# how to keep greenhouse plants bug free and PDF safe



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

I am building a greenhouse for vegetables and herbs and I want to stick some plants in there and see how theygtg do. I have a pothos and philadendron I want to get out of my grow out tank. I want to put a couple others out there like maybe my hypoestes phyllostachya.

So my question is how do I keep the plants bug free?
Is there any product or process that will keep the bugs away?

I have some lime that I'm going to use with the vegetables and whatnot. I have already used it with some tomato plants in the flowerbed out back and I neevr see one bug int hat flowerbed.
I might try to see if I can't get a pupping bromeliad from someone I might just pull the on that is pupping in my viv out and give it a go out there.

Here is a pic of my progress so far. I have the plastic but it has been raining for a few days and once it lets up I'm gonna get it finished. It has a few more PVC pieces running along the bottom to secure the plastic.


----------



## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

to keep the bugs out maybe ladybugs and mantises?


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

goof901 said:


> to keep the bugs out maybe ladybugs and mantises?


nah cause I can't catch enough and buying them I would have to make sure I got native ones cause there is places where they can escape and knowing they might potentially escape is not an option. I don't plan on introducing a non native species to my eco system.
Besides I would have to buy a lot and also lady bugs are herbivorous so they might eat my plants instead of get rid of bugs.

Thanks for the suggestion but this isn't a good idea.

Since many places like Josh's Frogs, Black Jungle, and Jungle Box sell plants from greenhouses there must be a safe pesticide or something that they are using.


----------



## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

not sure about the non-native issue, but for mantises you'd only have to buy a couple of egg pod things. they hold like hundreds of mantises. chinese mantises are legal to use as pest control, which is the kind home depot sells


----------



## parkanz2 (Sep 25, 2008)

I've also heard of using lady bugs to control pests in green houses without much damage to the plants. Just hear say though.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

goof901 said:


> not sure about the non-native issue, but for mantises you'd only have to buy a couple of egg pod things. they hold like hundreds of mantises. chinese mantises are legal to use as pest control, which is the kind home depot sells


You can't release a non native species into on eco system well you can but it is highly frowned upon and I am against it.




parkanz2 said:


> I've also heard of using lady bugs to control pests in green houses without much damage to the plants. Just hear say though.


Lady bugs are herbivorous they do not eat bugs


----------



## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Lady bugs are herbivorous they do not eat bugs


actually Coccinellidae(ladybugs) eat insects. Epilachninae eat plants. Coccinellidae are the classic looking ladybugs and Epilachninae are like the orange or yellow ones.


----------



## Brotherly Monkey (Jul 20, 2010)

DragonSpirit1185 said:


> Lady bugs are herbivorous they do not eat bugs



not sure where you got such an idea, but it's wrong


Live Ladybugs


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

goof901 said:


> actually Coccinellidae(ladybugs) eat insects. Epilachninae eat plants. Coccinellidae are the classic looking ladybugs and Epilachninae are like the orange or yellow ones.


ah I see well when I Googled it that's what it told me. but still yet i would have to gather many or buy them and if they aren't native to my area then I will not get them due to the fact of them escaping and breeding with the native ladybugs.
I have done a few searches and don't really even see where I could purchase them.

I'm really looking for how these greenhouses that sell plants to terrarium supply sites keep their plants bug free.


----------



## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

chinese mantids are already naturalized in your area. You can also use Stagmomantis carolinae which is your native species. I bet I can find you some ootheca


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

Brotherly Monkey said:


> not sure where you got such an idea, but it's wrong
> 
> 
> Live Ladybugs


It was talking about the herbivore breed not the Coccinellidae.

Thanks for the site link tho hopefully I can talk them(Dad and stepmom) into something like this. I don't think she is gonna like the idea of all those bugs in there.

Idk if it will happen either way with the 18 Nights of Blood Tour and the Summer Slaughter Tour I need to save my money. I wonder if you have to pay for next day shipping....I'll be going and checking that now.

edit: sweet it says free shipping  and $31.95 for the lady bugs and 3 mantis egg sacs that's not bad at all. Hopefully I can get them to agree to this and I can situate the greenhouse to keep them in.


----------



## fieldnstream (Sep 11, 2009)

It is pretty easy to find ootheca, one would be enough to fill the greenhouse with mantids. Collecting enough ladybugs is another story, you are better off ordering them. I believe I have seen them at Pikes (it may have been Hastings), if you have one locally it may be worth giving them a call. The ladybugs will do a good job of controlling aphids (its really cool to watch them feast).


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

fieldnstream said:


> It is pretty easy to find ootheca, one would be enough to fill the greenhouse with mantids. Collecting enough ladybugs is another story, you are better off ordering them. I believe I have seen them at Pikes (it may have been Hastings), if you have one locally it may be worth giving them a call. The ladybugs will do a good job of controlling aphids (its really cool to watch them feast).


meh all of the ones I see are in Atlanta and that's 30 mins or so away and my dad would rather have them ordered than drive into Atlanta lol. 
If they are a lot cheaper then maybe. 
I didn't get any hits for searching for mantis on either of the websites but I will give them a call.
I just saw some of the egg sacks pics and I guess I could go try to hunt some down. 
I have been here since like September and I see all kinds of anoles, skinks, toads, and fence lizards daily but I have came across only one Mantis. His leg was stick in the A/C unit and I freed it and took a pic.
I haven't seen another.


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

are there any safe organic pesticides that can be used?


----------



## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

just got done reading about organic pesticides in a book on farming im reading. the problem is that some of the natural organic pesticides will leave residues that can be as toxic as some of the synthetics. my 2 cents as a greenhouse owner is that without spraying in a greenhouse or a really dedicated ipm ,integrated pest management, system in place you will end up with very buggy plants.


----------



## Epiphile (Nov 12, 2009)

All of this is also dependent on what type of plants you'll be growing in the greenhouse- the target pest will determine the options you have available for control. If you're worried about aphids (the main reason ladybugs are used), there are several parasitic wasps which are very effective at controlling these (Aphidius, Aphelinus), depending on your conditions; they're also quite small and not as conspicuous as ladybugs. It does take a fair amount of knowledge about both the pest and the parasitoid to run a program successfully, though.


----------



## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

bug free and PDF safe are two different goals... It is hard to achieve both. I'll tell you what I do (I do the plants for Josh's Frogs).

1) Eyes Keen. It is easier to deal with infestation early, if you let the bugs get established you will never catch up. Get some sticky traps, yellow ones and blue ones. That will help you see pests before they become a problem.
2) Hygiene - buy clean plants (if you buy plants), clean up dead material, sweep. 
3) Quarantine - when you buy in plant material, keep it in a separate spot if you can (I can't always) and watch it like a hawk for a month or so.

If you do that, you won't have to worry about bugs very much. When I have a problem I have two basic lines of defense:

1) beneficial insects - select the predator based on the pest. It never hurts to contact the sellers of the insects, they know what they are doing. I sense a worry about releasing non-natives... I don't worry about that much, most of my predators are tropical and I'm most definitely not. They won't establish outside my collection. You may want to worry about it based on your climate, that is beyond my experience.

2) Spot spray with 'organic' pesticides. There are several that I use. My favorite, isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), straight out of the bottle. My next favorites are various oil based concoctions (soybean/cottonseed oil with rosemary oil is one that i use) or insecticidal soaps. None of those should be PDF problems, especially after a rinse. I also have been known to use azradactin (which I can never spell), which is the active ingredient in neem oil (but smells better), and spinosad, which is the active ingredient in a bacteria, I think. Neem is an anti-feedant mostly, wouldn't effect frogs if they came in contact with it, but again a rinse is never a bad idea. And the spinosad should have only insect toxicity as well. Both of those 'pesticides' are safe for use with beneficial insects, which is another reason to use them.

Frankly, staying on top of the problem is usually sufficient. I sprayed with a mix of neem and spinosad about a year ago, and I haven't had any problems since. Other than a few aphids on a couple plants, whacked them with oil, haven't seen them since. My biggest pest right now is slugs.

Rob


----------



## DragonSpirit1185 (Dec 6, 2010)

littlefrog said:


> bug free and PDF safe are two different goals... It is hard to achieve both. I'll tell you what I do (I do the plants for Josh's Frogs).
> 
> 1) Eyes Keen. It is easier to deal with infestation early, if you let the bugs get established you will never catch up. Get some sticky traps, yellow ones and blue ones. That will help you see pests before they become a problem.
> 2) Hygiene - buy clean plants (if you buy plants), clean up dead material, sweep.
> ...


Great info 
well I just got it built so I don't have an infestation.....yet
I was just trying to think ahead and see what I can out around the greenhouse as like a barrier to ward the bugs off.

I know that when I had my orchids I got a bad infestation of what looked to be like silver or gray bugs with tear drop shaped bodies....idk what they were but it was bad.
I got rid of the substrate I was using used alcohol on the root and whatnot and but in new substrate and it controlled the issue I think some came back a little but never really populated again. The orchids still died  I don't have good luck with orchids lol.

Well I greatly appreciate the knowledge and I was really hoping someone who has lengthy experience with greenhouse pest control would reply, thanks for doing so 
---------------------------------------------------------------------


here is some pics of the greenhouse if anyone is curious. All that is left is, planting, putting down the rain bird irrigation parts and putting an exhaust fan on there. 
I'm hoping I can convince them into getting a thermostat switch to where the fan will kick on when temps get too high but for now I will just put the fan on a timer for the hottest part of the day. The exhaust fan will be going just above the door.

































here is one of the 8 rain bird irrigation pieces. I have 4 half moons and 4 360° ones.









btw if you don't need much "sprinkler hose" then you can get it cheap by the foot at Lowes. Home Depot wanted $8 for 50ft. but I didn't really need 50ft so I went to Lowes and got 20ft. for $3 @ .16¢ per ft. the rain bird pieces only costed $8.
The entire project with the PVC, plastic and screws costed around $80 or $90.
Still gonna put a table in there and some misting heads ones the plants get bigger.


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

My usual modes of attack were soapy water and Neem oil. Isopropyl works great for spot checking and I've heard of people using vinegar but that's mostly for disease not so much bugs. Soapy water and Neem will fight bugs and disease. 

I think I was using roughly 2.5 tbl spoons of soap per gal of water.


----------



## kthehun89 (Jul 23, 2009)

Why are you so worried about releasing non-native insects when your goal is to keep pdf's in the green house which has the possibility of escape?


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

kthehun89 said:


> Why are you so worried about releasing non-native insects when your goal is to keep pdf's in the green house which has the possibility of escape?


He never once stated that the goal was to keep pdf's in the green house. The very first sentance says that it is for vegetables and herbs.


----------

