To squish or not to squish!

[Jez]

It's one of those things you have to consider, do you grow Lily's if only to be eaten by the Lily Beetle or are you set on Lily's no matter what and eradicate the beetle. Personally If a plant struggles IMO it's not worth keeping! Saying that My Garden has large clumps of early flowering Lily's which where there before i moved in + I garden organically and have never had to be concerned with the Lily beetle, just been fortunate I guess!

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Jez

It's one of those things you have to consider, do you grow Lily's if only to be eaten by the Lily Beetle or are you set on Lily's no matter what and eradicate the beetle. Personally If a plant struggles IMO it's not worth keeping! Saying that My Garden has large clumps of early flowering Lily's which where there before i moved in and garden organically, have never had to be concerned to any threat from the Lily beetle, just been fortunate I guess!

The dam beetle should not be here in the first place..
Anyway I am wining..

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

The dam beetle should not be here in the first place..
Anyway I am wining..

Are the Lily's native Kayleigh?

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Jez

Are the Lily's native Kayleigh?

Smart Aleck!!!!

well the NATIVE hoverflies love them.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Smart Aleck!!!!

well the NATIVE hoverflies love them.

That's alright then, have a lollipop!

[Monkey Orchid]

Originally Posted by Jez

It's one of those things you have to consider, do you grow Lily's if only to be eaten by the Lily Beetle or are you set on Lily's no matter what and eradicate the beetle. Personally If a plant struggles IMO it's not worth keeping!

My mum gets a lot of these little scarlet munchers in her garden - the worst thing is they have been wiping out all her little clumps of native snake's-head fritillaries which she has been lovingly nurturing for years. Unfortunately it's not just the showy garden plants that alien critters like Lily beetles take out.

As for caterpillars, I agree it's best to let natural predators sort things out if at all possible, although it is pretty galling when the large and small whites proliferate on yer brassicas. I had a lovely patch of kale last year, first time I'd grown it, and it got hit by caterpillars - within a week there was nothing left of the five waist-high plants except stalks. The birds didn't seem remotely interested in eating the crawly little blighters, even when I got grumpy and prised a few handfuls off and spread them invitingly on the bird table. I guess agricultural fleece or fine netting might be a solution, but fencing in veg plants is a tedious job.

There's always a balance to be struck, I guess. Growing our own veg has a lot of knock-on benefits for wildlife (e.g. lower carbon footprint/diminishing the impact of climate change, providing potential habitats and food sources for various species) but if like me you're on a meagre budget then losing large amounts of your crop to a pest species can be heartbreaking. It's not just the investment in money (seed and plants, tools, organic fertilisers etc) but all those hours of labour too.