Outdoor Cultivation
Lacewing on cards are shipped with 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 lacewing eggs glued on each card; cards are perforated to guide cutting or tearing into 30 of ¾ X 2 inch tabs with a hook on one end and containing about 86, 170 or 332 eggs. Cut and place tabs into vines, shrubs or trees when larvae begin to hatch. Tabs can also be placed inside small paper cups and either stapled to plants or hung by a knotted string (through bottom of cup). The cards can be further cut into smaller pieces for wider distribution.
Cardboard vertical honeycomb holds 400 larvae ready to feed on pests as soon as they hit the plant. Honeycomb unit has paper on one side, organdy mesh on the other, with one larva in each cell. Larvae can walk as far as 7 miles, ranging up to 100 feet while looking for pests. During 2-3 weeks of life, one lone lacewing larva can consume 250 leafhopper nymphs , 300-400 aphids, 11,200 spider mites, 3,780 coccid scale crawlers or 6,500 scale eggs. Interfering ants, waxy coatings or hard shells on pests and low temperatures deter lacewings from dining on and destroying pests. Remove organdy mesh from a few cells at a time, turn over, tap larvae onto plants near pest hotspots. Release ~20 larvae per plant.
Eggs packaged in cups or bags of 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 eggs per unit. Cups contain only the eggs and bags contain rice hulls as a carrier. Tiny larvae eat mites, mite eggs and insect eggs. Within about a week they start eating aphids. Release 2,000-3,000 eggs per acre every 2 weeks, 2-4 times OR 1 per 20 pests OR 2 per sq ft in greenhouses. Release when hatching begins: incubate cups or bags (ideal conditions 80º F, 60% RH), check each morning until tiny larvae appear in 1-4 days, sprinkle on plants directly or into paper cups placed in foliage.
Neoseiulus californicus (=Amblyseius californicus) is a general mite predator. Targets TSSM, Pacific, cyclamen, broad, and persea mites. Good for lower spider mite densities – survives on pollen and small insects. Use on strawberry, corn, grape, rose, vegetables, ornamentals, and interiorscapes. Packaged in dry carrier. Prefers warm and humid conditions: 50°-105° F, 40 - 80% RH. Tolerates lower humidity than Persimilis and Fallacis.
Shipped Monday through Wednesday, Order by Previous Friday.
Target Pests: 2-spot, pacific, (possible tomato red spider mite, Tall GH plants, tall plants in interiorscapes
43°-104°F (with High humidity)
*Best in warm/hot GH
*Good for low infestations
*Tolerates lower humidities
*Not good outdoors
*Not deterred by tomato trichomes
Ok with californicus
Fast knockdown
Shipped Monday through Wednesday. Order by Previous Friday.
Target pest
Aphidoletes aphidimyza is a predatory midge (a small fly). The orange maggot stage targets over 60 species of aphids and psyllids. Very cost-effective for preventive control at low aphid levels. May colonize in protected gardens and orchards, appearing year after year at first sign of aphids in spring. Reproduces in greenhouses. Pupae diapause with daylight < 16 hours, at temperatures < 54° F. Supplemental light in winter encourages new generations, but is not required. Larvae drop to soil to pupate – avoid disturbing soil. Shipped as pupae in trays or vials with vermiculite.
Shipped Wednesday, order by previous Friday
Stratiolaelaps simitus / Hypoaspis miles is a predatory mite that eats larva of fungus gnat. Also feeds on western flower thrips (WFT) pupae and springtail (especially in house plants). Lives in top layer of soil, feeds on small, soil-inhabiting insects, mites and all stages of springtails. Can adapt to many different growth media and capillary mats. No diapause: can be used year round. Active at temps > 54° F . Can survive low pest densities. Helps clean up greenhouses and mushroom production, as well as controlling mites on tarantulas, lizards and bees. Should not be applied to soil that has been treated with lime or copper sulfate mixtures. Atheta is a predator of Stratiolaelaps simitus; Stratiolaelaps simitus eats nematodes, good and bad. 10-13 L per acre OR 50 mites per 10 sq ft. Twice monthly, 2-5 times overall. Most effective applied prior to heavy infestations and for end of crop clean-up.
Shipped Wednesday, order by previous Friday
Amblysieus cucumeris (=Neoseiulus cucumeris) is a predatory mite shipped in bran carrier. Targets western flower thrips, onion thrips, and to a lesser extent, spider, cyclamen and broad mites. Nymph and adult stages feed on immature stages of thrips, so a decrease in adult thrips populations will show 3 weeks or so after release. Adults also feed on twospotted spider mites and their eggs. Cucumeris takes 3-4 weeks to establish, so it should be applied before thrips populations appear. Cucumeris also feeds on pollen as an alternate food source. Ideal conditions are 66°-80° F, 65-72% RH. Day lengths less than 12.5 hours with night temperatures less than 70° F induce diapause unless supplemental light is provided.
Shipped Wednesday, order by previous Friday
PLATNERI Trichogramma platneri targets many Lepidopteran pests, including looper, amorbia, leaf rollers, navel orangeworm, and codling moth. Used in greenhouses, interior plantscapes, orchards, vineyards, field crops. T. platneri is the most commonly found Trichogramma west of the Rockies (especially found in trees), but parasitizes moth eggs in many other settings. All-purpose, slightly less tolerant than T. pretiosum of hot and dry weather.
Shipped MTW, order previous Thursday.
PRETIOSUM Trichogramma pretiosum targets many Lepidopteran (moth and butterfly) pest insects, including corn earworm, tomato fruitworm, cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, alfalfa worm, omnivorous leafroller, cabbage looper, diamondback moth and others in field crops, vineyards and stored grain. Tolerant to hot and dry conditions with adaptable host range, commonly found in row crops in North America. Some strains dominate in trees as well as in fields.
Shipped MTW, order previous Thursday.
Eggs packaged in cups or bags of 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 eggs per unit. Cups contain only the eggs. Tiny larvae eat mites, mite eggs and insect eggs. Within about a week they start eating aphids. Release 2,000-3,000 eggs per acre every 2 weeks, 2-4 times OR 1 per 20 pests OR 2 per sq ft in greenhouses. Release when hatching begins: incubate cups or bags (ideal conditions 80º F, 60% RH), check each morning until tiny larvae appear in 1-4 days, sprinkle on plants directly or into paper cups placed in foliage.