Hi
A friend of mine's mother has had some lilies in her garden for a few years
but this year they've been covered in what looks like a black fungus. Have
anyone experienced this problem before, and know what I can use to treat it

TIA
Steve

It could be Red Lily Beetle. The black fungus is actually their poo, and covers the leaves liberally. The lavae will also cover themselves in this stuff, and will start munching on the leaves killing the plant.

They tend to only affect the southern part of the UK, but are spreading north slowly (the RHS is keeping a record, and want postcodes of affected houses).

I have about 10 pots of lilies side by side, and for the first time three have been attacked this year. I have treated with Ultimate Bug killer (really only works on the larvae), the adults (dark red in colour and tend to be on the underside of the leaves) you will have to pick off by hand. Apparantly there are no natural predators.

This topic has been discussed in this forum recently, and you can find other peoples experiences he
http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/search...der=descending

Good Luck.

I have these, was wondering if the red beetle was causing the damage
but didn't kill it in case it wasn't the parent of the horrible spawn.
@£$%!

Is there any point in reporting this to the RHS since I live in
Brixton, and they probably know about here?

Lazarus

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