Bugs on my lillies, HELP!!!

[jenn.]

Just checked on my pond tonight and all the water lily leaves are covered in little tiny bugs. They look like itty bitty beetles or like a beetle/aphid cross. What are these and are they bad?

 

[DrDave]

A close up photo would help.

 

[oldmarine]

For awhile I had a rash of aphids on my lilly pads. All I did was get into the pond far enough to reach each infected lilly pad and wipe off the aphids with my hands wet. After a few frontal attacks of my own on these little critters, they didn't come back. The mosqueto fish in my pond finished off the floating aphids before they could head for dry land.

 

[jenn.]

So maybe I did the right thing by washing them off with the hose :banana:

 

[oldmarine]

Jenn,

I have also used my garden hose to sinse them off, but the aphid type bugs I had a little trouble with seemed to stick to the lilly pads. That's when I ended up using my hands.

Sounds like you are on the right track.

 

[[email protected]]

A natural way to deal with aphids is to use an insecticidal soap which is ORGANIC and can be found at just about any garden center. I suggest removing pads that are in real bad shape and then spraying down the pads that are in better shape. Another approach is to use mint oil as aphids hate it and that too is ORGANIC and safe as well. The final and simplest approach is to remove all infected pads, skim the area with a fine mesh skiimmer net (collect any that may be floating around) and then to feed the lily. When new pads come up they will be free of aphids. You may also want to watch when you buy plants that they are free of aphids as well. I suggest spraying any new plants down with an insecticidal soap (again this is organic and safe) and then rinse the plants off with pond water . It now just popped into my head after typing all of this, the insecticidal soap is manufactured by Safer Products.

 

[oldmarine]

Hi Chris,

I hope that didn't misunderstand you.

Thanks for the input, but do you realize we are talking about aquatic plants that reside in a pond with live fish? I would not put any kind of chemical in my pond, boi-degradable or not.

Thank you for your input.

 

[DrDave]

I have a feeling they sell everything he is advising. The Forum name is a bit obvious.

 

[[email protected]]

Yes, I do know these are pond plants and have actually used insecticidal soap on lilies. The other option is to simply remove the pads that are infected with aphids. You also want to skim the area that you are removing the pads from in case any aphids do fall off in the water. If you do this, you want to also feed the lily as well as this will help increase runners which lead to new pads.