Lady Beetles and Praying Mantises in grow tents?

[KeyLimePie]

Would love to hear from anyone who puts lady beetles and praying mantises in their grow tents.
How do they handle the high temperatures generated by the grow lights (especially if one has old-school MHs and HPSs)? Are they okay with that heat? And do they fly into the exposed bulbs and fry themselves or stay away? Same with fans?
And what if you (fingers crossed) don't have any pests but want to put the lady beetles and praying mantises in there as a preventative in case any crop up: do you need to supply them some kind of food source? Otherwise, what would they eat to keep alive? And do they need a water source put into the tents for them?
Thanks, guys. Looking forward to hearing

[SoOrbudgal]

Thoughts of a stoner

[Rootsruler]

Would love to hear from anyone who puts lady beetles and praying mantises in their grow tents.
How do they handle the high temperatures generated by the grow lights (especially if one has old-school MHs and HPSs)? Are they okay with that heat? And do they fly into the exposed bulbs and fry themselves or stay away? Same with fans?
And what if you (fingers crossed) don't have any pests but want to put the lady beetles and praying mantises in there as a preventative in case any crop up: do you need to supply them some kind of food source? Otherwise, what would they eat to keep alive? And do they need a water source put into the tents for them?
Thanks, guys. Looking forward to hearing

Rather than thinking about a pest strategy why not expend that brain power on cleanliness protocols? Most of the time we get infestations due to our lack of cleanliness protocols. Prevention is THE best strategy to keep bugs out of our grows. No outdoor plants allowed in the indoor garden. If you have compressed air at your disposal try and blow off any hitchikers that may make their way into your tent via your clothes.

When I worked at licensed grow ops in Cali they were super paranoid about everyone following clean protocols. When we got to work we all changed into coveralls in an isolated locker room that had been washed so that no hitchikers would infest the crop. At one of the facilities they had a clean corridor where you would suit up with coveralls and you'd walk through the clean corridor towards the door that led to the grow room. The clean corridor was a narrow hall with air jets all over that would blow off whatever was on you.

All of this seemed excessive to me until the master gardener explained that if you got a spider mite infection at home with your 3 or 4 plants it was doable to control the infestation. Try that in a room with 500 plants....

Also, if we lose our plants no biggie. Lose a 500 plant crop and you're talking some serious dinero....

I've never tried to release mantises or lady bugs in my tent mostly because I've never had to. I have had friends that have. Their experience was no benefit inside the tent but lots of ladybugs in the house.

[Bluey]

I have a room to keep out nasty pests. That's what rooms are for.

My outdoor garden is full of WPM atm and the Borg have smashed crops local to me. My room is pretty well sealed with the only air changeover set at about 5% of AC flow and its filtered...which is heaps.

I still get pests if I don't do things right like fungus gnats.

Praying mantis lived in my outdoor crops but all I saw them eat were bees. I think regular garden spiders may have been more beneficial especially re moths and there nasty offspring. I have always had lots of spiders outdoors.

[KeyLimePie]

Rather than thinking about a pest strategy why not expend that brain power on cleanliness protocols? Most of the time we get infestations due to our lack of cleanliness protocols. Prevention is THE best strategy to keep bugs out of our grows. No outdoor plants allowed in the indoor garden. If you have compressed air at your disposal try and blow off any hitchikers that may make their way into your tent via your clothes.

When I worked at licensed grow ops in Cali they were super paranoid about everyone following clean protocols. When we got to work we all changed into coveralls in an isolated locker room that had been washed so that no hitchikers would infest the crop. At one of the facilities they had a clean corridor where you would suit up with coveralls and you'd walk through the clean corridor towards the door that led to the grow room. The clean corridor was a narrow hall with air jets all over that would blow off whatever was on you.

All of this seemed excessive to me until the master gardener explained that if you got a spider mite infection at home with your 3 or 4 plants it was doable to control the infestation. Try that in a room with 500 plants....

Also, if we lose our plants no biggie. Lose a 500 plant crop and you're talking some serious dinero....

I've never tried to release mantises or lady bugs in my tent mostly because I've never had to. I have had friends that have. Their experience was no benefit inside the tent but lots of ladybugs in the house.

Hi Rootsruler Great answer! Thanks! Wow, you are so blessed to have worked in big licenced grow ops! What an experience. You must have learnt shit loads and seen so much cool stuff!
Funny story about your friends ending up with ladybugs all over the house!
Blessings to you xxx

[KeyLimePie]

I have a room to keep out nasty pests. That's what rooms are for.

My outdoor garden is full of WPM atm and the Borg have smashed crops local to me. My room is pretty well sealed with the only air changeover set at about 5% of AC flow and its filtered...which is heaps.

I still get pests if I don't do things right like fungus gnats.

Praying mantis lived in my outdoor crops but all I saw them eat were bees. I think regular garden spiders may have been more beneficial especially re moths and there nasty offspring. I have always had lots of spiders outdoors.

Hi Bluey Thank you for your response. Interesting about the praying mantis and bees. Sho. And interesting what you say about spiders.
Thanks very much.
All the best with getting rid of your WPM.

[OldManGrower]

There are a number of reasons to use a tent indoors:
1. To keep the dark in
2. To keep bugs out.

Mantises' and lady bugs need something to eat in order to survive. If your tent is clean, what would you gain?
FYI: I totally clean the entire interior and everything in it between each grow. I do this as well for all of my growing tools and apparatus. Recalibrate the PH meter. Never had WPM or insects other than fungus gnats.

Engage brain before operating keyboard.

[SoOrbudgal]

Exactly i do the same as you OldManGrower

[Rootsruler]

My stints at these LGO's taught me the importance of keeping your grow space clean. I run a 5 x 5 so I spray down the tent interior with bleach and neutralize with peroxide. I wipe down all equipment with a rag dipped in the bleach solution and follow with peroxide. After it's all done I go one last time with a wet cloth to wipe up any bleach or peroxide residue left.

[alltatup]

No matter how clean I keep my grow room, I get gnats. I keep mosquito bits on hand and now it's just part of the routine to sprinkle it in each pot to solve the problem.

[Rootsruler]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I get almost zero fungus gnats on my soil grows. I use sticky traps but I usually have more of my hair on them than gnats.

[alltatup]

OldManGrower I'm a hydroponic grower, so they come with the territory. Mosquito bits always take care of them. But Yellow stick cards won't get rid of them because they lay eggs in the leca clay, and I assume they do the same in soil... You gotta kill the larvae.

[Bluey]

I grow in coco and what OldManGrower states is my experience also. When I stopped overwatering they went away. Didn't bother with any sticks stuff. No damage to plants either and I had heaps.