There are seven yellow ladybugs in this photo. I’ve never seen so many ladybugs congregated at a single time!

If I didn’t consider yellow ladybugs beneficial insects, I would be rather aggravated.

It seems that they have found the marrow plants to be a breeding haven, and whenever we visit the marrow trellis, we now see not just a lone ladybug or three on a leaf, but four to eight, on adjacent leaves!

While they’re cute to look at, the fact that they’re still around – and happily so – just tells me that the powdery mildew is still there, even though you can’t see it as easily as a few weeks ago. However, the fact that you can’t see the white mold on the leaves means that the yellow ladybugs are being beneficial by helping me to control that problem, so that’s fine with me.

Seeing this many ladybugs at the same time is such a novelty for me!

It just demonstrates once again that we gardeners don’t have to leap to control every issue that threatens our plants, and that nature can take care of things for us, organically. We “let” the mildew fester for several weeks before the yellow ladybugs came to take up residence. Was it tough to have to tolerate the spread of the mildew? Yes. But I think it was worth it to manage this issue – rather, leave it to nature to manage it – naturally. Besides that, the marrow plant has shed the diseased leaves and is now sporting healthy new growth that the ladybugs are keeping clear of mildew. I think the plant is having a second wind and may start producing new marrows!

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