fydesvindico Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) At the moment I've got a few chilli plants that are getting smashed by aphids. I didn't notice until today, but it looks like it's a full blown infestation to the extend of a few winged aphids jumping ship to near plants. There is a ton of ladybug larva all over the plants also, which so far look like they're making quite a good meal of the pests. so, my question is... should I leave it up to nature to fight the problem or should I get in there and drown them out with some neem/ other preventative measure? Does anyone know if neem will affect the ladybug larva, and what do you think the chances are of them actually hanging around to finish off the problem once they've matured to "ladybugs"? Cheers for your help fydes Edited April 12, 2014 by fydesvindico Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
franky Posted April 12, 2014 I knock aphids off my chilli plants i'm over wintering in my hothouse. If the ladybugs seem to be getting the upper hand id let it play out and see who the winner is. If aphids win, knock the inners off of their throne lol 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
indigo264nm Posted April 24, 2014 Aphids produce honey dew - honeydew attracts predators such as lady beetles. Honeydew causes a symbiotic relationship with ants whereby ants are responsible for essentially farming the eggs, and have been known to carry and store them off the plant and spread them to other plants. Ants also serve to protect the aphids from predation. So following this logic, stop the ants and you stop the egg farming, as well as help to increase the population of aphid's predators. Build some ant traps and put them around the base of your plants for honeydew producing pests. Mealybugs for example have their eggs and babies in the soil, and only are found on plants as they mature with the ants are the ones responsible for farming them so stop the ants and you can stop the breeding cycle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
