Rosemary beetles
Tomsk
Posts: 204
I have a rosemary bush that's absolutely infested with rosemary beetles. I crush the ones I spot but more just appear every day to replace them. It seems to be impacting on the plant because the growth is rather poor this year, with a lot of the 'leaves' nibbled away.
I considered buying a spray to kill them, but I'd rather not, mainly because this year the garden appears to be overrun by ladybird larvae, with the first few adult ladybirds now appearing. I'd like to keep these because my other plants tend to get infested with aphids.
So, any easy way to remove all the rosemary beetles without harming the ladybirds? I also have frogs in the foliage at the base of the rosemary bush.
Also, there are many pockets of bubbly 'spit' in the rosemary bush. Is whatever's causing these harmless or do they also damage the bush?
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Can you blast them off with your hosepipe? The frothy secretions contain a little creature called a froghopper which is a sap sucking larva. It does not really have much impact on a plant unless it feeds up near the tip where some distortion may occur so they can be left alone.
The bush is in a corner and is about 6 feet tall, so I can't really use a hose without the water going onto two other neighbours' gardens, which I'm sure they'd find rude. Also, if I blasted them vertically onto the ground around the base I'm sure they'd climb straight back up.
I have some lilies next to the bush and have noticed a few rosemary beetles living on the lilies recently. Them, along with black vine weevils and red lily beetles - and tons of ladybird larvae. I assume ladybirds don't do any harm to lilies or gladioli? The larvae were all black with yellow dots. The adults I've seen have been mainly red with black spots but a few black ones with yellow spots too.
Last edited: 14 June 2016 18:09:49
Ladybirds are one of a gardener's best friends. They will eat all the aphids so if you have lots of ladybirds, transfer them to your rosemary and let them feast! Black with yellow dots is how ladybird larvae look. Squish the vine weevils and lily beetles.
It's typical how things work. I was in the garden this afternoon and there were quite a few ladybirds on the gladioli. Then there was a very heavy bout of rain. It was only after that I went out to move them to a black aphid infestation on a potted plant and there was only one ladybird left. The others must have been blasted off, but hopefully they'll climb back up the gladioli if it's dry tomorrow.
Anyway, the one that was left literally walked off my finger onto a stem covered in aphids and instantly started eating them before its hind legs were off my finger. Must have made its day!
Lucky ladybird. Just move them when you see them as they are amazing aphid eaters.