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Lily Beetles- Anyone Tried Vinegar Soap Spray?

arbo_retum
12 years ago

Has anyone tried spraying the larvae/nascent beetles w/ 10% vinegar solution used for mealy bugs?

thanks,

mindy

www.cottonarboretum.com/

Comments (6)

  • jleek
    12 years ago

    No have not tried the vinegar and water just fingers but what is all those brown things developing on the stems...looks like beginning of baby slubs..ate all the leaves and now on pods!

  • claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
    12 years ago

    Those brown things are the beetle larvae, covered with a shield of "excrement". They're much more voracious than the adult beetles and you need to get them off.

    I've never tried the vinegar solution, either, but I'll add it to the FAQ if someone has had luck with it.

    Check the FAQ for methods.

    Claire

  • Ian80
    12 years ago

    FWIW I discovered that they do not like culinary sage. No larva and no beetles in the pot with the sage. I planted the sage last summer when the lili was completely infested. This year it is the only lili that not only wasn't destroyed but has had no signs of them whatsoever and is completely healthy and strong. While the other pots have some form of herb in them the one with the sage (which was next to the others) is completely free of any sign of the beetles. I'll be planting sage with all the lilies between now and fall and putting some back in the ground. On a side note they seem to love purple basil too. They don't seem to care for winter savory but aren't repelled by it either.

    Ian

  • claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
    12 years ago

    That's very interesting about the sage, Ian! Please let us know how it works out with the extra planting. Have you tried rosemary? Rosemary and sage are mentioned together on some companion planting sites.

    I wonder if some of the Salvia cultivars that are grown in the garden repel the beetles.

    Also, are you saying that the beetles eat the purple basil?

    Claire

  • Ian80
    12 years ago

    Hi Claire,

    No I haven't tried any Rosemary. I have not had any luck with it in the past couple of years but I think I will give it a try. I think they would look pretty good together.

    I'm not too well versed in botanical terms but I think we are talking about the same sage. It is a three year old plant but still very small, only about 6 inches, aside from me lobbing off pieces every couple of days it shares the pot with some savory, the lili and some dead "stick" that I haven't been able to bring myself to pull out. "It'll come back next year". Come to think of it may indeed be rosemary.

    On the purple basil, not the curly leaf, yes it appears they are eating that too, however I am not 100% certain it is them as we have had so much rain lately I haven't given close inspection. I was going to take it out of the pot and put it in the ground in the next couple of days so I will check then. Last year I had the curly leaf purple basil and it was fine.

    Ian

  • terrene
    12 years ago

    I'll be very curious to hear if the vinegar solution works for LLBs.

    Sage! Great, I just bought a Broadleaf sage seedling at my son's school plant sale, and then got 3 more sage seedlings from Ontheteam at Idabean's swap. The sage just might have to get transplanted...

    Two years ago I dug up all the Lilies and composted them because I didn't want to deal with the LLBs. They were planted by the previous owner and weren't anything special. Then I couldn't resist some gorgeous Lilies that OTT brought to the swap. After planting them I lightly sprinkled tobacco about 4-6" around the base of the Lilies. Tobacco is a natural pesticide, used long before modern chemicals. But I'm pretty sure it's toxic to bees so hopefully this wouldn't affect them. Applying in the fall or early SPring might be better to kill the beetles, but it's sort of an experiment.

    There's got to be something that's pretty easy and safe to use, otherwise it's just not worth growing Lilies and I am not comfortable using pesticides in the gardens.