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FOTD: 4-25-’23. Ladybug release in our mini garden

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“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hoping these ladybugs will devour the aphids in this Marigold plant pot. Another customer I met at Loewe’s checking out line said that ladybugs are efficient at eating the tiny black bugs flying in, on, and around the soil of this plant. Kiddos seemed really interested when they saw the little plastic container of moving ladybugs. Ok, this will be a learning project.
The other day I sprayed Neem oil on the bugs but that did nothing to help. When we placed a few ladybugs into the pot, they kept flying away or escaping. So we trio sat there pushing them back down into the plants. For me, the squatting position was too much for my legs. I had to take a Tylenol for the leg pain afterwards.
Exploring the leaves
New daisies
On our Jade plant, named Pamela Jade. This plant was more attractive to the ladybugs and they did not move away from the plant pot.

Thanks Cee for hosting this challenge! Hope your April is going well.

Thank you readers for stopping by and have a great start to Tuesday morning.

Categories: flower of the day Nature observations and thoughts Nature photography

Tagged as:

singlikewildflowers

Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!

17 replies ›

  2. Ana’s not sure if you have a major ant/aphid problem
    But two things I did in the past / to get rid of aphids off roses and other shrubs / I used dish soaps in a spray bottle and then hosed it off –
    Recently I just sprayed the rose of Sharon with hose and no soapy water – but that soapy water does work –
    /
    Also / we put little “Terro” brand liquid ant bait and it keeps ants and aphids away naturally – the little traps just go under a rock or to the side of a pot

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Yvette for the helpful suggestion about using dish soap in a spray bottle! I’ve heard of that solution working well too.
      “Terro” is good to know as well. When the need arises, I’ll know what to do.
      I’m not sure what those black bugs are and if they are harming the seedlings. But seeing a group of them on the soil is a nuisance.
      BTW, who is Ana?

      Liked by 1 person

    1. The ladybugs did not solve the problem!! They were too eager to fly away or explore outside the plant pot. I didn’t think about the ladybug larvae…that’s useful information. Thank you for that. Maybe that’ll be a surprise solution later.

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    1. You are so right! We bought them expecting to eat the tiny black bugs, but they were too busy flying away. It was hard to keep them in the plant pot. Kids and I sat there for a while pushing the wanderers back onto the soil. After a while, we just let them be. I thought they’d like to stay.
      It was an enjoyable activity, and our neighbor toddler even stopped by to say hello and hold a ladybug.

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    1. You could buy live ladybugs online but I did not know Lowe’s sold them by the checkout register! They also sell Praying Mantis egg cases.
      Amazon and its private sellers sell live ladybugs. I used to order thousands of them for my parents when they operated their farm. Guess what? Live garden worms are sold on Amazon too. Pretty wild stuff.
      Dandelions are pretty but with our raging allergies, we’ll take a pass. We’re on Flonase, Allegra, eye drops…yikes! It’s going to be a rough allergy season. Dr. just prescribed me steroid ear drops. I told her my ear canal felt like it had ants marching up and down. Blooms are nice though. 🙂
      Hope your allergies are in check and it’s not bothering you like this.

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      1. I didn’t know you could buy any of those online and amazing that garden worms are sold on Amazon – well, they have everything else. Once my grandmother bought me worm manure – I don’t know if I ever wrote about it but yes, she bought it from someone and it came in a small brown bag. My mother was skeptical that it was a real thing and someone did not just sell her a brown bag (like a lunch bag) of dirt and charge her money for it.

        My allergies are not too bad, but I wear a mask outside whenever I step out the door. I liked when they had open appointments/walk-ins, but since Covid they do not. I’m not gong tomorrow morning – there is going to be 30 mph winds, rain/snow showers, in the 30s. My car has a leak issue and was supposed to take it in … I don’t want to drive it over and don’t want to walk 4 miles roundtrip in the rain. My landline went kaput today and I put in a service call – don’t know if they will show up. I take Alavert OTC 24-hour from 04/01 through 06/30 … they have a 12-hour pill too. I don’t get any side effects from it – some pills gave me odd side effects, like I felt like a zombie.

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