Your ladybugs
are here.
The trick with ladybugs is the release: do it at dusk, on a damp plant, and most of them will stay and get to work. Here’s how to give them the best possible start.
What do I do first? ↓They made it.
Thank you.
A tube full of aphid hunters just shipped its way to your door — and you picked living predators over a bottle of something nasty. That’s genuinely the good choice, and we’re glad you made it.
Ladybugs are simple to release, but how you do it makes all the difference in how many decide to stay. Let’s set them up right.
Release them
at dusk.
Ladybugs released into bright daylight will do exactly what you’d expect: fly toward the light and leave. A few simple moves convince far more of them to settle in and stay.
Wait for evening. Release at dusk or just after sunset. Ladybugs don’t fly in the dark, so they’ll spend the night settling in, finding aphids, and getting comfortable on your plant instead of bolting toward the sun.
Mist the plant first. Lightly spritz the leaves with water before you release. After their trip the ladybugs are thirsty, and a drink right where you want them gives them a reason to stay put and explore rather than leave.
Release low, at the base. Open the tube right at the base of the plant or in the soil, not up top. They naturally walk upward in search of food — so starting them low walks them straight through the aphids.
Do those three things — dusk, damp, low — and you’ll keep far more of your crew working right where you need them.
Some will wander.
Most will work.
Ladybugs are wild, mobile predators, so a release works differently than a spray. Knowing how they move makes the whole thing click.
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A roaming instinct comes standardAfter their dormant period, ladybugs are wired to take a dispersal flight before they settle in to feed — an urge that kicks in even with aphids right in front of them. Expect a share to take off in the first day or two, then get to work with the steps below.
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The dusk-and-damp release tips the oddsYou can’t override the instinct, but you can work with it. Releasing at dusk onto a misted plant keeps far more of them home — they spend the night settling instead of flying, and the ones that stay go to work on the aphids. A single adult eats around 50 a day.
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Quantity and repeat releases winBecause some always disperse, the reliable play is a good quantity, released in the evening, in repeat batches over a couple of weeks — not one big drop. Each round leaves behind a working crew, and the wanderers patrol nearby plants and often circle back. Fighting an active infestation? Reach out and we’ll help you plan the timing.
A few may not
survive the trip.
Ladybugs are living insects on a fast journey, so a small number of casualties comes with the territory — up to around 15% is typical for a live shipment. Here’s the part worth knowing: we count on that and pack extra. Your tube is filled above the listed amount specifically so that even after a normal bit of travel loss, you still end up with the full count you paid for. Tip out any that didn’t make it, release the rest, and you’ve got everything you ordered ready to work.
Seeing noticeably more than that? Reach out within 24 hours of delivery so we can take a look, with a few clear photos of the tube and the ladybugs as they arrived. Depending on what we see, options include partial store credit, full store credit, or a replacement — we’ll look at each case and find a fair path forward.
Release soon —
but the fridge buys time.
Ladybugs are happiest released the evening they arrive. The sooner they’re out hunting, the better they do — so if tonight works, go for it.
Can’t release right away? Keep them in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for a day or two — the cold makes them dormant so they hold. There’s a trade-off worth knowing: refrigeration buys time at the cost of some mortality, which climbs the longer they wait. Think of cold storage as a short bridge, not a shelf — release at the first good dusk you get.
What happens
over the next few weeks.
Here’s the honest progression after release, so you know what’s working and what’s just ladybugs being ladybugs.
Released at dusk onto a damp plant, they’ll spend the night drinking, exploring, and finding the aphids. By morning some will have wandered — that’s expected — but the ones on aphids tend to stay.
This is the satisfying part. Adult ladybugs eat aphids constantly, and you’ll see clusters thin out and sticky honeydew stop spreading. Fewer aphids each day means it’s working.
If there’s enough food, some will lay eggs — little yellow-orange clusters on leaf undersides. The larvae that hatch (spiky, alligator-shaped, and even hungrier than the adults) are a great sign your aphids are on their way out.
Still seeing aphids after a couple of weeks? A second release is completely normal for a heavy infestation — send us a note and we’ll help you time it.
The basics,
at a glance.
If shipping
goes sideways.
Live shipments mostly arrive happy, but transit isn’t always smooth. Here’s what to do in each case.
Totally fine. Everything we ship is built to ride out a few extra days in transit — a slightly slow package is not a damaged one. Follow the care steps above and they’ll be ready to go.
If you added AfterShip Protection at checkout, that’s the fastest path: file your claim directly through AfterShip and they’ll take care of you right away.
No protection? Email us at info@fgmnnursery.com and we’ll file a claim with the carrier on your behalf. Heads-up: carrier claims can take up to four weeks to process, and approval is at the carrier’s discretion — we’ll push for you, but we can’t guarantee the outcome.
good guys coming.
A fresh release whenever aphids flare up keeps them in check — ladybugs are a seasonal ally, not a one-time fix.
Tell us how
it’s going.
Questions, photos, a proud update when the aphids are gone — we’re always happy to talk bugs. Drop us a line and we’ll write back.
Message sent!
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