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Lily Beetle !
Frannerz
Posts: 72
My poor lily trees are rapidly disappearing.
I have only found 3 of the darling, devil red, demon beetles. Also I'm regularly checking for the eggs and grubs on the underside of the leaves. But still each day more damage appears.
From what I've read, the only way to get rid of them is to use pesticide ???
I hate to use it at home. At work is a different story, needs must and all that.
I'm only too aware of the negatives and the dangers of their useage.
is there no other way ?
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Posts
I lift them off the plants and then stamp on them
Latest count 36 in only 3 days of keeping a tally. Knocked into hand, chucked on floor and squished by my dainty size 8 foot. I only have three large pots of lillies now as its a chore checking them whenever possible. Make sure you check where the leaves join the stem as they hide deep in there. If you do get any larvae use damp kitchen towel to wipe them off, they cover themselves in their own poop!
I stopped growing lilies, partly because of the beetles, but I recently planted some Lilium regale, which is reputed to be unattractive to them, but it is too early to say. There are a few other resistant varieties, such as Defender Pink, Exotic Sun, Madame Butterfly, Uchida and Black Beauty.
Hi Frannerz,
Try using a spray of diluted Neem oil ... it is totally organic.
See this link for further info.
http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-oil-insecticide.html
and this one for how to make it.
http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-insect-spray.html
I use it as soon as growth starts in April and I drench the foliage. Any spare solution goes onto the soil below as the earthworms are supposed to love it. I repeat spray every few of weeks.
Neem is best used preventatively .... but will work on pests that have already arrived. It does not hurt beneficial insects. Only chewing and sucking insects are affected. The main reason is that insects need to ingest the neem oil to be affected, and beneficial insects don't eat your plants. However, you can still kill beneficial insects if you smother them with neem oil, so I tend to spray late evening to be safe.
It does stink a bit ... but is easy to mix up and apply.
I got mine off ebay .... wasn't expensive for a big bottle which will last ages. At room temperature it is solid, but goes liquid again within a couple of hours in the airing cupboard.
Worth a try .... also seems to work well for sawfly and aphids.
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
I also don't want to use insecticides and will try the Neem oil - thank you.
I have been hand-picking and squashing the beetles and their vile grubs for years, searching through the leaves and often seeing them drop off and disappear into the soil when I got near.
I discovered by chance that if you water the whole plant, not just the soil, the beetles will move to the tops of the leaves in the next few minutes, making them much easier to catch.
Thanks Sue261 and Freddies Dad, I'll try both of those, and maybe try to get hold of some Neem oil as I got one yesterday when clearing leaves on a pot where lilies are not yet coming up. I don't want the little blighters chomping them before they've even got their heads above ground! As the larvae overwinter in the soil it would be good to break the cycle after several years trying.