Daylily disease - Need ID

[SPedigrees]

What I read was as of 2017.

I bought and planted these daylilies last year in August 2017. (I thought it was earlier, but I looked up my receipt for the exact date.) My guess is that the place in TN probably imported their stock from WA and the pests came with them. Their affliction looks exactly like the photos of gall midge. I'm going to give them a Viking funeral, then cover the area where they were growing in diatomaceous earth, and then add the nemotodes to that same area in the spring. It's just not worth allowing midges to destroy all my other daylilies.

 

[catjac1975]

I bought and planted these daylilies last year in August 2017. (I thought it was earlier, but I looked up my receipt for the exact date.) My guess is that the place in TN probably imported their stock from WA and the pests came with them. Their affliction looks exactly like the photos of gall midge. I'm going to give them a Viking funeral, then cover the area where they were growing in diatomaceous earth, and then add the nemotodes to that same area in the spring. It's just not worth allowing midges to destroy all my other daylilies.

Better be safe than sorry. I doubt a big supplier would be foolish enough to have purchased infected plants. There are some pretty strict regulations regarding sending plants from a place with such a pest. I am going to research that. out of curiosity.

 

[catjac1975]

I bought and planted these daylilies last year in August 2017. (I thought it was earlier, but I looked up my receipt for the exact date.) My guess is that the place in TN probably imported their stock from WA and the pests came with them. Their affliction looks exactly like the photos of gall midge. I'm going to give them a Viking funeral, then cover the area where they were growing in diatomaceous earth, and then add the nemotodes to that same area in the spring. It's just not worth allowing midges to destroy all my other daylilies.

 

[catjac1975]

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/f...crops/plant-health/phu-daylily-gall-midge.pdf
This mentions using a systemic insecticide. If you are organic I strongly suggest that you saturate the ground around the plant with a systemic insecticide this one time. There is a product for roses that works well. You don't want to start the NE epidemic.

 

[aftermidnight]

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/f...crops/plant-health/phu-daylily-gall-midge.pdf
This mentions using a systemic insecticide. If you are organic I strongly suggest that you saturate the ground around the plant with a systemic insecticide this one time. There is a product for roses that works well. You don't want to start the NE epidemic.

I agree Cat, we no longer are able to do this in B.C. as this type of pesticide has been banned here and has been for some time. I only have a dozen or so daylilies left, nothing fancy like yours but still pretty. I haven't bought any new ones for quite awhile. Hopefully I got rid of the little bugger and don't want to take the chance of having to deal with it again. Needless to say I watch all new buds like a hawk and even if I think it looks suspicious off it comes.
I guess everyone here knows daylilies are edible, I use the flowers quite often in salads, haven't tried battering and deep frying the buds yet or using the roots, I made the mistake of telling my son the chef this, it put that gleam in his eyes, for a moment or two I thought I was going to have to beat him off with a big stick .

Annette

 

[Nyboy]

Annette Italians take the squash flower stuff it with cheese then fry

 

[SPedigrees]

----catjac1975 wrote: "I doubt a big supplier would be foolish enough to have purchased infected plants. There are some pretty strict regulations regarding sending plants from a place with such a pest." -----

I am sure they did not do it knowingly. There was no evidence of these midges until the flower buds appeared, a year after I had planted them. The foliage looked perfectly normal and healthy even as the flower stalks and buds dried up and withered, and it still looked normal when I uprooted and disposed of the plants. RIP poor daylilies.

The daylilies are removed now and the spot where they were is saturated with diatomaceous earth. I'll add the nemotodes this spring and hope for the best. I'm not going to use a chemical pesticide on it, banned or otherwise. I'm also going to adopt your plan, Annette, and keep a vigilant watch on my remaining daylilies for any signs of the dreaded midges.

I'm definitely done buying plants for good, which is ok since most of my perennial beds are basically finished. If I can't grow it from seed, it won't be going into my gardens. Diseases can and do arrive here all the time, but I'm not going to help them again by providing a means of transportation.

 

[SPedigrees]

I'm not sure I could bring myself to pick and eat daylily flowers! I've put nasturtium flowers in a salad, a time or two, but they produce blooms continuously, so it doesn't seem like such a sacrifice.