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Lilly Beetle

widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
in Problem solving
My Lilies have started to grow, and now I dread the signs of the lily beetle, have been looking at the sprays you can buy, are they any good I wonder? I have a lot of these plants and picking them off one by one is time-consuming and also don't like touching them, any advice please. 
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  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I don't think the sprays work. You'll have to person up and squash them!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    @B3 is right. I gave up growing them when it just became impossible to control. I think leaving them for a couple of years will probably reset the situation.
  • D0rdogne_DamselD0rdogne_Damsel Posts: 4,184
    I have found a really good way of dealing with them that doesn't involve touching them. 

    I have a jam jar of water with washing up liguid in and a teaspoon, I keep it near my lilies, luckily they're all in the same area. Every morning I check them over and if I see one I hold the jam jar beneath where it is, tap it or the stem with the teaspoon and catch them in the jar. They drown in the liguid because they can't escape through the soapy water. I sometime use the teaspoon to oik them out of the leaves too when they hide, a pointy one is the best (teaspoon, not beetle).

    I started doing a check up several times a day, especially if the sun emerged and I am down to catching about one a day now, I think stopping them finding a friend is the most important thing!  :wink:

    I enjoy counting the bodies in there day by day too! 
    • “Coffee. Garden. Coffee. Does a good morning need anything else?” —Betsy Cañas Garmon
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Oooh,DD you are cruel,we lost a lot of frittalarias and all the crown Imperials to the little devils
  • widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
    Thanks for all your great advice, don't like squashing them, like the idea of a jam jar and knock them into that, am going to garden centre over weekend so will look at a spray and see. will let you know what spray I got, if any, and keep up dated on the life of my lilly beetles,
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    Don't you wish you didn't plant quite so many, now? If it's too much work to go over them every couple of days and just hoping for that magical spray to come good...it's worth removing a few to make them sustainable in the long run. Maintenance is unfortunately part of gardening. We've all done similar bad choices at some point. Choosing plants knowing how much attention they will need is such an important aspect that gets overlooked. 

    But as with all sprays I'd worry what beneficial insects it will kill. It's never a simple solution.
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
    I agree with you, but they do look nice when all in bloom and not eaten, will see how the jam-jar and perhaps spray works this year and then decide what to do, thanks for all your comments.
  • Pam100Pam100 Posts: 85
    I’ve recently found a few pairs of lily beetles enjoying each other’s company so to speak!!  They were soon squashed
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited May 2021
    I decided to give up on lilies a couple of years ago but I didn't compost them. they still keep popping up in their pots. I have a cursory look for beetles if I think of it, but they're pretty much on their own.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Red mapleRed maple Posts: 1,138
    Sesame here, Pam! At least they had a bit of fun first!!
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