Galanthus Diggory - bugs

[zorija]

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.



Is this the small narcissus fly ?

Thanks for your feedback...

[annew]

  Yes!

[zorija]

Thanks annew for the confirmation. I suppose poor Diggory will now have to be burnt...

[Matt T]

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?

[Maggi Young]

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.

[zorija]

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...

 

[Hagen Engelmann]

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!

[steve owen]

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.

[Maggi Young]

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.

[zorija]

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...

[Hagen Engelmann]

Zorija, here is a sign of hope 

[ichristie]

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

[Hagen Engelmann]

Ian, a sooo much better example !!!

[Hagen Engelmann]

My newest idea, I plant my snowdrops together with a bulb guard. 

[Matt Bishop]

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