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#1
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Red Lily Beetle
Hi,
After eight years of growing lilies, the dreaded Red Lilly Beetle has finally caught up with me, I discovered about twenty of them happily sitting(and in some cases mating) on my pot grown lilies. The blighters were only evident in one out of the eight containers of lilies and there is no sign of damage, which is strange as they were adults so at least one life cycle must have been completed. After checking out dozens of sites it seems there is no biological control for these nasty little pests. The best advice I can find is to hand pick them off and squish them at 7 - 14 day intervals, including the larvae which have a charming habit of covering themselves with their own slimy black excreta(no chance of a helping hand there then from my other half). As they are my better halves favourite flower, I have a problem because she doesn't want me to put my solution into action, which would be to burn all eight containers full and consign them to the dustbin. Although I could see what results hand picking and squishing achieves, as they're not going to effect anything else in the garden but then I run the risk of having the pests spread to other gardens. My garden is small to medium sized and includes a small veg plot, for growing salad crops, onions, garlic and some soft fruits. I never use chemical sprays or pesticides, the nearest I come to that is a quick spray of water and washing up liquid to see off the odd attack of greenfly etc. Finally I get to the questions part, which a a) has anyone found the hand picking solution to work in the short to medium term, as I don't fancy squishing every 7 days, every growing season for the rest of my life. b) What's the mildest chemical treatment that you good people have found to work? c) Has anyone from the group found another solution to Red Lily Beetle. BTW after reading up, I'm out at first light(ok mid-morning) to look for eggs under the leaves and to remove the top 2" of soil to see what emerges. Thanks in advance Trev |
#2
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Red Lily Beetle
On Sun, 1 Jun 2003 00:17:27 +0100, "Trevor"
wrote: b) What's the mildest chemical treatment that you good people have found to work? I have found Provado Ultimate Bug Killer spray keeps them at bay but you still need to be vigilant. Pam in Bristol |
#3
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Red Lily Beetle
"Trevor wrote in message a) has anyone found the hand picking solution to work in the short to medium term, as I don't fancy squishing every 7 days, every growing season for the rest of my life. It works but you have to be vigilant and give the plants a quick once over every couple of days, especially at the start of the season. Get them before they breed. I've seen Blue Tits and Wrens picking things off the lilies in our garden so perhaps they help too. b) What's the mildest chemical treatment that you good people have found to work? I've used "Polysect" (because I had some made up going spare) and it seemed to work on the lavae with no more showing all season. My next door neighbour uses something else so there are a number of chemicals that work. c) Has anyone from the group found another solution to Red Lily Beetle. Well I haven't. Perhaps the scientists could invent a pheremone trap or something. BTW after reading up, I'm out at first light(ok mid-morning) to look for eggs under the leaves and to remove the top 2" of soil to see what emerges. Some lilies are stem rooted so go careful with moving soil about. -- Bob www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in Runnymede fighting for it's existence. |
#4
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Red Lily Beetle
Hi.
Thanks Pam, Sue & Bob for the advice. I've decided for now to try the hand picking and squishing, though todate I've found no more signs of the red pest. If the hand picking doesn't work then I'll drag all the containers to the front garden away from the veggies and try one of the chemical treatment as a last resort. Trev "Trevor" wrote in message ... Hi, After eight years of growing lilies, the dreaded Red Lilly Beetle has finally caught up with me, I discovered about twenty of them happily sitting(and in some cases mating) on my pot grown lilies. The blighters were only evident in one out of the eight containers of lilies and there is no sign of damage, which is strange as they were adults so at least one life cycle must have been completed. After checking out dozens of sites it seems there is no biological control for these nasty little pests. The best advice I can find is to hand pick them off and squish them at 7 - 14 day intervals, including the larvae which have a charming habit of covering themselves with their own slimy black excreta(no chance of a helping hand there then from my other half). As they are my better halves favourite flower, I have a problem because she doesn't want me to put my solution into action, which would be to burn all eight containers full and consign them to the dustbin. Although I could see what results hand picking and squishing achieves, as they're not going to effect anything else in the garden but then I run the risk of having the pests spread to other gardens. My garden is small to medium sized and includes a small veg plot, for growing salad crops, onions, garlic and some soft fruits. I never use chemical sprays or pesticides, the nearest I come to that is a quick spray of water and washing up liquid to see off the odd attack of greenfly etc. Finally I get to the questions part, which a a) has anyone found the hand picking solution to work in the short to medium term, as I don't fancy squishing every 7 days, every growing season for the rest of my life. b) What's the mildest chemical treatment that you good people have found to work? c) Has anyone from the group found another solution to Red Lily Beetle. BTW after reading up, I'm out at first light(ok mid-morning) to look for eggs under the leaves and to remove the top 2" of soil to see what emerges. Thanks in advance Trev |
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