Pam Moore wrote in message . ..
The red devils are around again. I found the first lily beetle on my
Lilium candidum (Madonna Lily) today.
I tried Bob Flowerdew's suggestion of holding it close to my ear. He
says you can hear it clicking. He is right!
I have repotted the lily bulbs.
Does anyone know if Gamma HCH dust will help against lily beetles?
It says "soil pests" and the beetles apparently hide in the soil over
winter. I have quite a few pots of lilies and not much HCH left!

Cheers
Pam
pamdotmoore@virgindotnet
Bristol

I've found the new-ish stuff called Provado to be quite effective. I
mix up the whole lot at once as directed, put it in deep trays or
buckets & soak all my pots of lilies in turn. Incidentally, I bought
some bulbs of "Black Beauty" lily from Parkers in 2001 - when they
flowered in 2002 they looked somewhat different to those illustrated &
also had no scent, contrary to the description. I queried this with
Parkers & they refunded me, but with no explanation. I'd rather have
had the correct bulbs! Did anyone else grow this lily & have doubts
about it?
paul E.Sussex