Lily Beetle Control: Protecting Your Lilies from Pests

Learn how to identify and combat lily beetles, which damage lilies and fritillaries. Discover effective methods like using sunflower oil and proper feeding for healthy blooms.

Lily beetles feed predominantly on lilies and fritillaries, and these are the only plants on which they lay eggs and finish their life cycle. The insects are known to prey on lily of the valley, Solomon’s seal, nicotiana, hollyhock, and potatoes, yet not daylilies, canna lilies, or calla lilies.

There are cautions to using sunflower oil to control lily beetles. For showstopping displays from your lilies year after year, it is recommended to feed them.

Understanding Lily Beetle Damage

Lotte Berendsen, a specialist from the PlantIn app, clarifies what to watch out for throughout the season. She states: ‘The grownups leave small, round holes in your lilies’ fallen leaves, while the larvae feed away at the bottom, leaving brown and dry spots.’

Lily beetles cause migraines for all cultivators of these spectacular plants. As spring is a vital time when the grownups are proactively feeding and begin laying eggs, gardeners ought to maintain a close eye on their lilies this month.

For the most part, lilies can cope with the damages, offered action is taken. Nevertheless, large problems can defoliate plants, destroy blossoms, and inevitably create the lily to not flower the list below year.

Drew has functioned as a writer because 2008 and was also an expert gardener for years. As a qualified green thumb, he worked in prominent historic gardens, consisting of Hanbury Hall and the world-famous Hidcote Manor Yard. He likewise spent time as a specialist kitchen garden enthusiast at Soho Farmhouse and Netherby Hall, where he expanded vegetables, fruit, herbs, and cut blossoms for restaurants. Drew has actually composed for countless print and on the internet magazines and is a quantity owner and garden blogger. He is shortlisted for the Digital Horticulture Writer of the Year at the 2025 Garden Media Guild Awards.

Identifying Lily Beetles

Whether you have them in borders or grow lilies in pots, your plants are at danger of the lily beetle. Here we expose the signs to look for and the very best approaches to get rid of these unwanted bugs so your lilies maintain placing on a performance year after year.

The frustrating summer garden parasites are tiny, only 6-8 mm long, with a scarlet-red body and black legs. The adults begin feeding as soon as the lilies appear the soil, typically in spring, and lay hundreds of rally the underside of fallen leaves.

Controlling Lily Beetles with Sunflower Oil

Splashing sunflower oil only treats active problems, instead of being preventative, and only has a short-term impact, so it would need numerous applications. You can get bottles of organic 100% sunflower oil at Walmart.

It is a good idea to check plants in the springtime for indicators of very early damage and the existence of eggs. The vital times to be watchful remain in April and May when the beetles arise, and from May to summer, when the grownups start laying their agitate the bottom of leaves.

There are cautions to utilizing sunflower oil to manage lily beetles. Mainly, be careful what you spray, as it could also harm advantageous bugs if they are caught in the crossfire. However, in general, the oil won’t have long-lasting influence on insects in the garden.

Left to their devices, adult lily beetles and their larvae can trigger significant damages and also quit light bulbs from flowering again. A natural, unconventional way to control lily beetles is to spray the plants with sunflower oil. Grown-up Lily Beetles have a covering that can protect them.’

For showstopping screens from your lilies every year, it is suggested to feed them. You must fertilize lilies in springtime to give them all the nutrients they need for the summer season growing. The best kind of feed to use right now of year is a well balanced plant food, such as this 10-10-10 plant food at Walmart.

An organic, unusual way to regulate lily beetles is to spray the plants with sunflower oil. Brandon Runyon, an entomologist with Swat Pest Monitoring, clarifies just how sunflower oil overcomes suffocation. He says: ‘The oil blocks the spiracles, so the beetle can not take a breath.’

‘ Sunflower oil functions best on larvae, as these are soft-bodied and at risk,’ she states. ‘It likewise develops an obstacle on the leaves, making it harder for both the larvae and the adult beetles to feed. Yet adult Lily Beetles have a shell that can protect them.’

Preventative Care for Lilies

Entrusted to their tools, grown-up lily beetles and their larvae can trigger significant damage and also quit bulbs from flowering once more. Close surveillance for indicators of bugs and their damages indicates you can start regulating them more quickly. You can handpick them from the plants or spray sunflower oil to combat energetic pesky larvae– yet it requires to be done carefully.

Contact me with news and supplies from other Future brandsReceive e-mail from us on behalf of our relied on partners or sponsorsBy submitting your info you agree to the Problems & terms and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

If you place a light towel or piece of paper under the plant, you’ll have the ability to spot any type of grownups that leave and roll over to reveal their darker bottoms. Bear in mind, gloves are absolutely advised for handpicking larvae and their unsanitary routines.

Manual Removal of Lily Beetles