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Agapantha Gall Midge

david.brinkmandavid.brinkman Posts: 3
in Plants
The flowers on a couple of my small deciduous Agapanthus are not opening. Checking the RHS website there appears to be Gall Midge creating havoc.
They are asking people to report incidents of the issue. Google RHS Agapanthus gall midge to take you to their page. They are interested in reports and postcodes.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/agapanthus-gall-midge

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited June 2023
    @david.brinkman Thankyou. With the extremes in weather causing plants to be stressed they will be more vulnerable to pests. I have seen it often on early flowering Hemerocallis but the late flowerers seem less affected. Whether this applies to Agapanthus I don't know.

    It would seem that Agapanthus have their own gall midge. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • david.brinkmandavid.brinkman Posts: 3
    It's called Enigmadiplosis agapanthi. 

    If I may cut and paste from the RHS

    Until 2016 the species of midge causing this problem was undescribed (i.e. new to science). Consequently, very little is known about the biology and lifecycle of this insect. The Plant Health team at RHS Garden Wisley have been studying the midge since its discovery in 2014, and are asking for help from gardeners who have seen agapanthus gall midge or damaged flowers.

    ​Please send photos of symptoms on the flowers and buds, plus opened buds showing larvae where possible, to [email protected]. Please include postcode of location of the plant, to help us to map how widespread the midge is in the UK.

    In previous years we have asked for samples to help with research; many thanks to those who have contributed these have helped further our understanding of the midge. We no longer require large quantities of material so please do not send samples unless individually requested.

    Submissions to our pest and disease surveys are stored permanently in an anonymised form in order to monitor the spread of the pest or disease. We may contact you within 2 months of your submission in order to verify your sighting but your personal data will not be permanently stored in connection with your submission and will be deleted after 1 year. We publish and share only non-identifiable data from survey submissions (such as a six figure grid reference) with third parties and the public for the purposes of scientific research and advancing understanding among gardeners.

  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited June 2023
    Flowers on small deciduous apapanthus aren't expected for a while yet.  Patience.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited June 2023
    @david.brinkman I would think the buds will become distorted and paler if the midge is present in the same way as Hemerocallis. This is what I would be looking out for anyway. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • david.brinkmandavid.brinkman Posts: 3
    Bede if you live on the south coast they are out, but the buds are withering and dropping off before they open.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    If it is gall midge it will be very obvious to the eye.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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