To spray or not to spray

[Damian Bee]

I was out tonight in the veg patch on snail patrol and I noticed a lot of young Golden Orb Spiders (there are more than last year that is for sure) casting their webs in between my trees and the webs hold dozens of small insects, aphids, mozzies etc. I had sprayed my Azaleas with a systemic during late Autumn in an attempt to wipe out the spring wave of Lace Wing.

As it is coming into spring (in half an hour officially) I thought it would be worth mentioning that spiders, whether big and hairy or tiny, they take a huge number of insects each night so when spraying, think twice and aim carefully or you may take out your helpers.

Spiders you might notice doing pest control for you inc the Orb spider are the Jumping spiders (all varieties), Wolf spiders, Black House Spider, Red Back, St Andrews Cross Spider, Slater Eating Spider (introduced species), Leaf Curl spider.

[paddles]

I spray to get the spiders... But then we seem to get waves of white tails and redbacks... I don't spray for aphid, or scale, no I tell a lie, I have been known to use confidor for stuff like scale, and red mite, but not as a regular thing.

Don't spray surface spray directly onto your trees, unless you no longer want the tree....

[MelaQuin]

Yes, you are right, the spiders may take out a lot of pests... HOWEVER, they nest in the trees creating pads of dead leaf litter that can attract other insects not so keen on live prey but happier on leaf prey. When I came out several mornings ago and discovered an overnight spun web between three bonsai that was FULL of mini spiders - the Two Footer Scourge wiped them out straightaway. They represented about 3 dozen potential clumps of disaster in my trees and it is not worth it, to me, for the insects that they will consume in their lifetime to the damage that could afflict the trees due to their presence.

Spiders that spin webs around the place can stay as long as the webs are not attached to my trees and are above my head. I am not adorning my hair with sticky threads just to satisfy their penchant for garden plunder. If they learn to move their webs higher after a few disasters, that's fine and I can live with that. But in my garden I set the rules and it is Abide or Die, the amount of insects possibly consumed over the course of their stay does not come into it.