If you grow lilies, you’ve probably noticed red lily beetles chewing on them. Instead of using poisonous commercial sprays to deter them, you can make a homemade red lily beetles deterrent. And you probably have everything you need already in your kitchen.

Our lilies are now in full bloom and they look as nice as they have in several years due to the fact that they’re not full of chew marks from those little red lily beetles. It took a while to find a red lily beetles deterrent, however, as natural sprays are difficult to come by. We never spray any of our flowers, so the idea of using a toxic store-bought bug spray was definitely not on our agenda.

The Problem:

For years I’d been simply picking off the red lily beetles by hand. (It’s not so bad when they’re adults, but little hatchlings are slimy and gross). Even then I seemed to lose the battle as there were always a few red lily beetles or babies that I missed which wreaked havoc on our lily blossoms when I wasn’t looking. Then I decided to try an old pumpkin trick.

Ordinary dishwashing liquid mixed together with water was always our non-toxic solution for keeping squash bugs away from our pumpkins. So I figured I might as well try it as a red lily beetles deterrent as well. It worked like a charm. It kills both the red lily beetles and their slimy offspring. Since the soapy residue washes away quickly, it leaves any beneficial insects who might settle on the lilies later unharmed (think ladybugs). And since it’s just dish soap and water, I don’t have to have worry about handling poison when I pick the lilies for market bouquets.

The Solution Recipe:

If you want to try it yourself, put two teaspoons of dishwashing liquid (or 3 if you have very hard water like me) in an old window spray bottle and fill it almost to the top with water. Then add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil for good measure. Spray it directly onto any bugs or offspring you see. (It doesn’t do anything to the eggs, but as soon as they hatch, you can spray them as well).

Now I’ll have to see if my homemade red lily beetles deterrent works on potato bugs, since they’re currently ravaging our plants!

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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