How To Keep Ladybugs In Your Garden?

Ladybugs can be a lifeline for a garden suffering from aphid problems, as these beetles feed on them and scare off other pests with their foul fluid.

However, timing and method matter when you release the Ladybugs. Continue reading the article to understand it all.

Are Ladybugs Good For Your Garden?

Ladybugs have a real reason to be called garden soldiers and gardeners’ best friends.

The Ladybugs find their food independently by searching for all the available aphids and bugs near the plant.

While doing so, a Ladybug can feed on about 50 aphids in a single day if you release it in a highly infested plant.

And given their single-day diet, Ladybugs can eat about 5,000 aphids in their entire lifetime.

So, yes, Ladybugs do nothing but good for your garden.

However, among the various species of Ladybugs, Asian Lady Beetle harms native Ladybugs and pets.

These introduced Ladybugs are attracted to warmth and safety in the house during the winter days. After entering, they leave yellow stains on couches and even bite pets.

Such cases require you to get rid of Ladybugs in your garden by sweeping the infestation area. You can also use soapy water and duct tape.

How To Keep Ladybugs In Your Garden?

Native Ladybug is best for your garden as it protect vegetables like Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Radish.

Meanwhile, the larvae have greater importance than adults, as adult beetles fly away without enough prey.

So encourage Ladybugs in your garden by considering the pest infestation.

Moreover, you can consider the given points to get Ladybugs to stay in your garden.

• Surround crops infested by aphids with favorite beetle plants like dandelions, geranium, dill, alyssum, fennel, and cosmos.
• Add bug-loving food particles like raisins near the plant to attract more of them.
• Keep your plant hydrated and moistened to let the Ladybug settle in your garden.
• Avoid using chemical pesticides, as they will likely kill the Ladybug.
• Look out for ants, as they can drive off Ladybug larvae. You can control ants’ numbers by dusting diatomaceous earth around the host plant.
• Provide shade for the plant that has Ladybugs on it, as the beetles loathe direct sunlight.
• Alternatively, you can apply plastic sheets, netting, or a tarp over the infested plant to familiarize them with it.
• You can also make a Ladybug feeder using a narrow-tube-like vessel that holds food for them or buy one.
• Also, place a house for Ladybugs near the aphid-infested plant to let them hibernate during the winter and shelter safely at night.

If the number of native Ladybugs is insufficient, you can release live beetles during the spring or early summer.

But follow the pre-steps. It includes watering the garden, releasing it at dusk or dawn, and spreading it equally beneath the plant.

However, the Ladybug will not stay long after you release them in the garden. They do not lay eggs on leaves where you release them.

Where To Buy Ladybugs For Garden?

Keeping an eye on the existing Ladybug might not always be possible as it is free to fly anywhere it prefers.

So to get the most out of the beetles, you can buy the Ladybug from online retailers and store it in a refrigerator before applying at the right time.

Here are some reliable sites to buy live Ladybugs with their shipping times.