Ladybug, Ladybug
Ladybug! Ladybug!
Fly away home.
Your house is on fire.
And your children will burn.
Or, my version
Ladybug! Ladybug!
Stay the hell here!
I paid $30 for you.
Now eat my damn aphids.
Okay, there was no rhyme, but you get the picture. Yesterday a big box of beneficial insects arrived on my doorstep and, as Andrew and Cody are off camping, I got to release them into the greenhouse.
We got 2,000 Ladybugs, two cases of Praying Mantis eggs (there's hundreds of mantises - manti? inside each), 1,000 Lacewing eggs, 5,000 Thrip Predators (doesn't "thrip" sound like something from HP?), and 1 Million Guardian Nematodes/Lawn Patrol Nemoatodes. Much like Nargles, the latter are basically invisible and inhabit plants. They are basically parasitic and kill the larvae of many common pests like cutworms, corn rootworms, strawberry root weevils, European corn borers, white grubs, sod webworms, and termites. The nematodes are so invisible they come in a sponge and have to be watered in. Most of the others came in packets that I had to hang from stakes or in bran mean that I had to sprinkle on to the plants.
But the ladybugs? Well, they were the coolest. First, I had to stick them into the fridge for a couple of hours in order to calm them down. Next, I had to wait for nightfall and water the greenhouse deeply before releasing them. I don't usually water at night, but it was kind of a cool experience as it was raining outside as I did it. Also, the lights in the place create a strange sense of intimacy as if the whole world were contained inside those walls. Once the sun had gone down and I'd thoroughly watered, I could cut open the net packets of ladybugs and set them free. Andrew took my camera so I don't have pics, but you'll have to trust me on how fun it was.
You have to release them at night and around water so they'll stay. Apparently, they want to immediately fly one mile and then rest. However, my friend Paul (the Gay Tomato Guy) gave me a tip that if you release them after dark and give them plenty to drink, they'll settle down and in the morning will be settled enough not to fly. So far it has worked because when I went in this morning they were still there. Well, I didn't count all 2,000 of them, but there seemed to be tons!
Wish them luck!