lily beetles

Help the lily beetles have decimated my lilies in the last two summers.I've picked the beetles off
and sprayed early in the summer and sprayed with neem later in the season with poor results.
The only survivers are daylilies! Has anyone got a cure for thesse dastardly creatures?

I use a Bayer product that has an active ingredient, Immucloprid (Not sure of that spelling.) I get it at Walmart. But I am not sure it is available in Canada. Or Merit. (same active ingredient). I am told it is the same insecticide used in dog and cat flea collars. I have heard Sevin is effective also. You have to stay with it all season, about every two weeks.

Thanks mainiac I'll try to get one of my american friend who summer here in New Brunswick to bring it up to me.I was able to get messenger last fall and it worked miracles on my orchids. We just got the beetles about three years ago. One garden started themand they made their way up the street. I was so sad tosee the way they wiped out my lovely lilies.

Depending on how many lilies you and your neighbours have, you might very diligently hand pick them all summer as well.

We live in dread of them here. That is why I keep saying everyone should submerge all incoming bulbs and iris in a javex & water mix for minimum 30 minutes. then rinse well before planting.

inanda

Surprising that the beetle would survive in that low of a zone. I think I saw a couple down here in 2006, nothing major yet...

Oh no intercessor - the dreaded beetle has arrived here? I will definitely have to keep an eye out for them. I didn't notice any yet but wasn't really watching for them.

Unfortunately...
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/housing/japanese-beetle/jbeetle.html

The map was for the Japanese Beetle, not the Lily Beetle, right? They are different, right? Knock on wood, but I haven't seen a lily beetle.

I am assuming they are the same thing... if they are different the Japanese beetle is quite destructive...
Ok it appears they are different, which makes it even more ominous... http://invasivespecies.blogspot.com/2006/07/weekend-photoblogging_08.html



This message was edited Feb 9, 2007 1:18 PM

This message was edited Feb 9, 2007 1:18 PM

They sure look different to me. The Japanese Beetle , I have seen, and it is destructive too.
lily beetle pix
http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/lilybeetle_survey.htm
Japanese Beetle
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/coleoptera/scarabaeidae/japanesebeetle.html
I believe they are different destroyers.

They are very different! The Japanese Beetle is larger and has a wider feeding habit than the Red Lily Beetle. RLB only eats of the lilum family including fritillaria (sp.) Lucky us, we have them both. But the Japanese Beetle hasn't been so bad the last few years. Hand picking is not an option when you work full time and have several hundred lilies as they are out primarily in mid day when I am not home.

RLB are a force to reckon with, but so am I. I spray every week and hand pick them every morning and every night. Now my lilies looked pretty good using this method, but while I was doing this to the RLB the JLB ate my rose's and iris's!! And the moles and voles made a lybrith of tunnels in my lawn. But my lilies looked good!

I find that the RLB eats mainly the Asiatics, martagons and species lilies. The later varieties, I guess are past the period when they are feeding so much. The trick is to start early and stay with the program. The japanese beetles eat things like roses and hollyhocks. I stay away from things that draw them. Besides, I have a neighbor down the street who regularly puts out the bag traps for them. She draws them all to her end of the street. You go girl !!! (Priscilla the neighbor, I mean).

The first fine day in the garden the temp in the 20'sC and guess who is back to welcome spring with me but my friend? the Rbl.I couldn't beleive it. The snow was flying here a week ago.What deadly insecticide do you suggest?
I used neem last year. Is there something more effective? I feel like giving up on Lilies.

If you are seeing them then you need to get out the insecticide. The sooner the better! Can you buy Sevin in Canada? Did you look for Bayer Rose and Garden Insect stuff at Walmart?

We even have a beetle hot-line up here for reported sightings. It has been seen apparently in Portage la Prairie. What disaster if it travelled further north to Neepawa and the Lily Nook.
inanda

It would, indeed, be a problem for a commercial grower! I honestly don't know if they would continue if they had to fight these things. Most people in New England have stopped growing lilies. Me, well I MUST be a Mainiac, because I still grow hundreds of lilies. I work hard at keeping them under control. I do have some foliage damage but I think the cool wet summers we have had in recent years have been worse than the RLB. AS I said before, I think they like the Asiaitics, species and martagons the best, so I grow a lot more OT's now! Somehow they just do better in my climate and the flowers are huge, scented and to die for! Perhaps, one needs to experiment to find out which ones they like the least! I know the Univeristy of Rhode Island has an active research program and is releasing some biological control in test conditions that seems to be helping. I think I had less last year than prior years.

Most of the regional lily societies support the research in RI. I know we do. It is so very important for lily growers. We have so many commerial growers here on the prairies, it is really really important to stop them spreading and to find a way to at least control them.

inanda

I'll try to get up to walmart tomorrow.I had to stop driving so I don't get out to my favorite nurserys very often.I live in the the central part of town and use taxis.I have to have a gardener too. I realy love my flowers but they just don't get the care I used to give them.It's probably good that I don't get to the nurserys to buy more flowers. Most of my gardener friends have moved to Apts.so they don"t go shopping for plants.Sorry to complain but advanced age is for the birds.
If only we could get the birds to eat RBL.

Nope, aging ain't for sissies. And wouldn't it be wonderful if birds had an unquenchable taste for those lily beetles!

Lily beetles and aphids too.

I'm new to the news RLB; it's aweful, I hope it won't invade the surround States, but I'm afraid the reality is quite opposite. Thanks to those sharing the news, I found it very educational and benificial to gardeners everywhere.

I was out cleaning flower beds yesterday and a RLB came out of the dirt!! None of my lilies have even come up yet and those darn things are already awake and waiting!!!! Off to Wal-Mart to get some of the Bayer product Mainiac mentioned.

Yes, I found yesterday. Sorry to say it met death. The warm weather brings them out. But it will be turning back to seasonal norms by week end so it give me a bit more time to get to Walmart. But it sure is nice to see lilies coming up!

Be sure you get the one that has Immucloprid! There are a couple of products packaged similarly and have similar names.

I didn't make it to walmart today. We had such wonderfulweather I couldn't get out of the garden. The RBL were out in full force. The only lily that has made an appearance is themaryagon. The beetles were attractedto
and an Obedience plant and a rhodie. I sprayed the with Neem. That slowed them down. I hated to spoil their fun as they were mateing. It was easy to catch them and put them in soapy water. My hunting totaled about 50. I even caught a couple of threesomes! I'll go to Walmart tomorrow.

OK, saw this too late and I got "similar name". LOL
It says....Imidacloprid instead of Immucloprid. Very close and I see the similarity and why it would be easy to make a mistake.

I have found you can buy this at many other garden centers besides Walmart ;) It is a fairly common product.

This has the stuff you need in it ~ Imidacloprid (AKA Merit) http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Season-Long-Grub-Control/granules.html

Further info http://www.rosemania.com/Pesticide_update.htm

Our local iris society says it works well on iris borer too.

That's what I use it for.

PIxie is CORRECT. I just couldn't remember what the name was!

I got it right? Yey!!! I'll go try it out after it stops raining.

I was talking to a local grower yesterday and she is an organic gardener. She swears by this product for protection against Red Lily Beetle. Gotta get me some!
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8101

And it's great for aphids too. Mainiac, you'll have to let us know how it works for you.

Is the Bayer Advanced stuff containing Merit OK for dogs who roll on grass?
inanda

My vet (who likes to garden) told me that this is the same stuff that they put in flea collars...

Aside from squishing the dreaded red ones between my fingers, or using harsh chemicals..is there any companion planting you can do to keep these guys away fritts or something bio-d to spray on them? What about Dawn? Luckily they are hard to miss with their neon coloring but I am ready to pull up of all my frittilarias and lilies so they don't have such a grand food source, hate to do that though. Fritts are my faves.

We are having a late spring this year.The crocus are just blooming now. I haven't seen any RBL and we have had dome warm days,I'm prepared this year. with sevin. I used it last year and it was quite effective .I have a lot of lilies to plant to replace my losses.Some people never give up!!

Good for you!