Wednesday 1 July 2009

Lily Beetle


I have lilies in pots at home and they have never suffered with the dreaded Lily Beetle, however, when I went to the allotment yesterday there were three of these pests feasting on the lilies which I have planted there. They feed on the leaves, stems and flowers of lilies and you can see where parts of the leaves have been eaten. This causes the plant to stop producing food and weakens it preventing it from flowering next year, and in some cases, killing it. I'm not very good at killing insects, even bad ones, so I got my hubby to squish them. I'm going to have to be extra vigilant and check over the plants each time I make a trip to the allotment.


The sweetcorn which were planted out a few weeks ago are putting on new growth now after sulking for a little while when they were first planted out. The sweetcorn which I have grown previously in containers always did really well for me so I'm hoping that they do just as well at the allotment.


It is nearly 12 weeks since my potatoes were planted and they are now starting to flower so I shall be unearthing some of them within the next week or two. Again, they have done really well for me in containers previously, so it will be interesting to see what difference planting them in the ground makes.


I can't believe how much growth the brassicas have put on. They have literally romped away since they were planted out. Unfortunately, I lost a few of them to slug damage, but I replaced these plants and they are now doing fine. They are planted in the brassica cage which I posted about earlier, to prevent the Cabbage White butterfly from laying their eggs on them, as their caterpillars can do more damage than slugs.


We had a huge downpour during the night but today is warm and bright again. This weather is just what plants need to make them have growth spurts, but unfortunately, the same goes for weeds. I think I'm going to have to set a day aside to do some serious weeding of the beds at the allotment as weeds are popping up everywhere.


With everything growing so well at the allotment, my attention is now turning to follow on crops. On Sunday I picked some peas which I have growing in containers in the garden. After eating some straight from the pods (how could I resist?), there were just enough left for one meal, with more pods forming on the plants for later. The peas at the allotment have pods which are just starting to fill, and I have some more plants at home which are ready to be planted. Yesterday I sowed some chard and some curly kale so once they have sprouted I will have to find room for them at the allotment.

8 comments:

  1. Sorry I haven't visited for awhile, I have been enjoying my daughters company.
    I have a pot of potates ready to harvest, can't wait ;o)

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  2. sweetcorn sulking!.. haha... When I had corns planted, one kept on sulking and died. Dont know why, it must be the soil.

    ~ bangchik

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  3. I wrote about Lilly Beetles not too long ago. Maybe this will reflect your findings: http://ryans-garden.blogspot.com/2009/06/as-red-as-devil.html

    I found the biggest beetle I have ever seen last week. It was soooo big!

    Allotment sounds fab!!

    Ryan

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  4. Where there are Lily Beetles there are sure to be their larvae which look like little piles of dark brown bird poo at first. Be sure to get rid of these asap by removing the leaves or wiping them off with gloved hands/damp kitchen paper.

    G x

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  5. We have to grab the chance to spend time with our family when we can, Libby. Hope you enjoy the potatoes.

    Luckily the sweetcorn were only going through a phase, Bangchik. They're coming along fine now.

    Thanks for visiting, Ryan. Yes, I commented on your post about Lily Beetles. I found another one yesterday. They've certainly taken a liking to my lilies at the allotment, although I haven't had a single one on the lilies which I grow at home in pots.

    Thanks for the info, Georgie. I'll have a good look next time I go to the allotment.

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  6. Hi Jo - thanks for your visit to my blog and your kind comments.
    I too have had the joys of lily beetles, in fact I think I have had just about every kind of beetle baddy in my garden - but at least lily beetles are easy to spot!

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  7. Isn't it amazing how something so small and cute can be so distructive? Thank goodness you have a Hubby that is willing to squash them for you. Reading your blog and Tim's makes me wish I was growing some vegetables this year. Oh well, can't do everything at least I can enjoy yours through your posts. Once again, thank you for sharing your lovely garden with me.
    Kat

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  8. Thanks for visiting my blog, Rachael. You're right, the lily beetle is, at least, easy to spot.

    Thank you for your lovely comments, Kat. You would think that such an attractive insect would be a 'goody', wouldn't you? It's actually the first year that I have come across the Lily Beetle. I've never had them in my garden yet, only at the allotment.

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