thanks for the reminder. I'm just jotting down garden chores for tomorrow. merit soil soak @lilies is now on my list.

this is one of those exceptions where I'll go for the chemicals.

I have them too..already laying eggs.

I hate using the chemicals so much that I stopped growing lilium lilies, switched to all hemerocallis (daylilies). Ugh! Those little red beetles and their excrement!

Carol

just fyi, if you have any old diazinon (yep) lying around, it works well when sprinkled around the base of each lily stem. Also, I found last year that none of my POTTED asiatics or orientals were attacked(no diazinon or spray used)!
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/

Saw three today, the first this year, all on tiger lilies (Lilium lancifolium). I sprayed them with permethrin which I happened to have around. No real leaf damage yet. I only sprayed the beetles, not the lilies, because I want to minimize exposure to beneficial bugs.

If I see more I'll resort to the Bayer's Rose and Flower spray and spray every lily, but I hope that won't be necessary. It wasn't last year.

Claire

I have them too! I sprayed with Neem and they seem to have gone away. Last year they kept coming back. What's a merit soak? Did that work for the entire season?

lepages, a Merit soak is a "splash" (unscientific measurement) of Bayer Tree & Shrub something-or-other (active ingredient imadicloripid (sp) in a watering can then water the soil around the plants. This kills the critters where they live and avoids spraying foliage which can be hit or miss. It is a systemic too so the plant can take it up vascularly and get any critters that might come around and munch on it. However, I think it mostly does its work in the soil -- similar to diazinon and Sevin (carbaryl) all work the same -- soil insecticide. I just did it with Sevin because I had some on hand. It was very old, but I think it has a long shelf life and is probably still good.

Sometimes I will see a straggler red lily beetle later in the season. I may apply again once more in the season, but no more than that.

Thanks for the info on the Merit soak, I will try that as well.

I was kindof in a hurry before. THis is the actual product I was referring to:

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/tree-shrub-care/products/12-month-tree-shrub-protect-feed

Now that I see the label, I remember that I noticed last year that they started combining it with fertilizer. Its a 2-1-1 slow release fert. (Gardening for the masses these days... add stuff to make multi-purpose products. Drives me crazy... what if I only want one of them? what if its the wrong time of year to fertilize? what if want 2-4-2?...//end rant)

There might be a competing brand that is the single ingredient imidacloprid. Makes life simpler, I think.

(I have used imidacloprid in the fall for birch trees to prevent borer damage. For trees it can take several months for the tree to take up the chemical. Which is why it would be good to NOT have fertilizer in there too. // end rant again...)

I buy a dry pelletized grub killer - reading the labels to be sure the only active ingredients is imidacloprid. It seems like every year I have to switch to a new brand. I put 1 tsp at the base of each lily plant in the spring. (I also put a tsp at the base of each iris plant to kill off the iris borer).

I have seen 4 or 5 red lily beetles this year. But keep in mind that I easily have 200 lily bulbs scattered around my property. My daughter will usually pick off the beetles and stomp on them. If she's not around, I use an all purpose "organic" pesticide (I use Garden Safe).

I saw one today for the very first time and I'm in very southern CT.

My least favorite bugs! Quite disgusting! Like Carol, I don't like using chemicals, so I have mostly stopped growing regular lilies, although the Oriental/trumpet hybrids that I have growing up through a rhododendron don't seem much bothered by the beetles.