next morning, it seemed that I'd the minor infestation of unwanted fly under control. On the downside, it seemed that my zealous effort burned some leaves in one of the tomato plants. I'm yet to meet someone who holds me to higher standards than myself, but I also try to remember that mistakes are permissible as long as they are small and never repeated.


On to the ladybugs. My package is supposed to contain 1500 of them. They say you can't use too many ladybugs. Here's a valuable lesson from last year: remember that ladybugs do need time to work - they need to be released early enough in the pest cycle so they can do their job, and regular, repeated releases of small amounts are often for effective than one, very large release of ladybugs. For home use, 1,500 is usually enough for one application in a small greenhouse or garden. For larger areas, a quart (18,000) or gallon (72,000) of ladybugs may be desired. Many people store ladybugs in the refrigerator, and make regular repeat releases, perhaps weekly. If you're like me (and have a pressing need to know the numbers), I'll confirm that a ladybug eats ~50 aphids a day.