Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: trouty on July 06, 2008, 16:23
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I have a raised bed with 2 roses - climbers and a clematis. At the front of the bed I have beautiful Lilies but I also have the dreaded beetle - horrid red thing and the black bits that look like bird droppings which i believe are the eggs.
What should I do to get rid of these pests?
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Squish them !! :twisted:
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The eggs are orange and easy to spot and squish on the underside of leaves. The black bits are the larvae which cover themselves in their own poo - nice hey!
Squishing worked for me this year but found if I didn't get out there everyday they made the most of my day off.
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When you see a beetle approach it very gently. If they suspect an attack they simply drop, land upside down and disappear.
I don't know if my experience is common but it seems they do not necessarily persist from one season to another. I have grown lilies for years and had these pests for the first time in 2006. I 'squished' every egg, larva and beetle that I could fing all year. Last year I only saw one. This year, none.
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I think the trick with them is to be really vigilant and get rid of every adult early in the season.
Last year my lilies were totally decimated by them but this year I checked them twice a day and removed every adult (17 over a 3 day period :shock: ) and kept on top of them. It must have worked as they are all just about to flower now :D
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If you do see the red lily beetle, first spread a plastic cloth on the ground around the plants so that if you should miss the beetle and it falls, you can find it right away and SQUISH!!!