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H. argtifolius (H. corsicus) bugs
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Posted by geoforce z7a SE PA (My Page) on Mon, Jun 8, 09 at 11:28
| The only hellebore I have any problems with is argutifolius. I have never seen any insects on my hellebores before, but last summer (in late June) argutifolius was attacked by large black insects over 1" (about 3 cm.) long. They appeared to be a very large weevil like the Black Vine weevil. Each morning i would pick from 5-20 off the plant and kill them, and the next morning there were more on it. I tried sprays but it did not help and eventually they totally defoliated it and even ate the softer parts of the stems. They were never on any of the other hellebores which were planted in the same bed or other beds. This year the plant is growing new healthy stems but of course did not bloom as there were no mature ones.
Any better ideas about what these insects are and what I can do to prevent their return this summer?
George |
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RE: H. argtifolius (H. corsicus) bugs
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I do not have those hellebores, and have no bug attack on my hellebores.
There are systemic insecticides on the market. I.e. you could ask your local nursery or could try the following. You could treat the root area around those Hellebores with Bayer systemic Rose & Flower Care insecticide and fertilizer (all in one). That helps against leaf miners, leaf hoppers, but I did not read weavils on the label. You can buy that in HD and Lowes and probably your local nurseries. This will be brought into the stems, flowers and leaves and will take care of your bugs perhaps. Otherwise you could dust the leaves with an insecticide.
Good luck!
Bernd |
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