Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: zorija on October 01, 2014, 12:46:29 PM
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Hi,
I've just been checking a particular spot in the garden to plant some rarer snowdrops. In this spot is Diggory, so to make
some extra room, Diggory had to be moved.
Well Diggory wasn't too happy and here's a pic. of the bulb.
[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3]
Is this the small narcissus fly ?
Thanks for your feedback...
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:-X Yes!
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Thanks annew for the confirmation. I suppose poor Diggory will now have to be burnt...
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I'd be inclined not to burn it, but instead extract the maggots, clean up the bulb, dust it with sulphur and pot it up. It's a long shot, but it might produce some small offset bulbils?
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I agree with Matt - we have had people tell of success with rescuing a bulb after such an attack in the past. Worth a try anyway with a chance the bulb may survive.
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Bulb cleaned up, only the top 2/3 left in tact i.e. no basal plate. Pesky little blighters still trying to hide in the tiniest of crevices.
Fungicide and sulphur applied. If this works then I'm twin scaling my one and only Morgana...
Thanks for the advice...
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Yes Zorija, there is a little hope. I had same situations. And the rest of the bulb without basal plate created one or two new bulbs inside the older. Fingers crossed!
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I knocked out my pot of Elizabeth Harrison in June. M=I discovered that my group of two flowering bulbs and two offsets was down to one small bulb and a plump narcissus fly grub. An expensive loss! I immediately twinscaled the remaining bulb and wait in prayer.
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I knocked out my pot of Elizabeth Harrison in June. M=I discovered that my group of two flowering bulbs and two offsets was down to one small bulb and a plump narcissus fly grub. An expensive loss! I immediately twinscaled the remaining bulb and wait in prayer.
A nasty shock indeed. Good luck with the twin scales.
It's never nice to lose plants or bulbs is it?
I wonder if we feel even more anguish when the problem is the narcissus fly grub, because they make such a yucky mess? Does make it hard to bear.
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I suppose I need to be thankful it's only Diggory, although there's plenty of normal nivalis around.
Conversely to have Elizabeth devoured is a heart wrencher. I hope the fat grub suffered accordingly - hung, drawn and quartered would be too kind.
I'm surprised there are no nematodes akin to killing vine weevils.
I'll post back in the spring if there's any life in Diggory and thanks for the feedback...
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Zorija, here is a sign of hope :)
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Hello, we must always keep watch for these dreaded snowdrop eating monsters here is a picture, one of my specials which thankfully survived, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Ian, a sooo much better example !!!
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My newest idea, I plant my snowdrops together with a bulb guard. :D
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Love the bulb guard, Hagen!
Thinking sideways slightly.......there's a highly effective method of preventing infestation of Narcissus Fly, large and small - shading.
All my pot-grown 'drops (except the year 1 twin-scales) are in a shade tunnel. There are even gaps at the corners where I've not yet got around to knitting together the shade material for a perfect cover. The proof? Everything gets knocked out and re-potted every year and my total count of Narcissus Fly grubs last year was six and this year eleven and that's on a total made up of the second and third year twin scales plus the odd pot of slow coaches that haven't yet flowered.
If providing shade is not an option then covering the pots in a suspended layer of fleece is effective and preventing physically the adults from laying their eggs next to dying foliage and the holes they leave giving access to the grubs. Knocking off the senescent foliage and covering the holes might also help.
Best wishes,
Matt
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http://www.william-sinclair.co.uk/commercial/ornamentalhorticulture/products/compostadditives/met52granular (http://www.william-sinclair.co.uk/commercial/ornamentalhorticulture/products/compostadditives/met52granular)
I'm going to give this a try , it apparently works on a number of insects that infest soils .
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Emma - Here's the rub: "Control of larvae is likely to be greatest in peat-based growing media." I wouldn't put a snowdrop bulb within a kilometer of peat.
johnw
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I still think it's worth the experiment
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It appears to be only available to the trade and fairly expensive at roughly £60 per kilo being the minimum quantity. This includes VAT and delivery costs.
But the Met 52 only needs to protect one decent bulb to pay for itself...
I wonder if some varieties are more prone than others to these blighters.
johnw - Would you use bark as an additive ? I know that Kath Dryden was generally keen on using bark but I think it might cause botrytis unless sterilised.
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zorija - I have eliminated "all" bark as well. The only organic material I use is finely chopped partially rotted oak leaves and a commercial dry pelletized compost from leaf and yard trimmings used for top-dressing - edit: there could be a very small amount of bark in that.
johnw
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A narcissus enthusiast in Northern Ireland was interviewed on Gardeners' World last weekend and he echoed thoughts I have had re narcissus fly in the garden. He said that as soon as he removed the dead foliage he thought it very important to hoe over the area where the bulbs were growing. At this time of year the earth very often has dried out and there is a tunnel formed and left by the foliage. This is the access for the narcissus fly maggot. It moves from the surface to the bulb via the tunnel left by the dead/dying leaves. It is important to break up the surface of the soil above the snowdrops as soon as possible so as to fill these holes. Application of layer of compost might have the same effect.
Paddy
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Came across this product, whilst potentially no use to safeguard against Narcissus flies, might control the damage caused by slugs.
http://www.waitrosegarden.com/product/_/strulch-organic-garden-mulch/classid.2000009217/?gclid=CLSE-p-O0sECFQbkwgodx3MAXg&gclsrc=aw.ds (http://www.waitrosegarden.com/product/_/strulch-organic-garden-mulch/classid.2000009217/?gclid=CLSE-p-O0sECFQbkwgodx3MAXg&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Has anyone any experience with this product ?
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This "Strulch" is not a product I have seen.
I wonder what is done to it ? - "A patented process is used to 'preserve' the straw so that it lasts for up to two years and gives an earthy brown colour. "
I find the claim that "slugs and snails do not like the texture of this strulch" to be very optimistic - we spread large quantities of our homemade shredded mulch ( which is not dissimilar to this 'strulch') across our garden and in no way could we say that the texture discourages rampaging molluscs. I would think our own mulch is much rougher in texture - and therefore supposedly more likely to be disliked by slugs and snails- than the straw based 'strulch' and so would theoretically be more of a deterrent.
We read all the time that molluscs will be deterred by rough surfaces - mulch, sand, grit, crushed egg shells and so on - I have yet to find a surface that these pests will really avoid. Copper bands seem to repel them from pots - but such applications are hardly practical for a whole garden!
I'll be delighted to learn that this, or other products do work - though I'm far too mean to spend money when we can make our own mulch!
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Strulch is pleasant to use & looks neat when spread out on the soil surface
As Maggi suggested I haven't found it to be particularly disliked by slugs & snails........the small black ones still hide under it & they are the ones that damage snowdrops before they even emerge above ground.
Homemade mulch & compost is less tidy looking than Strulch but costs nothing 8)
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Narcis fly is a real plaque! Several years i lost bulbs (about 5% of my collection each year) to narcisfly!
In August I could allready see the bulbs with a brown basal plate, and yes there was a bug in it.
Most of the time the bulb was totally lost!
I searched for a method to fight the Narcis fly.
In Israël they use a product called 'VYDATE'. Its 99.9% effective.
You put a dose in 10liter water and you pour the plants 1 time a year in April.
The snowdrop absorbs the product - nothing else dies (for my important).
If the Narcis fly put his eggs in the snowdrop and the fly starts to grow it will die immediately after eating the bulb.
I used this product for the second year now and guess what - Not even one bulb lost to narcis fly!
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Hi Ruben,
It seems VYDATE , whose main chemical constituent is OXAMYL, is not readily available here in the UK.
I shall try MET 52. Pity I couldn't water MET 52 in with VYDATE...
Glad you have a solution in your country.
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It seems VYDATE , whose main chemical constituent is OXAMYL, is not readily available here in the UK.
Not even for agricultural use, as here http://www2.dupont.com/Crop_Protection/en_GB/products_services/insecticides/Vydate_10G.html (http://www2.dupont.com/Crop_Protection/en_GB/products_services/insecticides/Vydate_10G.html) ?
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Many of us are not keen to use a chemical to kill pests which is just as likely to kill us! :o :-X
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You 're absolutely right maggi! I am not for the use of pesticides.
I've tried everything to combat the narcissus fly.
But unfortunately was spraying vydate the only opion with a good result. :(
I grow all my surplus of snowdrops in my father's garden in shade and there i have almost no narcisfly!
They love a nice warm place.
In my new garden i have not even one three, but I have planted some and I read in hope I do not have to spray in one day
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Hi Alan,
Thanks for the Vydate link. Very interesting. I'm slightly amused that it is packed in ''Ecolite'' containers! If you follow the link to the ''Vydate Stewardship Programme'' there are more amusing words. These words, from that page, aren't so amusing ''All nematicides are classified as Harmful to Health. All nematicides are classified as Dangerous for the environment.''
Personally I would take issue with the assertion that Vydate is ''an essential product for the production of potatoes.... etc''. Since my potatoes are grown without it.
Tim DH