449-The Case Against Buying Ladybugs and for Non-Natives-Encore Presentation

Dec 25, 2025
1h 1m

Episode Description

Buying ladybugs for biological control of pests can contribute to depleting the ladybug population in the wild and raises other concerns as well. Meanwhile, non-native ladybugs do the same valuable work — eating aphids and other pests that harm crops — but are often cast in a bad light anyway. My guest in this week's encore, Dr. Kaitlin Stack Whitney, an environmental studies scholar as well as a home gardener, explains that non-native insects don't always deserve their bad rap.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on InstagramFacebookPinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

See all episodes

Never lose your place, on any device

Create a free account to sync, back up, and get personal recommendations.