Attracting ladybirds: Natural insecticide for your garden and how to lure them in
The steadily increasing spring-like climate encourages garden owners to make preseason preparations. Unfortunately, even the most beautiful garden can fall prey to parasites. Aphids, who multiply quickly and rapidly attack subsequent plants, are some of the most challenging foes.
Naturally, one can find products to fight such pests in gardening stores and supermarkets, but it might be more prudent to depend on beneficial insects, such as ladybirds, before resorting to them.
Invaluable help in fending off parasites
Ladybirds eagerly feast on such parasites as aphids, honeydew, beetle larvae, and flies, as well as various plant-eating mites. This makes them invaluable allies for every gardener. Regrettably, their larvae resemble pests, causing them to be mistakenly killed by the gardener before they realise that they are actually ladybirds.
An adult ladybird can consume approximately 50 aphids per day, and it can live for several months. Therefore, it's certainly worth the effort to have these beneficial insects in your garden or on your balcony. There's a straightforward method to accomplish this.
How to lure ladybirds into your garden?
A great tip to draw ladybirds into your garden is to use a simple spray made of sweet water. Simply add half a teaspoon of sugar to about 1 litre (rounded up from 0.946 litres) of water, mix it and spray the aphid-infested plants. Ladybirds should start to appear after a while.
It's also beneficial to provide them with a habitat. Try not to trim the grass too short, leaving some fallen leaves under trees or bushes provides the ladybirds with shelter. Ladybirds are attracted to yellow and white flowers, so planting these in your garden could be advantageous. In order to allure these beneficial insects, some people also tie bright yellow ribbons to aphid-infested shrubs.
If you're trying to attract ladybirds to your garden, it's advised to cease using chemical insecticides for a while. These products not only kill the parasites but also the beneficial insects such as ladybirds.
