Something is eating my lily pads..

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I’m not sure what’s eating them but the pads in my pond are looking all sorts of awful. Could it be an insect or do ramshorn snails eat lilies?? I’ve also been treating with the knockout plus but it’s supposed to be all natural and plant safe.. what do y’all think??

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Mmathis

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Does it look like you have tiny little tacos of rolled, folded leaf material? If so, China Mark moth larvae (think that’s the name). Don’t recall the name of the stuff you use on them, but it’s a natural product, harmless to the fish, etc. (bacillus something or other.....?). But I just pulled the caterpillars off and fed them to my fish instead.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/something-eating-killing-water-lily-90840.html
 
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Thanks @Mmathis I came across that link earlier from a google search. Whatever is eating them is definitely just cutting little bits off and leaving the leaf material to float around and stick to the liner or the lily pads on the surface. I'll keep an eye on them and see if I can't identify the offenders and manually remove them, but if it gets worse I'll have to get some of that Bacillus Thuringiensis and see if it'll get rid of the pests.
 
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Thanks @Mmathis I came across that link earlier from a google search. Whatever is eating them is definitely just cutting little bits off and leaving the leaf material to float around and stick to the liner or the lily pads on the surface. I'll keep an eye on them and see if I can't identify the offenders and manually remove them, but if it gets worse I'll have to get some of that Bacillus Thuringiensis and see if it'll get rid of the pests.

Don't know if this will help but I know that Slugs and terrestrial snails feed mostly at night. I have found that most slug bates hurt the flowers as much as they do the slugs. So I have to go out at night with a flashlight and an old paring knife every other week or so.
So maybe your culprit is nocturnal? Maybe grab a flashlight and have a look see tonight.
 
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if i remember correct slugs don't do the water. please correct me if i am wrong.
Um, I am aware slugs don't do water I was supporting the nocturnal theory. Besides ShawnInfirmity may be plagued with slugs with scuba gear and S.E.A.L. training. But we don't know that yet do we Angel?
 
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Hi Shawn,
Have you resolved your issue or do you your lilies continue to have the problem? You have probably already done this, but if not, cutting and removing the bad petioles really helps. Examine the cuttings with a magnifying glass. Anyway, hope all is well with your lilies.
Stephen
 
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Thanks @Stephen Noble I haven't quite pinpointed the problem, but I think whatever it is that's messing with my lilies is also eating my water hyssop in the bog. My best guess at this point is aphids, but I'm not totally sure. I also don't know if they're directly eating the lily pads or if the little green bits of water hyssop that are coming from the bog are floating around and when they come into contact with my lily pads they erode them? I don't know why that would happen but it seems that everywhere the little bits of green plant material stick to the lily pads that's where the pads erode. Has anyone seen that before?

I have been cutting off the badly damaged pads and that does seem to help a lot, but I wish I knew what was happening and how to fix it. Anyone know of a good organic spray for aphids that would be safe to use around a pond??
 

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I have had big trouble w/aphids now and then and the best safest thing you can do is spray them off w/a water hose and let the fish have at them! Just do it as much as you can..............I mean really often.
 
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Thanks @Stephen Noble I haven't quite pinpointed the problem, but I think whatever it is that's messing with my lilies is also eating my water hyssop in the bog. My best guess at this point is aphids, but I'm not totally sure. I also don't know if they're directly eating the lily pads or if the little green bits of water hyssop that are coming from the bog are floating around and when they come into contact with my lily pads they erode them? I don't know why that would happen but it seems that everywhere the little bits of green plant material stick to the lily pads that's where the pads erode. Has anyone seen that before?

I have been cutting off the badly damaged pads and that does seem to help a lot, but I wish I knew what was happening and how to fix it. Anyone know of a good organic spray for aphids that would be safe to use around a pond??
I use a 10% dish soap and 90% water solution on my roses. It suffocates them and the soap does not hurt the plant. Not really sure what it would do to a pond though.
I must admit I am confused your lilies almost look like they have acid burns on them. Aphids are like little vampires they such sap out of new growth. I have never seen a plant with aphids have physical damage per say. They just shrivel up and die from lack of nutrients.
Have you actually seen aphids on the effected plants?
 
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Well, let me see if I can shed some more light on the mystery. I have taken another look at my water hyssop to see if I can actually identify a pest. I did not see anything that resembled an aphid from the photos I've seen online, but I did see what appear to be small pond snails. From my understanding the larger ramshorn snails don't eat healthy plant material but what about the smaller "pond snails" do they eat healthy plants?? Here's some pictures of the water hyssop including the small brown specks that seem to be itty bitty pond snails. If these aren't tiny pond snails I'm not sure what the are, but something is chewing the crud out of my bog plants.
image1.jpeg image2.jpeg image3.jpeg
 
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I think you are on the rite track suspecting snails. The pictures you attached look just like plants that have been eaten by slugs. Trust me Washingtonians know a thing or two about slugs and snails.
Here is a good article I found on the web on how to get rid of the little varmints. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/rid-pond-snails-76979.html
Here is quote from the first part of the article.

"Collect the snails you find by hand and remove them from the pond. Look under the leaves of pond plants where they often hide. Because many snails are more active at night, use a flashlight after dark to find the snails. Regular hand picking of pond snails will greatly reduce the population."

Sort of sounds like something I said before my friend Angel chimed in.
 
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Shawn, you might have a couple of things going on. Something is definitely 'chowing down' on your Bocopa. I recently had a similar issue of something chewing on my Red Mangroves that live in an indoor pond. It turned out to be butterfly larvae. Small caterpillar like worms. The easiest way to find out (and best way to deal with it) is to remove all dead and dying growth in and around the bog area. Examine it closely. Look for beetles, caterpillars or any fly-like organisms attached. A couple of your images show brownish/black 'dots' on the Bocopa stems. Bocopa is really not easily diseased but those dots make me wonder if they are scale. They might be a plant nodes but they sure look like scale. Take a toothpick and see if you can perforate the dot and if so, see if you can scrape it off with your finger nail. If so, you also have scale to deal with. I Doubt the Bocopa shreds are eroding your lily pads but they might be carrying pests to the lily pads. I see you have the pond covered with netting so conclude you have fish in there. Do your lily pads produce healthy new growth? Or are they discolored before surfacing? How deep are your lily baskets? Just curious, what do you have in the pond besides plants? Regarding your Bocopa, is it monnieri (white flowers) or carolina (blue flowers and lemon scent)?
Stephen
 
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Well guys and gals it seems like @Stephen Noble is most likely right about having more than one thing going on. The little brown/black dots in the pictures are tiny pond snails. I also saw some aphids AND a couple spotted cucumber beetles. My wife is also having something that keeps eating the leaves off her bean bushes but she’s convinced it’s a rabbit. Now that I’ve seen the aphids and beetles I’m not so sure it’s a rabbit. It is most likely the same bugs that are eating my Bacopa leaves. She’s sprayed her plants with a 3-in-1 (fungicide, insecticide, and miticide) in the garden but that didn’t seem to deter the pests for long. I believe the Bacopa is the monnieri variety cause it has white (almost pale lavender) flowers.
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The lilies have been doing a LOT better ever since I've been pulling off the pads that looked really bad and the ones that are coming up from the rhizome are very healthy looking. I have my lilies in fabric lily pots on top of some sterilite storage crates so that they're about 18 inches below the surface of the water. The only thing I have in the main pond is my fish (15 goldfish and 5 minnows) and water lilies and in the bog I have Bacopa Monnieri and Parrot's Feather.
 
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