Where are all the predator insects?

MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
I am no entomologist or agro- biologist. So I am wondering if you are having issues with treatment resistant pests and lack of beneficial predators? I have had only minimum good bugs. First time ever. And mealy bugs and spider mites from h@@@. Spider mitesare hitting dendrobium orchids. Easy manual removal in early morning. The mealies are in my crop only. Thought I killed them with diatomaceous. No, I did not contaminate anything beyond the garden enclosure. Love my honey bees. Another story. This was after dish soap, neem and spinosad. I suggest we tell our neighbors to get with organic and not poison lawn are they share unwittingly.

JustJust wanted to see if anyone else is seeing this. Peace health to all and your pursuits.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I've got tons of dragon flies snatching bugs out of the air and a few resident birds that pick and peck in the garden which is great except for when they do it where I just planted some seeds. Tons of honey bees feeding on all the flowers I have growing. I've let lady bugs and praying mantis loose in the garden before but they just seemed to disappear. I do find frogs now and then in the garden but haven't seen any yet this year.

I haven't had any significant bug problems except for the slugs in the spring. I've been spraying with different homemade concoctions using sesame oil, citric acid, rosemary, tea from ghost peppers, mint, etc... Seems to be working so far. I did find this guy munching on my Dahlia's today. It's no longer crawling around.


 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I've got tons of dragon flies snatching bugs out of the air and a few resident birds that pick and peck in the garden which is great except for when they do it where I just planted some seeds. Tons of honey bees feeding on all the flowers I have growing. I've let lady bugs and praying mantis loose in the garden before but they just seemed to disappear. I do find frogs now and then in the garden but haven't seen any yet this year.

I haven't had any significant bug problems except for the slugs in the spring. I've been spraying with different homemade concoctions using sesame oil, citric acid, rosemary, tea from ghost peppers, mint, etc... Seems to be working so far. I did find this guy munching on my Dahlia's today. It's no longer crawling around.


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MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
I've got tons of dragon flies snatching bugs out of the air and a few resident birds that pick and peck in the garden which is great except for when they do it where I just planted some seeds. Tons of honey bees feeding on all the flowers I have growing. I've let lady bugs and praying mantis loose in the garden before but they just seemed to disappear. I do find frogs now and then in the garden but haven't seen any yet this year.

I haven't had any significant bug problems except for the slugs in the spring. I've been spraying with different homemade concoctions using sesame oil, citric acid, rosemary, tea from ghost peppers, mint, etc... Seems to be working so far. I did find this guy munching on my Dahlia's today. It's no longer crawling around.


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No snails here. Just an occasional slug. But between the toads and the bed walls they don't get anywhere critical. My dahlias are pest free. I dropped them and a bunch of flowering ground cover. Only to have three nights below freezing. Figured they were hit. So I over seeded with more native ground cover and a bunch of old bachelor buttons I found behind a shelf. Surprise. Everything took off a couple weeks later and I believe the over crowded cover is distracting my usual pests with them. Cukes and cannibus have had issues though.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Kassiopeija said:
en.wikipedia.org

Decline in insect populations - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Hard for the bugs to live when people are spraying so many poisons around their yards killing the ecosystem.

There are bad bugs that are hard to get rid of without industrial strength poisons sold at Home Depot. But there are options that are friendly to the beneficial insects and bee's. They may not be as effective but I personally will just deal with some bugs rather than turn my yard into a toxic environment for the good insects out there. I have birds, frogs, and squirrels that run around as well. I have foliage plants all around the yard that provide all kinds of habitat for different creatures. I let the birds take their share of the blueberries. Just today I watched a Robin pull a worm out of where I had just planted some radish seeds. Watching the Robin eat was worth the couple of minutes it took to fix the mess the bird made.
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
Hard for the bugs to live when people are spraying so many poisons around their yards killing the ecosystem.

There are bad bugs that are hard to get rid of without industrial strength poisons sold at Home Depot. But there are options that are friendly to the beneficial insects and bee's. They may not be as effective but I personally will just deal with some bugs rather than turn my yard into a toxic environment for the good insects out there. I have birds, frogs, and squirrels that run around as well. I have foliage plants all around the yard that provide all kinds of habitat for different creatures. I let the birds take their share of the blueberries. Just today I watched a Robin pull a worm out of where I had just planted some radish seeds. Watching the Robin eat was worth the couple of minutes it took to fix the mess the bird made.
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I actually have established a mini nature preserve here in toxic suburbia. Rabbits, squirrels of three varieties, 9 and 13 striped chipmunks, deer, garden and blue racer snakes, toads galore and I try to only attract hummingbirds and gold finches. Have them but several varieties of hawks frequent the tree tops over head cause of chipmunks and baby rabbits. All that on less than an acre of organic native plant life. 008.jpg
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
I actually have established a mini nature preserve here in toxic suburbia. Rabbits, squirrels of three varieties, 9 and 13 striped chipmunks, deer, garden and blue racer snakes, toads galore and I try to only attract hummingbirds and gold finches. Have them but several varieties of hawks frequent the tree tops over head cause of chipmunks and baby rabbits. All that on less than an acre of organic native plant life. View attachment 4628561
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The cotton tail on top was sitting on a nest of six pups in my front yard. Had another nest in the backyard and yet another between the fences out back. there are between 2 and 10 almost every night in the front yard munching clover.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
I actually have established a mini nature preserve here in toxic suburbia. Rabbits, squirrels of three varieties, 9 and 13 striped chipmunks, deer, garden and blue racer snakes, toads galore and I try to only attract hummingbirds and gold finches. Have them but several varieties of hawks frequent the tree tops over head cause of chipmunks and baby rabbits. All that on less than an acre of organic native plant life. View attachment 4628561
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That's amazing. If all of us did things like this. Just imagine how much healthier the planet would be. I'm going out tomorrow to spray vinegar on weeds in a patch of gravel along the driveway. It might not work as good as roundup or some other herbicide but it's not going leave toxic leftovers in the soil around my house. It might lower the ph slightly but 1 good rain or watering and gone. But it will still kill some of the plants all the way. The big dandelions I'll have to dig out.

I don't care what they say about how fast Roundup breaks down and dissipates. I'm not spraying that stuff on my property. Or some of the organic products like Pyrethrum which is highly toxic to bee's.


Awesome rabbits by the way.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
The cotton tail on top was sitting on a nest of six pups in my front yard. Had another nest in the backyard and yet another between the fences out back. there are between 2 and 10 almost every night in the front yard munching clover.
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Plant more clover or hope for Coyote's and Bobcats. Birds of Prey as well. Nature can take care of things if we let it.
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
Plant more clover or hope for Coyote's and Bobcats. Birds of Prey as well. Nature can take care of things if we let it.
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No round up ever. got the neighbors to quit using it. I just get to do our driveways with vinegar, baking non iodized salt and dishsoap. Effective for most weeds.

No need for coyotes. Although I have seen them on the street. Wonder why? Rabbits maybe. My beast of a mutt eats everything he can catch. And he's good at it. Makes me mad. But it is nature at work. And he's a healthy 110#'s. 002a.jpg
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
No round up ever. got the neighbors to quit using it. I just get to do our driveways with vinegar, baking non iodized salt and dishsoap. Effective for most weeds.

No need for coyotes. Although I have seen them on the street. Wonder why? Rabbits maybe. My beast of a mutt eats everything he can catch. And he's good at it. Makes me mad. But it is nature at work. And he's a healthy 110#'s. View attachment 4628582
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I'm at inner Portland and I've even seen Coyotes here. Nice looking dog.
 
MICHI-CAN

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
Got hit by the ultimate pest early this morning. Really high winds and monsoon type rain. I see corn and tomatoes down. Cucumbers pulled off the fence. All I can see from inside. Aprehensively awaiting it to stop raining to go asses the damage. Hope everyone has a better day than mine is starting out as.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
Got hit by the ultimate pest early this morning. Really high winds and monsoon type rain. I see corn and tomatoes down. Cucumbers pulled off the fence. All I can see from inside. Aprehensively awaiting it to stop raining to go asses the damage. Hope everyone has a better day than mine is starting out as.
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Well that sucks.
 
steve870

steve870

Well-Known Member
MICHI-CAN said:
Got hit by the ultimate pest early this morning. Really high winds and monsoon type rain. I see corn and tomatoes down. Cucumbers pulled off the fence. All I can see from inside. Aprehensively awaiting it to stop raining to go asses the damage. Hope everyone has a better day than mine is starting out as.
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i feel ya man my corn has fallen over a week ago. it's catastrophic
 
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