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Red menace - a timely warning
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Posted by flora_uk SW UK 8/9 (My Page) on Mon, Apr 21, 08 at 6:24
| Check your lilies now!!! I've just spotted the first of those disgusting larvae chomping my regales. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Red menace - a timely warning
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| Thanks Flora UK, I've been expecting them anyday now but I've been looking out for the red beetles rather than the larvae. Better check for the brown slime as well, then. |
RE: Red menace - a timely warning
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| A tip from a Swedish lily grower is to grind a Provado stick to powder and mix with 1 litre of water in a spray bottle. Spray the plant with the mixture, not the soil. I saw this only today on a Swedish forum but have no personal experience of this tip. I wish I had because I spotted mature red beetles on my madonna lilies (on the leaves, no flowers yet, of course) weeks ago. I will try Provado on my fritillarias today. Marianne in Sweden |
RE: Red menace - a timely warning
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| I still haven't spotted one. Plenty of vine weevil, though. Good tip about the Provado stick - what is in them, exactly? Will the mixture keep in the sprayer for any length of time or should it be used up quick? |
RE: Red menace - a timely warning
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- Posted by ornata London UK (8/9?) (My Page) on
Wed, May 7, 08 at 9:55
The active ingredient in Provado is Imidacloprid. It is very toxic to bees and other insects (obviously, being an insecticide!) If you go to the following link you will see that some people have concerns over its use:
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/imidaclo.htm I personally don't feel happy about using pesticides in the garden because they don't just target the "bad" creatures. (Mind you - neither am I happy about having my lilies reduced to lace by these vile red devils and their young, but that's nature for you!) I am forced to patrol my lilies daily to squash the adults and wipe off the disgusting larvae. |
RE: Red menace - a timely warning
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| I discovered the first of the red menace about 4 days ago. Since then, I've been killing about 5 each day - last year this figure rose dramatically as the season progressed, then dropped off suddenly. I've also been inspecting the backs of the leaves for orange egg clusters which I suspect are lily beetle, and wiping those off too. It worked for me last year! I have a theory that they only infest the broad-leaved lily types - the ones with narrow, slightly reflexed leaves remain untouched. Any one else agree with this? Or have I just been lucky so far? |
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