Dec 18,  2002

Beneficial Garden Insects – Good Creatures In Greenhouses

 Beneficial garden insects should be welcomed into a greenhouse.  While there are some pests and little creature that we don't like in greenhouses because of what they do to our plants, there are also a few of these little creatures and bugs that I can say I don't mind when I find them in my greenhouse. While each little creature has its own purpose in life, what it eats and what it does, these little beneficial bugs are beneficial to the environment in greenhouses.

There are most likely hundreds of bugs that I could actually say are good in my greenhouse, but here we are just going to discuss a few of the more common. There is not really one beneficial garden insect that is better than other and most times you may not even know that these little bugs are in your greenhouses but you do benefit from their existence, and so do your plants.

Spiders
While I myself, do not like spiders, I often have them everywhere. I do not know what they eat in greenhouses but I do know that they are carnivorous. A carnivorous spider or bug eats other types of bugs. So when I find spiders in and around my plants, I know that they are controlling some other type of bug population in my greenhouse, which could be a very good thing. I haven't researched to find if you can actually buy spiders but I have never noticed any for sale.

Wasps
Believe it or not, wasps will help you control caterpillars in greenhouses. While I have problems with caterpillars in many of my outdoor gardens, I really haven't used or seen wasps or caterpillars in my greenhouse. I have heard that you can buy wasps to control other predators in the green house, and in your garden if need be. The balance of nature usually brings wasps to areas where the caterpillar presence is found.

Bees
While you may not realize it, there are many hobby gardeners who have large hobby greenhouses and many many types of flowers and plants. Because they have so many plants, and so many types of plants, they may not be able to keep up with pollination in the greenhouse so these gardeners will actually keep a beehive in their greenhouse. Usually these gardeners have the largest residential or commercial type green houses to have so many plants that they cannot keep up with pollination. You can buy bees through a variety of sources.

Lady Bugs
You can buy Lady Bugs through a number of sources. Lady Bugs are known to control aphids in greenhouses. Aphids are a common problem with greenhouse gardening. It is known that Lady Bugs can be kept in a refrigerator where they will hibernate for a few weeks at a time, and then you can release them in the green house when your pest problems are first noticed for them to take effect immediately. Lady Bugs are often known to fly away, but at least they aren't very expensive.

This article was published on 18 Dec 2002 by: Garden Moose. Garden Moose is a regular contributor to Greenhouses.com a great greenhouse and gardening resource website.