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Red beetle eating my Russian sage??

14 years ago

I have three Russian sage plants. Two look great. One is covered in red beetles. The foliage looks awful with little gray spots all over. I can't find insects on anything else in my yard.

I read that lily leaf beetles eat solomon's seal and I have lots of that and it's fine... I don't have any lilies so no help there.

The beetles are tiny, red with black spots or stripes and they are fast little buggers. I held a bucket under the plant and snipped the branches into it with beetles on them and then drowned them with water and a little dish detergent. (Much to my fiance's amusement, who does not believe me that other people use this drowning technique to control insects.)

Any thoughts?

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Comments (5)

christilsmith2
14 years ago
I just noticed the same problem yesterday with my Russian Sage. Please, someone with more garden knowledge than me tell me what to do! I love this plant and don't want it to die. These bugs aren't on anything else.
stephanie_kay
14 years ago
That is how I kill Japaneses beetles. But I just knock the beetles into the water not snip the branches.
I hope I do not get any beetles on my Russian, I just came to post about them myself when I saw your question.

Stephanie
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Just had something start eating my sage, also. Was looking pretty good until a couple days ago. I had something eating up my young bean leaves about a month and a half ago, and had somebody say to put a jar in the ground with 1/2" of beer in it. I think it worked - trapped rolly pollies, a couple caterpillars, and earwigs (not sure if they were actually trapped, but many in there whenever I looked.) Might have also been a squirrel that ate the leaves, and I think the pooch scared him away in a week. But in either case, the plants recovered and nothing eating them now. So I'll put a pint ball jar in the raised bed also, to see if that helps - with 1/2" of beer in it. I also put chicken wire over the top so the pooch doesn't get into it. My sage has a fuzzy texture, so I thought that might keep the caterpillars off it, but maybe not.
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You should definitely shade the plant until it gets established - a week or so with an umbrella should do the trick. Very few plants can take full sun right after having their roots disturbed. I get a lot of seedlings, but have not had my perovskia sucker, ever. Also, I think the idea of cutting back the tops to take stress off the root system has largely been abandoned, at least for shrubs (and perovskia is a subshrub). I once had to transplant some mature shrubs in mid-summer, and had great results by following explicit directions provided on the shrubs forum. Lots of shade and occasional misting for a couple of days, ignore the wilting, don't over-water, and... just wait it out. That's what I'd do, if I were you. Good luck - Russian sage is a tough but wonderful plant.
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Russian Sage, from what I read on most of the pages I looked at, is supposed to be disease-resistant and has no serious pests. The only diseases I could even find were Stem Blight and Mold. If such sites took the time to name the lesser pests and the potential diseases, such things would be a lot easier for people to track down. Here are two ideas I had for a possible cause for the brown spots on your Russian Sage. When it comes to diseases, I agree with the idea that it may be a fungal spot of some sort, but it could also be a bacterial spot as well. As for a pest, the only one I could find any mention of was on Dave's Garden. Someone mentioned that the Striped Cucumber Beetle attacked all their herbs except their lavender. And it also liked their Russian Sage. So maybe a Striped Cucumber Beetle is causing the problem. But don't hold me to that diagnosis. :) Here's some info on the Striped Cucumber Beetle and it's control. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2139.html http://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/el/el68.htm http://www.hort.uconn.edu/Ipm/veg/htms/cukbtltcrop.htm I hope these help. None of the sites mention the same type of spots, but then again, most plants pictured and talked about that are affected Striped Cucumber Beetles aren't pest and disease resistant to begin with.
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penngardener
14 years ago
Sounds like Fourlined Plant Bugs. The nymphs are bright red and appear in May or June. The adults have four black lines down the wings.

They move fast, but their weakness is that they drop off the leaves and try to fly when you disturb them. I place a small bucket of soapy water underneath them, then shake them so they fall in the water. You can also spray the plants with insecticidal soaps.

The bugs lay their eggs in the stems of infested perennials to overwinter, so it is important to clean up and dispose of the plant debris in the fall.

The Russian Sage may grow out of the damage, but if it is too severe, you could prune off the damaged sections. Russian Sage can be cut back by half (to 6" to 12") this time of the year anyway to promote a fuller plant (which blooms slightly later than unpruned plants).
siennact
Original Author
14 years ago
Yes, that is what they are. I will spray them with insecticidal soap tomorrow in case they escaped my bucket of water.

It's good to get them now while they are still nymphs I guess! I did prune off a lot of the Russian sage, it might not recover until next year. I will remember to get rid of the branches in the fall, thank you for the tip.
Cheryl Reed
4 years ago
I just used Dawn dish soap and water on mine and they are dead. At least for now.

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