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Unwelcome Houseguests Great Pest Controllers The Lee County Ledger, Thursday, November 29,2001 - Page 7B LPamaaMum' CUvtuwl UlointA ta 3io£idaif3 By Sharon Omahen Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations As temperatures begin to fall, humans aren't the only ones head ing indoors. Lady beetles are un welcome houseguests in many people's homes. "They're searching for protected sites to spend the winter," said Kristine Braman, an entomologist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and En vironmental Sciences. "They're native to Asia, where they overwinter on rock walls," Braman said. "Here they have to settle for the sides, walls and ceil ings of houses and buildings." Don't kill them, as cute as they are. your first instinct may still be to pick up the nearest can of pes ticide. But, CAES researchers urge you to think first before you spray. Asian lady beetles, or ladybugs, were brought into the United States in the late 1970s by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help fight a major pest of the pecan industry. "These lady beetles were intro duced to help fight the aphid populations on our state's pecan trees," Braman said. "Aphids feed on the foliage of pecan trees, crape myrtles, roses and other ornamentals. Our native lady beetles aren't as fond of tree-feed ing aphids, so they don't do as good a job controlling them." Great Aphid Controllers Braman says the ladybugs are extremely effective at controlling the aphids biologically, which re duces the need for pesticides. You still may not take kindly to having them hanging around your house. But, unlike many pests, lady beetles don't bite, sting or carry human diseases. And they don't feed on wood, clothing or food items. Braman doesn't suggest trying to take them out one-by-one. "If you try to pick them up, it causes them stress," she said, "and they excrete a yellow fluid, which can stain your carpet, walls and fur nishings." Vacuum Them Up The easiest way to get rid of la dybugs is to suck them up in a hand-held vacuum and then take them outside. "You can also just sweep them out," said Braman. who actually has a few in her house right now. "I've known people who had so many in their house they had to use a shop vac to get them out." If you use a standard vacuum cleaner to remove the lady beetles, be sure to use the hose attachment. Just slip a knee-high stocking over the hose and secure it with a rubber band. When you've sucked up all the lady beetles, turn off the vacuum, tie off the stocking with the rubber band and release the ladybugs outside. If chasing bugs with a vacuum doesn't suit you, you may want to try one of the new lady beetle traps. How They Get In A vacuum, broom or trap may help you get them out, but you'll have to do a little detective work to keep them out. "They come in through cracks in walls, around air vents and around windowsills," Braman said. "You'll need to search for their mode of entry and apply caulking." Taking the extra steps necessary to seal these entry ways is also a good idea for saving energy, too, she said. Controlling Fall Weeds on 'Gardening' By Dan RahnGeorgia Extension Service Recently on "Gardening in Georgia," host Walter Reeves showed how to control annual and perennial fall weeds. Fall weeds can be grouped into perennials, which sprout from their roots every year, and an nuals, which come up from seed. Reeves points out some annual weeds, which can be controlled with a preemergent herbicide that keeps seeds from sprouting. Perennial weeds like nut sedge and wild violets are harder to control. Often the best technique is to dig up the plant, roots and all. Reeves uses his handy Wa ter Weeder, Product No. AL829 from Lee Valley Tools (http:// aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ county/smith/industry/ maketrap.html) "Gardening in Georgia" airs every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. It's rebroadcast every Saturday at noon. A Web site (http:// www.gardeningingeorgia.com) provides further information. The show is produced espe cially for Georgia gardeners by the UGA College of Agricul tural and Environmental Sci ences and GPTV. (Dan Rahn is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and En vironmental Sciences.) By Paul Thomas University of Georgia You know it's getting close to the holidays when poinsettias start showing up at florist shops and chain stores. And if you want to buy the best plant, you need to know where to get it and what to look for. Start by asking for Georgia- grown poinsettias. The very best- quality plants are locally grown and sold to florist shops and gar den centers. It not easy to produce a perfect poinsettia. But Georgia growers do a great job. They grow more than 20 varieties in a dozen sizes and shapes, including some awe some 18-inch hanging baskets and 3-gallon floor planters, that fit almost any decorative scheme. Georgia-grown poinsettias may cost more, but they're bigger and will last longer. They'll be as clean and perfect as you can get with a live plant. Florists do a much better job caring for poinsettias, too, while they wait in the store to be bought. To get the best poinsettias, choose plants with thoroughly colored and expanded bracts. The red, white, pink and speckled "flowers" on poinsettias are ac tually bracts, or modified leaves. The real flowers are the tiny yel low things in the middle of the bracts. Look for: * Bracts with no blemishes. * Dense foliage all the way down the stem. * Plants about two and one-half times the height of the pot. * Strong, stiff stems and broken stems. Support rings make stems less likely to snap. * Small, yellow flowers just barely opened. * Green, healthy lower leaves. Carefully slip off the pot and look for white and light tan roots that have grown to the sides of the pot. Brown roots, or few roots, can be a bad sign. A poinsettia without good roots won't last long in your home, so it pays to check out the root system. During the holidays, you can place poinsettias just about any where to brighten things up. They'll last about three weeks in fairly dark place. While it's in the dark, water only when the soil is very dry. And don't fertilize it. Overwatering or fertilizing your poinsettia during the holidays is the most common cause of rapid death. It's always good to remove dead leaves, however. Losing a few leaves is expected when poinset tias are in dark places. HOW YOUR HAT BACK INTO THE RIK! Let EOC help you fight for a better job and a brighter future. We offer FREE public services: Financial Aid Counseling/Applications Test-Taking Skills Admissions Counseling/Applications Study Skills Tutoring for GED Tutoring for SAT Academic Counseling Agency Referrals Career Counseling Workshops Getting an Education can change your life! If you are 19 or older, call the EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CENTER AT (478) 825-6917/1-800-862-9455 A Federally Funded TRIO Program www.leevalley.com/), to unearth the roots of perennial weeds. A deck above usually means wasted space below. Ginger Burgess shows co-host Tara Dillard how to tackle that space below her deck. Sealing her up per deck created a dry ceiling for a lower deck. It's surprising just how func tional her new potting space is. Adding chairs and tables, with a ceiling fan to come, has turned an unused area into a usable pa tio room/potting shed. Reeves is angry! He's discovered Asian ambrosia beetles in his prized flowering cherry tree. The beetles bore into the trunks of susceptible trees and deposit a fungus that clogs the trees' wa ter transport tubes. Half of his tree is already dead. Plotting revenge, Reeves shows how to build a monitor ing trap. He fills a plastic film cannister with denatured ethyl alcohol and inserts a cotton wick in the top. He puts the cannister in the bottom of a large plastic cup with large holes in the sides and water in the bottom. Beetles attracted to the scent of alcohol fall into the water and drown, indicating that it's time to renew the insecticidal protec tion on nearby trees, (http:// MainEtreet Pecan §o. ^^Emithville, Georgia ^H/loifflday - Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Biw & Sell Lee look 229I846-61821 WOODSTONE APARTMENTS 320 Main Street, Leesburg, GA 759-8258 Call Sharon - Office Now Open Monday thru Thursday 8-12 MOVE-IN NOW! VERY AFFORDABLE! Located in the city limits of Leesburg, minutes from dowtown Albany. Enjoy this professionally landscaped community’ and grilling out at our pavilion Laundry Facility • Community Room Energy Efficient • Central Heat & Air $290 .... 1 BEDROOM Dishwasher • Disposal • Stove *370 I! 3 BEDROOM Refri 8 erator • Carpeting. W/D Hookups Rent Includes: ’Water, Sewer, Garbage EQUAL HOUSING ^ OPPORTUNITY H TDD # 1-800-255-0056 After the holiday cleanup, which for most of us is in mid- January. poinsettias must be re turned to fairly bright light to re main healthy. South, east or west windows work well. The bracts may begin to fall off fast. This is normal. If they last until March, your poinsettia was ry happy where you put it. Before you begin fertilizing, cut off the long stems halfway down to the soil. By early April, when the bracts begin to die, cut the plant back, leaving four to six nodes or segments in the stem. At this point, the poinsettias can be grown outdoors in full sun. If watered and fertilized, poinsettias will grow great outdoors. Trim them in June and plant them in 1-gallon pots or large in door planters. As a poinsettia grows, trimming the new growth will allow branching and will form an im pressive, bushy plant. Trim back new growth again around July 1 and again by mid-August. Outdoors, the plants will re quire fertilizing every week. Most houseplant fertilizers will do. Apply the same rate as you would for common houseplants. Continue to fertilize your plant all spring and summer, backing off the fertility rate as fall nears. If watered and fertilized prop erly, poinsettias will grow quite large, as high and wide as 5 feet. Poinsettias are absolutely safe, too. They've been scrutinized over many years and are proven to be nonpoisonous plants, per fectly safe for display around children and pets. (Paul Thomas is a horticultur ist with the University of Geor gia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.) One Call. One Agent. One Less Worry. W ill run all aroun d town f or insurance! 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ALFA INSURANCE Dale Hodges Across f rom p U biix 2700 Dawson Road, Suite 8, Albany, GA Office: (229) 889-9900 • Fax (229) 889-0450 Neal Eubanks Well Pump Repair and Service, Inc. 759-6831 Pager - 250-0712 111 Smithvillle Rd N. - Leesburg, GA Resitlential & Fanil Pump Repair Lee County School’s Breakfast and Lunch Menu Dec. 3 - Dec. 7 BREAKFAST MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 Super Doughnut or Cereal & Toast, Applesauce, Milk TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4 Ham & Cheese Biscuit or Cereal & Biscuit, Fruit Juice, Milk WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 Cinnamon Roll or Cereal & Toast, Banana, Milk THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 Pancakes with Syrup or Cereal & Toast, Pineapple, Milk FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7 Egg & Cheese Biscuit or Cereal & Biscuit, Fruit Juice, Milk LUNCH MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 Chicken Tenders or Cheeseburger Macaroni, Roll, Mixed Vegetables, Chilled Pears TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4 Hamburger or Beef & Cheese Nachos, Lettuce/Tomato, French Fries, Mandarin Oranges WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 Corn Dog Nuggets or Submarine Sandwich, Smiley Potatoes, Fruit Cocktail, Brownie THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 Grilled Chicken Sandwich or Sloppy Joe on Bun, Potato Chips, Coleslaw, Applesauce FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7 Stromboli or Deli Pita Pocket, Tossed Salad, Corn, Fresh Fruit, Pudding Provided as a Public Service by H HeritaeeBank L' OF THE SOUTH Clip and Save Clip and Save