From last weekend to this one something has attacked my lilies. The day lilies are fine but the tiger lilies and others like them (I don't know the names). It's a very efficient murderer, it seems to recycle the leaves into a gross looking pile of ??? I don't find a bug but it would seem it has to be. So far only the lillies are getting it and I would rather sacrifice them than have whatever it is spread to other plants. I've looked the the pest files and will again but I just wondered if anyone has seen this before and what I should do! Thanks very much. Dave
Something is devouring my lilies
Oh dear...... have you seen any little red beetles around your lilies?
I think I did see a beetle on one of them, can't remember the color, but only one. And on one we found what looked like a larva - roundish and yellow, not moving though.
Well, take a look at this thread here http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/691618/
Lots of good info and follow the links for more ~ keep us posted!
Sure hope it's not them. :(
If it's red lily beetles, they lay their eggs under the leaves, when the grubs hatch they eat their way mostly from the end to the stem then go to another leaf. The eggs are generally in a line of around 10 and are red. The grubs cover themselves with their excrement, so it might be difficult to know what is there but if you see even small black gooey things under the leaves where they are eaten squash them. Easiest to break off the leaf and put under foot.
The beetles come when it's warm mostly, and I usually find 2 mating and a spare nearby. Check morning and evening, they often hide under the leaves near the top. They nibble holes in the leaves or eat the edges, leaving small black droppings on the leaves.
If you see a beetle put your hand under it before trying to take it off, they don't fly or run but will throw themselves over the edge to the ground, mostly upside down and it's nearly impossible to find them. I check daily, except for very cold days like the last two (44F today) with rain, even on a cold day if they are already there they will be in hiding.
It definitely was these beetles. I ended up pulling a bunch of the plants, they were just so covered with grubs and/or the eggs. Unfortunately I had to get rid of a tiger lily that's been growing in the garden for many years. Between the deer and the beetles there wasn't much left. It's strange, I've never had these before, I wonder if I introduced them by buying from ebay? Guess I'll stick with day lilies. Thanks for the answers!
You won't have got them from a bulb, they are spreading at a rapid pace. This is my third year with them, the first I had very few. I think they come in on the winds.
It's a shame about the tiger lily, the bulb should have been OK even it lost most of the leaves it should have grown again.
the lily beetle came in from europe. there they have 2 different types of wasps that help to control them. here we have nothing, as of yet. you'll see on the other thread the mention of trying to come up with a predator for the lily beetle.
my first year with them, i think 4 yeaers ago now, they got to the same stage as yours dapapabear. i was so grossed out spraying them with the sevin, but i had learned that if you did not try to control them, they would the next year be eating your lilies before they even came out of the ground. ugh!!!! now, with the first sign oif the little monsters, i spray them with seven, especially making sure i get the underside of the leaves.
the past couple of years, i have had to spray when they were half grown and then again when they were full grown and some hatched.
you will find that they will appear again in the fall. these beetles will not reproduce but eat and go underground until next spring when warm weather comes.
i find spraying the whole plant with sevin, is all i need to do for the year. i try to hand do them too, but i have well over 100 lilies and to try and keep up with them this way is too much.
good luck.
your bulbs are fine. if you don't want them, please feel free to send them my way, i will gladly send you postage.
thanks,
debi & franklin
Today was the first day I was able to get back to the garden since last time I posted. It's about 1/2 hr away at my mom's. I was somewhat expecting to see the lilies in the front yard stripped to the stalk but they looked pretty good. The beetle is there I killed one and there's evidence of the grubs doing their thing but nothing like what happend in the back. I was happy to see that the plants that I had picked the leaves off of were doing pretty well, some even have buds. I was even happier to see that some of the "babies" of the tiger lily had escaped my pulling spree. Thanks for the calmer voices :)
Whew, I'm happy to hear the good news. Take care.
excellent papabear,
too many folks are giving up on lilies because of these nasty criters. lilies are my favorites so i'm hanging in there. between the voles that ate the bulbs of over 150 of my lilies one winter, to the beetles who are trying there best to eat from the top side down, i'm still hanging in there and looking forward to my babies blooming.
good luck
debi z & franklin
And bunnies that eat all the buds and leaves ...
Or dogs that run thru and break off stalks while chasing the bunnies...
Here's a picture of the only one that survived well enough to blossom in the back yard. It's not the best picture. The ones in front were specatular but I didn't get a chance to get a picture. The beetles came back one more time, there was tons of them again, but not many larvae just the beetle. As you can see I have plenty of work ahead of me before it looks like there's a garden there Thanks again for everyones comments. Dave
Good of them to at least leave you the blooms and a few leaves for the health of the lilies. Gardens are always a work in progress. :)