Ladybird Family Offer - 25 Adult Ladybirds and 50 Larvae

We had a terrible problem with aphids and didn't want to use pesticides. The ladybirds arrived safely and "alive"!!! Hooray. It was an extremely hot week but they survived. Within days - no more aphids and a noticeable presence of ladybirds in the garden. Would definitely buy again and would be a great present for an avid gardener.

I was a bit sceptical, but the lady birds really made a difference (even though as soon as I had set them free they disappeared and I only saw one or two ever again). The reason I didn't give 5 stars is that setting free the larvae was a right mission and I am not sure whether any of them actually made it onto the roses alive. They come in a box full of shredded paper and they and the paper shreds are so tiny, that I am sure I squashed a lot of them, either when trying to grab the paper they sat on, or when trying to actually put them onto the plant. Anyways, after about 2 weeks I had basically no green fly left on my roses. So it obviously has worked.

In the morning after placing the ladybirds on the tree i could see a vast decrease in black fly. That never lasted because ants bullied them off the tree. Before you buy ladybirds stop the ants first. The ants spray acid on the black fly so the ladybirds won't eat them, very clever those ants. I bought one product which was basically sticky tape. The ants climbed over it in hours by making a bridge over the dead bodies of insects. The best was tape wrapped around about 8 inches of the tree stem, any sort, then Vitax 200g Fruit Tree Grease. It is not easy to get off your clothes so be careful. My cherry tree looks like it has been through a war. So a bit late for me this year but next year i will be prepared. I heard spraying a mixture of water and washing up liquid daily is also good, i will try that next time also.

Followed the instructions and released after dusk. A few decided my hand was the best place while others flew the short distance to my roses. Carefully placed the remaining ladybirds back in the pot for release tomorrow and on my return to the garden the little buglets we’re having a feast! I fed them grape and sugar water on a sponge when they first arrived to replenish them after their journey in the post and rested them for one night. If they choose not to stay, it will have been worth it for the experience! Also we have 50 lavae to place out in envelopes also so they will have to stick around until they mature.

My runner beans had a lot of blackfly on so I bought these ladybirds to help deal with them. They all arrived alive but disappeared in about half an hour and have not been seen anywhere in the garden since! Ours is an organic garden and no pesticides are ever used. I have since sprayed the beans with soapy water which has dealt with the blackfly fairly well (although they do return), and I was very disappointed with my ladybird purchase. I also have a ladybird tower standing in the bean cage, smeared with supposed ladybird food. Not a sign of them, and quite a lot of money spent to no avail.

Arrived promptly and all happy. I opened the casings a little and left the ladybirds and babies to escape into a freshly watered pot plant, and a couple of days later they had mostly gone. A week later I've spotted a few ladybirds on the clematis where ants have been farming aphids, so this looks like a success. However, only 4 stars as the larvae come on what looks like bright white office paper shredding. If this had been something a bit more organic it would blend into the soil and could just be left to compost, but unfortunately the white paper looks like litter and so had to be carefully collected one the larvae had found a new homes.

ALL DEAD WHEN THEY ARRIVED. WASTE OF MONEY. RESLUTED TO WATER AND SOAP. BETTER TOO!

I was told they would arrive on the 17th. Being live ladybirds they need to be released on the day of receipt. If I had been away for the weekend they would have sat on the carpet in a warm house for a couple of days. This wouldn’t have done them much good.