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market-farming - Re: Beneficial Insects

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Beneficial Insects
  • Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 10:30:44 -0400


Tom,

Most beneficials (predators) eat nectar from plants if their prey is not
present. High
nectar plants will attract them to an area and keep them there until a
population explosion
of their prey. You can get a list of high nectar plants from extension or a
beekeeper's
club. Plant what is recommended for bees. (I've found that soldier beetles
love parsley
and basil blooms.) Adequate food supply will also stimulate mating and,
hence, egg laying.
This ensures that there will be more than one generation. Without food
present, predators
won't mate.

The other thing you need is a place for them to "escape" to during mowing
and/or cultivation
and also an undisturbed area for egg laying. You can do this on a small
scale farm by
having beds, borders, etc. Or by strip cropping- alternating strips of crops
with
cover/nectar crops- within fields on a large farm.

So, buying them and releasing only works if done properly and timed when
their prey has
reached a level high enough to "keep them at home." Much cheaper to let the
population
build up. However, this takes time- predator insect populations (like
mammals) don't
recover as fast as the prey. If insecticides have been used, it will take
some time to
rebuild the predator population because poisons get concentrated as they move
up the food
chain (making them more susceptible than the pest insects).

BTW, a visitor noticed an outbreak of aphids on one type of tomatoes I had
transplanted a
few days earlier. (They came from a different greenhouse from all the others
and I figured
they had eggs on them because I didn't notice any at transplant.) I got out
some
insecticidal soap the next day but couldn't find any aphids- only ladybugs!
It took a
little time for the aphids to attract them, but the ladybugs took care of the
problem before
the plants were damaged.

Alex McGregor
Walden Farm
Walden Ridge, TN





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