My newly planted minerature water lilies leaves are being eaten by what I discovered today is aquatic moth larva. I took of the eaten leaves and found them under little bits of leaves like a tent or sandwich. I smashed all I could find and netted out all debris in case some were on lily pad "boats". Is there anyway of getting rid of them? Will mosquito dunks kill the larva?
HELP
Cheryl
aquatic moth suggestions/help
I found this on ehow.com
Control China Mark moth manually by removing and destroying infected leaves. Inspect remaining leaves for larvae, and remove any with larvae attached. Chemical pesticides are available for retail that are effective in controlling this pest, including Bacillus thuringiensis and Saccharopolyspora spinosa.
Read more: Pests on Water Lotus Plants | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6332205_pests-water-lotus-plants.html#ixzz0yTkBZCM9
I have been checking and so far no new ones. I am hoping they arrived with the plants and didn't come from my yard. They can eat the leaves very quickly.
Cheryl
That's probably the best method to control them. One site I found suggested Dunk might work, but it wasn't research based. From your threads it looks like you love to garden here in North Texas.
Jim
I love to garden anywhere but I find this climate more difficult than others I have lived in. I do love the new plants I get to try and especially the cacti I can grow outside here.
Cheryl
I used a mosquito dunk. It does work.
Do you have clay or sand in Arlington? Our clay soil in Collin Co requires a lot of compost tilled in to make it hospitable.
Bad clay, I make raised beds myself.
C
I have my veggies in a raised bed, but for in-ground I mix 3-4 inches of good compost into a bed and have good results.
It's by trial and error for me. I gardened most of my life in MI which has ample water and better soil. One thing I have learned is that the raised beds tend to suffer in our heat waves. I have a long narrow bed about a foot high along a fence line that has a lot of sandy soil and many plants don't do well in it. When it cools off a little I plan on removing all the plants from that bed and amending the soil with compost to hold more moisture.
C
I'm originally from Minnesota so know the soil shock. I've been down here for 30 years and love everything about living in Texas. If you're interested check out the Collin Co Master Gardener website at www.ccmgatx.org - there is a lot of good information for survival here in North Texas.
LOL glad you love it, I hate the weather here.
C