Biological Solutions

Bumblebees used for pollination of various crops. Greenhouse tomato plants (as just one example), as do their outdoor brethren, require pollination to fruit. Outdoors this is done by bees, wasps, wind and other natural sources. In the greenhouse, however, people and sometimes their people-made devices must be the bees and the wind. On tomato plants, growers manually, or with a small “buzz” device, shake or vibrate the flower laden trusses.
The problem is the amount of focused manpower needed to properly carry out the pollination process. That’s where commercially produced bees come in: commercial bumblebee hives, for example, are designed exclusively for crop pollination. Not just for tomatoes, but other crops as well: peppers; cukes; squash; cane-, straw-, blue- and cranberries; and many other crops in need of primary or supplemental pollinators.

Heterorhabditis bacteriophora nematodes occur naturally in soil, but not at high enough levels to provide effective pest control. Inundative releases are necessary to reduce insect populations below economic thresholds. In some cases, recycling through host insects will occur to minimize the need for subsequent applications. Some target pests that have been controlled (to varying extents) by H. bacteriophora in field tests are white grubs, Japanese beetle, grubs, northern masked chafer, black vine weevil, strawberry root weevil, citrus root weevil, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber beetles, red imported fire ant, several other soil-inhabiting insects, and filth fly maggots in manure.

Stratiolaelaps scimitus (formerly Hypoaspis miles) is a soil-dwelling mite capable of the prevention, control, and management of sciarid flies, shore flies, root aphids and various thrips and soil pests.

Amblyseius cucumeris is a slow release sachets species of predatory mite that feeds on immature stages of thrips and mites. It also feeds on pollen, two-spotted mites, russet mites, broad mites, cyclamen mites and other species of mites.
Target Pests: Broad mites, Hemp Russet mites, Cyclamen mites, Western flower thrips, Onion thrips, and Bamboo mites. Slow release bags act as miniature breeding units and are hung on plants throughout the greenhouse. Slow release hanging sachets are a great option for preventative maintenance to guard against Mites or Thrips. Simply hang every 4 weeks and these hatching bags will breed your own natural enemies.

Eretmocerus eremicus is a tiny parasitic wasp (~1 mm in length) that attacks whiteflies and many species of Aphids. Greenhouse whitefly, Sweet potato whitefly, Silverleaf whitefly, Poinsettia whitefly, woolly whitefly, Citrus whitefly and bayberry whitefly. But unlike E. formosa, which lay their eggs in the 2nd through 4th immature whitefly stages, Eretmocerus eremicus females lay their eggs underneath those same stages, with a preference for the 2nd instar stage. The wasps’ larvae which hatch from the eggs begin to enter the host and thus slowly weaken and kill the developing whiteflies from the outside-in.

Dalotia coriaria (Atheta) is a soil dwelling rove beetle. It is an effective predator of fungus gnat larvae, root aphids, shore fly eggs, pupating thrips, as well as other small, soft bodied arthropods in and around your rooting system. They are a generalist predator that feeds on a wide range of small insects and mites but is primarily an egg predator. It is harmless to plants and humans. Dalotia can give excellent control of fungus gnats and shoreflies. Dalotia will also prey on moth flies, root mealy bugs, springtails, cabbage root flies and carrot flies. Results have been impressive when used in conjunction with Stratiolaelaps to help prevent root aphids. They also feed on most other small soil organisms such as moth flies, springtails, and root mealybugs.