Mites, Aphids, and Ants - HELP!

**timwardell** 4/2/2010, 6:20 pm

Hey everyone,
trustingHim posted this in the Lower South regional forum but I'm putting a copy here so that she might get more help/answers/solutions.

I am a first time square foot gardener (well, any kind of gardener actually). I've been so proud of how my garden has been growing. I am pretty devestated that I have been finding aphids galore on my plants and what appears to be mites throughout my Mel's mix. The aphids have been attracting ants and I'm getting discouraged. I've used some soapy water several times on the aphids. They seem to love the newly sprouted peas and my eggplants. There are significantly lower amounts of the aphids, but these little buggers that I'm guessing are mites are crawling around everywhere.
Is there a place in the DFW area that sells ladybugs? I'd love to try to introduce them to my new found "friends."
What can I do to get rid of the ants before they try to take up permanent residence?
I would appreciate any help. Thank you!
Jennie

choksaw 4/2/2010, 7:01 pm

2 excelent sources for your battle against the nasties
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/general-sfg-talk-f5/all-about-bugs-t792.htm?highlight=all+about+bugs
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/general-sfg-talk-f5/garden-bug-idnetification-guide-t972.htm?highlight=bug+identification+guide

for a quick solution until you can get some benificials to make your garden home try Neem oil its the best organic bug killer i have found

jerzyjen 4/2/2010, 9:15 pm

I'm sure this is not really helping you, but if you need ladybugs you can raid my basement! Seriously, my indoor seedlings are covered with ladybugs almost to the point of infestation. There are literally hundreds of ladybug carcasses down there now, im waiting til everything goes outside before i sweep it up.

In all seriousness, you may be able to google buying ladybugs on the internet, i know you can buy butterflies on the net for weddings, don't ask me how they ship them alive but ive seen them. There may be a ladybug place... who knows.

martha 4/2/2010, 9:21 pm

If you buy ladybugs, make sure you find out before releasing them how to do so to encourage them to stick around. Ask me how I know it's important. Mites, Aphids, and Ants - HELP! Icon_lol

jerzyjen 4/2/2010, 10:19 pm

How do you know Martha? Mites, Aphids, and Ants - HELP! Icon_razz

choksaw 4/2/2010, 10:29 pm

Hey jen ever think of captureing them and putting them on ebay? lol you would need to over night ship them to ensure they are alive when they are sent there ways to force hibernation on them as well to make shipping easier

trustingHim 4/4/2010, 11:15 pm

I wish that I had a ladybug infestation! That would be nice. The aphids are not nearly as bothersome now. I think that the soap spray worked pretty well. I just had to keep checking frequently for them. The mites don't seem to have done any harm yet, so maybe they are beneficial. I guess only time will tell. I wouldn't know what mite damage would look like anyway. The ants have begun to build in one corner. I sprinkled cinnamon powder all around the perimeter of that bed. I read that ants hate the scent of cinnamon. I'll let ya'll know how that goes. I hope that it won't cause any kind of damage to the plants. We'll see...
Thanks for all of the advice everyone! It's so nice to get ideas from other gardeners!

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