Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Beneficial garden critters

  1. #1
    Missing Arklatex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    East TX
    Posts
    5,087

    Ranks Showcase

    Thanks
    9,855
    Thanked 8,673 Times in 3,616 Posts

    Beneficial garden critters

    Does anyone make an effort to attract beneficial critters to their garden? Pollinators, pest destroyers etc... I have managed over the years to attract hummingbirds, purple martins, golden orb weavers and preying mantis. I've tried releasing ladybugs and a few other species to little effects. I thought of this idea for a thread when I got home from work this evening and saw the most hummingbirds I've ever seen on one feeder.



    I think having a natural tool to aid in gardening is a great thing.


    Edit: replaced the deleted picture with a more recent one.
    Last edited by Arklatex; 02-24-2017 at 05:38 PM.

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Arklatex For This Useful Post:

    Slippy (08-01-2014),Xerographica (02-24-2017)

  3. #2
    Missing Arklatex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    East TX
    Posts
    5,087

    Ranks Showcase

    Thanks
    9,855
    Thanked 8,673 Times in 3,616 Posts
    Before anybody asks those chicken hats are sink strainers...

    Pic taken from the window in front of the kitchen sink.

  4. #3
    Dinky Dau
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    SE Montana
    Posts
    539

    Ranks Showcase

    Thanks
    348
    Thanked 506 Times in 235 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Arklatex View Post
    Before anybody asks those chicken hats are sink strainers....
    That cracked me up

  5. #4
    Dinky Dau
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    SE Montana
    Posts
    539

    Ranks Showcase

    Thanks
    348
    Thanked 506 Times in 235 Posts
    In other places I have lived, we could attract hummingbirds but we have tried for two years here to no avail. We are trying again in the new house as the location is a little better for them. I miss having them around the house.

  6. #5
    Dinky Dau Just Sayin''s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    557
    Thanks
    232
    Thanked 408 Times in 220 Posts
    We don't do anything in particular to attract them, other than not using pesticides, but we have a pretty large population of preying mantises that do a pretty good job of keeping the unwanted bugs out of the garden. Wish they liked tomato horn worms though.
    "Free men do not ask permission to bear arms"

    Thomas Jefferson

    Seen on Bumper Sticker:

    I may be an old dog
    But I can still bury a bone

  7. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Just Sayin' For This Useful Post:

    Arklatex (02-24-2017),Xerographica (02-24-2017)

  8. #6
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA
    Posts
    173

    Ranks Showcase

    Thanks
    158
    Thanked 55 Times in 40 Posts
    Great topic!

    For the longest time I pretty regularly used pesticides... especially against slugs. God I hate slugs. Then I said heck with out and went all natural. Maybe it's just my imagination but it sure seems like I've been seeing a lot more beneficial critters in the garden... alligator lizards (eat slugs?), praying mantis, ladybugs and so on.

    This last Fall one of my big (aka "expensive") Aloes got hit pretty bad by a different kind of aphid...



    Here's a pic of the culprits...



    Not too long afterwards I spotted a heroine on the same Aloe...



    But I didn't see any ladybugs larvae later on and I think it might be too late for my Aloe.

    Kinda around the same time one of my big Kalanchoes produced some really big flower spikes. The flower spikes were pretty quickly infested with the yellow aphids that dance and have black spikes on them. I found a ladybug elsewhere in the garden and introduced her to the dancing aphids. She had a good feast. When I checked out the Kalanchoe a few days later the ladybug was gone. But then maybe a few weeks after I noticed one ladybug larvae on the flower spike eating some aphids. I looked around and didn't see any others. But then a couple weeks ago I checked the flower spike and it had a ton of ladybug larvae crawling around. The problem was that there seemed to be more larvae than aphids. Now there isn't a single aphid left on the plant. But there sure are lots of hungry ladybug larvae.

    I really wish I had some nice artichokes growing right about now! Artichokes are my favorite veggie. I remember growing them with my grandfather when I was a kid. They grew super great but then they just got completely swarmed with aphids. I remember that we had the same problem with brussels sprouts. But back then I wasn't a big fan of brussels sprouts so...

    Clearly it's about somehow getting the balance right between prey and predators. In order to keep the predators around... it helps to keep their prey around. I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to have a wide variety of plants.

    Just in case anybody doesn't know what a praying mantis egg case looks like... here's one attached to one of my tree Aloes...


  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Xerographica For This Useful Post:

    Arklatex (02-24-2017)

  10. #7
    Missing Arklatex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    East TX
    Posts
    5,087

    Ranks Showcase

    Thanks
    9,855
    Thanked 8,673 Times in 3,616 Posts
    Nice pics Xero.

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Arklatex For This Useful Post:

    Xerographica (02-26-2017)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •