The battle continues

My tactic to attack the aphids was simple. Start by smashing between my fingers as many aphids as possible, then bring in reinforcements in the form of ladybugs. About a week ago, I released ladybugs onto the plants to eat the aphids. It was obvious that they were doing their job; I got to watch as aphids crawled away when the big bad ladybug appeared on their leaf. Of course a few ladybugs flew away, but the majority stayed on the leaves or the base of the plants where I put them. A week later, one ladybug remains. I don't know why that one decided to stay when all the others took off. It is possible that ants who were tending the aphids attacked most of the ladybugs and this one has just been lucky. I caught two ladybugs mating, so it would be great if there were ladybug larvae hanging around! Unfortunately, the aphids are coming back. Yesterday I covered all the plants in soapy water after removing as many aphids as possible. Soap supposedly repels the aphids, but I'll have to do another aphid inventory to see if this works...

Pests

I have an aphid infestation. So far, it is not too bad in the sense that they have not taken over EVERY plant, but they seem to be targeting the black mangroves and the rare tea mangrove. NOT GOOD. Plant-eating aphids = my enemies, particularly when they are my research plants. Gardeners have tricks like spraying them with a hose (didn't work) and spraying them with soapy water or even pesticides, but I don't want to apply that stuff and inadvertently mess with my seedlings' growth. Enter the biological control: ladybugs. Garden stores sell ladybugs as a natural pest control. There are a bunch of different species of ladybugs (which are really beetles, for you non-entomologists out there), and some eat aphids and some eat leaves and some eat mildew or bacteria, so I am just assuming that the garden store sells the kind that eat aphids. However, it turns out that garden stores around here don't sell aphids. It is actually easier for me to order them online from Home Depot and have them shipped, because the closest ladybug store is an hour's drive away. So in a few days, I will release ladybugs onto my plants and hope they get the job done. In the meantime, I will be crushing aphids with my fingers, unless a hurricane gets to them first.