Does ladybug loft need to be right next to fruit tree or can I put it four or five squares away?

Two squares seems to be the range on those.

I never thought there was a certain range, no wonder the ladybug lofts were always highly ineffective in any garden I placed them *facepalm*

I always make 5x5 plots with the centre plot empty so I can place a ladybug loft there. It is quite effective and I have to spray WAY less.

If I play serious farmers then I have 7x7 plots, again with a ladybug loft in the centre.

When I place orchards I usually have a distance of three empty tiles between the trees and in the middle I place a ladybug loft. Sometimes when I'm not on a budget I just put moveObjects on and place the ladybug lofts right "on" the trees xD

Sometimes when I'm not on a budget I just put moveObjects on and place the ladybug lofts right "on" the trees xD[/QUOTE]

Haha you'd think that would infect the trees :P
I put mine about 5 tiles from the plots or closer.
I love gardening, but it takes forever to get 10 plants and 5 trees to be thriving.
That's why my gardening Sims usually get five kids haha.

I didn't know there was a maximum range on those either, hence why I like to have my green-fingered sims to have greenhouses. Maybe I'll try that "5x5 plot with ladybird house in the centre" trick and see how I get on...

My sims tend to rack up the gardening badges quite quickly - a child born to established gardeners can easily obtain the gold in their teens; I'll let them do 90% of the watering and tending, and let the older ones do the talking and harvesting.
Another good reason for me to use greenhouses is being able to use the "Toasty Sun Lamp". I can have Plantsims in there all night if I so choose, as provided they get regular breaks to replenish water, their other needs are satisfied automatically

If there was a maximum range, I wish EA could have shown us how large it is by having a circle to show the radius of effectiveness, just like the sprinklers.

Well I thought of the 5x5 thing because then each plot would have the same distance from the loft.
I'm not a fan of seeing the lofts at the veeery end or on the side of the plots. It's just ineffective

I do not got the ladybugs to work. On one of my lots there is both a fruit tree and a place to grow tomatoes etc. Both whis places have a bug loft next to them but they still need to be sprayed.

Ladybirds (sorry but that's what they are ) won't prevent a plant or tree from getting bugs, they will just get rid of them when they do appear; removing the need for spraying. Basically the ladybirds are an automatic bug killer (well, technically 'eater' not killer but you get the idea!).

When you have a ladybug (and they aren't; they're bugs; we can't help it if Brits can't tell the difference between insect and avian fauna) loft, you can ignore the option to spray because, if you have them close enough in the correct proportion, since the predatory ladybugs will eat the fructivorous pest bugs before they can do significant damage. The fruit will be better because the spray won't damage them, and you won't get any plantsims.

I'm pretty sure that spraying when you have a ladybug house reduces the benefit of having the houses, as the spray kills some of the ladybugs. It certainly ought to work like that.

We claim historical precedence - birds they are.

As much as I love Britain, I have to agree with Peni Griffin here ^.^

So if spray the effectiveness will go down in the game too?
I didn't know that :O

I think so, but I can't prove it.

By historical precedence, geese hatch from barnacles. It doesn't change the species. Are they even the same bugs, though? Are they invasive like honeybees, or a similar-looking species that got tagged out of European nostalgia, like the American robin (which is a thrush)?

Ladybirds and ladybugs are the same insect. Just depends on where you live. They're not bugs though, they're insects.

Invasive? If you're looking for invasive (some might not call them invasive but where I live they are considered invasive) ladybird/bugs..try the Japanese Ladybug aka Asian Ladybeetle. Which seems to be called Harlequin ladybird in the UK. Hmmm, now I'm confused!

I've never been able to wrap my brain around the distinction between insects and bugs, myself. All categories are arbitrary to some degree, anyway.

It's not a question of what they're considered; it's a question of whether they're native to the environment or not. Honeybees and house sparrows are both invasive and naturalized in America, but whereas honeybees are generally considered beneficial (if you don't mourn the Carolina parakeet overmuch; I do a bit, myself) house sparrows are not. Ladybugs aren't the most beneficial insects for our gardens, but they're cute and star in a nursery rhyme, and that counts for a lot with their marketability.

Distinctions of nomenclature, of course, are invasive on threads about the range of imaginary critters used in imaginary gardening...Nope, can't think of anything to add here to yank myself back on topic.

Well, we've got your grey squirrels and mink. LadyBIRDS are beetles - hard wing cases. There are other differences too, I believe.

Insect: Scientific classification for a specific class of 6 legged creatures. It does not include arthropods or arachnids.

Bug: small (and usually annoying) creature with 6 or 8 legs, and which may have wings, and may be an insect, arthropod or arachnid. Not a scientific designation, so officially, nothing is a bug. But a bird has feathers.

I always put ladybug houses in a greenhouse. I guess that was a bit of overkill.