Using Ladybugs as Pest Management When Growing Indoors 

you'll be fine :)

Great insight, Shawn - Thanks for sharing. You might try using spinosad and bacillus thuringinsus drenches for fungus gnats. They're a pain, but luckily they're not as destructive as aphids or thrips.

hydrogen works, sticky traps. 0 standing water :) bake soil before using maybe. your call there. lets plants dry out. consider watering from bottom or just near stem

Amazon carries them (!)

word!! get some!

sure, then once they are gone and you don't want the nymphs to hatch use neem oil, there are two kinds of neem oil, topical and root, root is raw pressed and put into the roots and plant absorbs it.. topical is clarified neem oil, the way it works for the root style is the plant safely absorbs it then the bugs eat the plant, then ingest the oil, bad.. topical is more for larvae nymph stages, and it wont work on huge infestations well.. then there are neem cakes, pressings you stack around your garden.. also try sticky traps, white with petroleum jelly applied to it, so take a white milk container, clean it well, cut arrows for going into the soil then triangles squares whatever and rub petroleum jelly on both sides, there is another kind of jelly cannot remember so research this... tobacco tea and a few 3-4 drops of dish soap in a spray bottle have good results as well for live infestations in adult infestation stages, doesn't bother plants, liquefies the bugs insides.. start with low amounts of soap then increase a few drops, for large gardens put it in a hose end sprayer so adjust concentrate accordingly.. remember tho as these bugs are doing their things they are laying eggs whatever so after the soapy water stage a few days later do the neem to do in the eggs... try it all, figure out what works best.. my guess is inside your house the lady bugs are going to head for the windows trying to get outside, just their nature, many are curious, also, put the amount you want to use in your house into a cottage cheese container with holes in the lid, starve em for a day or so.. then they will head for the foliage in search of a meal.. the ladybugs ready to lay eggs will also head for the foliage so it should work, you buy em in large lots like 1500 at a time, 10,000.. maybe release 100 or so at a time? just depends how bad it is and your time frame, if they're killing your plants right now go for the soap or neem oil if there is a lot of em.. or hand pick them off, vacuum? ladybugs only work so fast and could take a month or more to cut down large populations? they are best as a precaution or small amounts at first.. put ladybug food here and there and try to keep em around all the time, they might take to your environment and want to breed there and that's good.. if possible create a lady bug habitat where they can come and go?

No way! That's crazy! We'll try it. . . Although we haven't really had too many issues with them escaping our indoor farm too much- they're pretty contained.

Yeah, that way they have to walk not fly lol

interesting then you can sip n spray

Thats nasty

Thank you for your question Bob. It would be best to contact your local biological pest control supplier as different companies manage shipping live insects in different ways. At ZipGrow, we often receive biologicals in a Styrofoam cooler shipped overnight to help protect against extreme temperatures.

U NEED to put em in the fridge if ubdont use em..tgat tells u that much

That is great to hear, Kevin! We're happy to have played a part.

The problem that I have here in thw caribbean is the heat and pest and if I grow indoor is the smell of germinating seeds...pff help :(

Yeah, praying mantises are awesome! If we had more larger pests we'd probably use them. Our friend Haydn down at BayBerry Fresh in CO has used them in the past I think.