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I've been having some problems with my Bush Lily plants. Some were looking sickly, and today a few basically broke off at the crown. I dug them up, thinking root rot, but found lots of white healthy roots that had been severed from the mother plant. Then, I noticed grubs. About 5 to a cup of soil. The Bush Lily has big fleshy roots, and I suspect the grubs were chewing them through.
Is there something I can put in the planting beds to get down into the soil to kill them? Something for this time of year out in Southern California?
It almost sounds like an Iris borer. Considering they find other plants with similar rhizomes like day lilies and blackberry lilies good eating it wouldn't surprise me. Try to get an ID locally through the cooperative extension or Master Gardeners. Iris borers can be gotten rid of several ways. Organic treatments can be nematodes (see the explanation of which ones here: Alternative Methoids of Controlling Iris Borers ) and you can also use less organic pesticides as seen here: Controlling the Iris Borer with Systemic Pesticides No matter what you do cleaning up debris and keeping things neat will help reduce their numbers in the overwintering period. I hope you get more responses from someone who has actually grown Bush Lilies.
Monti,
I bought the easy grub killer that comes in a spray bottle that you just
spray with your hose at Lowes. Inexpensive and easy.
You might want to spray it all over your lawn too.
It also controls fleas and ticks, I was surprised, read the back of the bottle.
I have a Chaste tree out front and the grubs are terrible, so I use it and
it works pretty good.
I used to control get rid of those nasty grubs by usuing Diazinon which was very effective, but that product has been taken off the market by the EPA. The EPA says consumers can still use it, cautiously, if you have some, or can find some like at a garage sale etc. That decision is up to you. Otherwise you use nematodes or squish them when you see them.
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