red alert!!!!

19 years ago

My lilies are hardly out of the ground and the red menace is here already. This morning I found a pair of lily beetles on L regale, which always suffer, and larvae on L henryii, which have never been attacked before. Get out there and check NOW.

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Comments (13)

lori_londonuk
19 years ago
Timely warning - I went to look and yes, I found one! I think I saw the first around easter weekend last year too, though it was a lot cooler then.
shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
Oh, joy :(
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cactuschris
19 years ago
We have had them on fritillarias for a few weeks now - i hate to use sprays but these guys provide a compelling reason to. It is not a small job either as the frits have seeded all over.
Vigilance - that's what's needed.

Best regards

Chris (Cheshire)
cajary
19 years ago
NO, what you need is a g-daughter who, on being told that something will damage nannies pretty flowers, Homes in on them like an Exocet and obliterates every one of them. Works for me!
shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
Send her round to my place, I found four of them this evening. Two were working on infesting the area with larvae!
cajary
19 years ago
Yeah, maybe I could get her a job as an organic pest-controller, her school might have something to say, though. She's only 5 1/2 but she's instant death to slugs, snails, lily beetles etc. Last year she was carrying Lady-birds to the Roses so they could attack the Greenfly! All the best
flora_uk
Original Author
19 years ago
Chris - I envy you having happy fritillaries (I'm assuming you mean Snake's heads). I keep trying to get them established but I don't think I have the right conditions. I had to laugh when a US gardenwebber suggested fritillaries as a decoy to keep the beetles off lilies. For me the latter are much easier to grow.
garden_nerd
19 years ago
So it's not just me then! I've been killing them since mid-March. Got back from hols today to find one pot of lilies looking like a doily with the red menace copulating wildly all over it so pretty soon there'll be the brown slime to deal with too.

Last year I spent as lot of time hand-picking lily beetle but I don't think I can face it this year. What spray could I use and how many times in the season would it be necessary? Because I don't really want to use it but I love my lilies!
cajary
19 years ago
hi, garden-nerd. My mate uses "Provado" Bug-killer. He says that seems effective. It tells you on the container how often to use it. Hope it works for you, all the best
yorkiedownsouth
19 years ago
Hi , I found some on my Fritillarier Persicar back in March,& have been on the lookout on my lilies ever since finding both adult & larvae.
I was reading a fairly old gardening book on lilies & the author said that if you saw any of these lily beetles to report them to the authorities, does this still apply.
shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
No need to report them any more, they are here and thriving. If you are in an area where the beetles are not yet known to be established you might wish to report it to the RHS.
garden_nerd
19 years ago
This year I have found the search and destroy method very effective. From April through to June I checked the lilies over at least once a day, killing up to 20 beetles each time. I found a few larvae to dispose of but not too many - unlike last year when I had plants totally infested with them.
And since the end of June - almost nothing to be found! It all seems too simple.
Now, I have seen a few leaves with irregular patches nibbled out of them........if only God had had the foresight to colour vine weevil bright pink.
flora_uk
Original Author
19 years ago
Stay on the alert. Although my lilies have been ok with constant vigilance, I found a beetle only yesterday. But Nerd says, let's be thankful they are bright red. Now has anyone found a way of spotting capsid bugs before they destroy the flowering shoots of phygelius and clematis? Not a flower on either this year. Very depressing.