Here is the stitching on the outside of the emerging rolled leaf:

{{gwi:533263}}

And here is what you will find inside:

{{gwi:533265}}

I had it bad last year! Did know what a leaf roller was, never saw one before until I began trading. I assume they came from someone elses garden. When I do a trade I ask them to please remove all foliage and send just the rhizome. This year I am using Bayer Advance 3 in 1 systemic for roses and I have found very few. I can manage a few and just squish them when I see them.

HTH!
Rebecca

Ewwwwww .. thats gross!

Thanks Rebecca for those incredible pix!

I thought those guys would be a lot bigger!

Thanks again!

X

They are just little guys, about an inch and a half. But, they do BIG damage! They will get inside the buds too and eat the flowers.

If left unchecked they can get the size of your pinkey finger (ask me how I know!).

Hey X, my brother and his family live on Flud St. in Summerville. Great town.

Watch those rollers!
Maury

Yikes! Keep them monsters down in Louisiana!

Rebecca

Hey Maury are they gardeners? maybe we can do some trades!

X

Sorry, they aren't.

I have about 40 cannas surrounding my pool in the Dallas, TX area and for 3 years have had problems with these little beasts. Ortho products work a little, but they keep coming back. If anybody has the secret potion to rid these things once and for all, I'd be more than grateful.

Woody, you are located in an area that will have multiple flights of the canna leafroller moths. To get and maintain control you will likely have to be on a good systemic spray program. It may be necessary to spray on a 10 day to two-week interval that should be started early in the season. Sounds like a lot of trouble but the best results are obtained this way. We have excellent results controlling the leafroller using Orthene 75 S. The active ingredient is acephate. It has both systemic and contact effects. This means the new growth still in whorl will be protected because of the systemic action. Please follow label directions. Regards, Kent

I did extensive research on leaf rollers last year because I had a bad case of them on my cannas...through my research I learned that Bt(Baccilus thuringiensis)controls and get's rid of leaf rollers.

"Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an insecticide with unusual properties that make it useful for pest control in certain situations. Bt is a naturally occurring bacterium common in soils throughout the world. Several strains can infect and kill insects. Because of this property, Bt has been developed for insect control. At present, Bt is the only "microbial insecticide" in widespread use."

They are disgusting. And I swear the darn things poop when you open up the leaf. Yuck, yuck, yuck!!!

I am in Columbia, SC and I have those leaf rollers this year also. I use BT on some, but then the frogs like to be inside the leaf when it opens, and they jump out and scare you to death - almost anyway.

I walk around and use a drop of mineral oil in each leaf as soon as there is room to place a dropper. A lot of work? Maybe, but it's better than the damage caused by the leaf roller worm. I'm walking around my garden anyway, so what is the big deal, I say.

I used to squish them, put BT on them, now I leave them alone, they are skipper butterflies. Worth a few ugly leaves for butterflies in my opinion. Plus I have enough to do without trying to rid the world of bugs. Tally HO!

it appears there are two moths doing this dirty work! Geshna cannalis is the Lesser Canna Leafroller, and is responsible for sewing the growth tip closed and gorging on the emerging growth. Calpodes ethlius is the Brazilian skipper, and its the one that sometimes grabs a fully unfurled leaf and rolls it up a little. I'd rather have the skipper than the leafroller, but I'm going to try Bt, so I guess it's goodbye to both. I feel ok with this because at least the skipper can lay eggs on other plants and do just fine. The leafroller, however, is canna-specific, and I can see no reason to protect that moth.

It appears there are two moths doing this dirty work! Geshna cannalis is the Lesser Canna Leafroller, and is responsible for sewing the growth tip closed and gorging on the emerging growth. Calpodes ethlius is the Brazilian skipper, and its the one that sometimes grabs a fully unfurled leaf and rolls it up a little. I'd rather have the skipper than the leafroller, but I'm going to try Bt, so I guess it's goodbye to both. I feel ok with this because at least the skipper can lay eggs on other plants and do just fine. The leafroller, however, is canna-specific, and I can see no reason to protect that moth.

Sorry for the double post - I'm not sure how that was possible.

does anyone have an issue with the lesser leaf roller who isn't in the SE US or a tropical area?

I am wondering if their geographical distribution isn't stopped by cold winters.

I live in upstate South Carolina and have been plagued with these worms since the git go. BT seems to work, when I remember to mix and spray it and am not too lazy to do so. Otherwise, when I do my patrol I just whip out my penknife, slit the stitching, and pop the larvae and their icky frass off the leaf. It's a constant battle, but worth it. Mine are planted in a row outside my kitchen window, grow tall, and draw hummingbirds by the bushel! :-)

I'm going to use BT this year. Heard it also works with web-worms. If you ever had a tree invaded with webbing....

It's probaly the web-worm.

Uckk!!

Hey - Thanks for all the great info. I lived in Summerville, Sc in the late 80's ( Our kids were "Flowertown Busy Bees"), but don't remember a Leafroller problem. Moved to Wakefield, RI and had a 1/2 acre yard full of 6 foot canna. Moved to Chesapeake, VA in 2003 and canna was smaller, but fine. Retired and moved to Wilmington, NC in 2007...WHOA. We hardly see a flower. I am going to try Trini's (posted 6/15/05)BT suggestion. I'll keep you posted.

You are saying that If you have a tree that was invaded with webbing, most of the chances that it's the web-worm. A friend of was trying to get rid of those the last time I met him. Anyway, thanks for sharing us with your experience.

I'm going through similar thoughts, X. I moved to Miami Beach a few months ago, but before that I planted a garden in front of my friends apartment and I planted some cannas that I brought from Illinois, among other things. I had never heard of a canna leaf roller, all I knew was that cannas were tropical and were supposed to grow all year round in zone 10. I thought, "Yay! Cannas all year! Bring it on!". Well, then I picked up some books on Florida gardening and after reading them I was not so enthused, and rather dissapointed(I was also dissapointed to find that callas and agapanthus, which I was also looking forward to growing, dont do so well here either). And I always wondered why I never saw any whenever I would come down here. However the cannas I planted didn't get the leaf roller memo and are doing really well. I have noticed that the flowers seem to brown on the edges and I dont know if that is because of the sun, or salt, or what, but you only notice if you look closely at the inflorescence. I am planning on getting some more cannas(and looking for an elusive shortish canna with fuschia flowers), but I'm wondering if any new ones I will get will be so lucky as the ones I planted. I also wonder if the current ones are going to get it sooner or later.