i spotted my first lily beetle on may 4th. they were holes all over this lily and i thought "what is that from"? i thought they wouldn't be out until the end of the month. wrong again!!!! :-) they are coming out of dormancy and feasting and getting ready to lay there eggs. i've not seen any eggs yet, while i was spraying to killl them. (evil grin)
debi & franklin
lily beetles out in springfield, massachusetts
Oh no! You are just down the street (well almost) from me!
What do you spray with? Hopefully they wont' be too bad. I am only just learning of this pest (after planting a gazillion lilies this year)
hi esw,
well the only thing that was recommended to me by a fellow dger is sevin. i wish it wasn't a poison and all, but it works and those beetles do a really bad number on the plants. i use 1 1/2 oz to 2 oz per gallon of water. make sure you spray the whole plant including the bottom of the leaves were the eggs/larvae is.
look for a bright red bugs, orange eggs under the leaves, holes in the leaves, or mushy brownish/black stuff under the leaves. the beetles are rather slow moving, especially when landing & laying there eggs.
if you have any ?'s let me know.
i've started to spray a few of them and they are only part way out of the ground and not even close to fully open. :-( did i say i hate lily beetles? almost as much as the maple seeds, you know those helicopter ones?
a fellow lily lover who will go through anything for her babies.
debi z
Think I read somewhere that it helps to soak the ground around the stems as well. Don't forget to look for and remove all egg clusters on the undernath of leaves.
LMK if you want some urls about them.
Inanda
inanda, that would make sense since the beetles go underground in the fall. a woman in new hampshire told me she hadn't treated for them the first year that they came to her gardens. by the second spring they were devouring the lily growth below ground before they even sprouted! those poor lilies.
the eggs are a bright orange, so they are easy to spot. i just smush mine with my finger.
debi z