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Repairs, Maintenance, Pest and Disease ControlPond MaintenanceHow to Cure Murky WaterPest and Disease Control>Pest and Disease Control2Other garden pond pestsCADDIS FLIES (Trichoptera). Potential pests, for they feed on roots, buds, and leaves of just about anything they can find growing in the water. They cannot get a start in a pool with goldfish, however, for their larvae are aquatic-and a favorite fish food. LEAF MINER (Chironomus modestus). A slender, streamlined larva, 1/4 inch or less long, which eats its way over the surfaces of leaves, leaving unsightly channels behind it. If insects appear in small numbers, remove them individually from the leaves. If they appear in greater strength-which is seldom-spray infested leaves with a fine film of kerosene. Three daily sprayings should suffice. Bordeaux mixture, Slug Shot, and powdered DDT are also effective. LEAF ROLLER (Botis nelumbialis). An early summer larval pest which attacks the leaf edges, rolling the leaves over upon themselves and gumming them down to form shelters. The larva is a heavy eater and will soon destroy a whole leaf, working from edge to center. When it reaches the center, it burrows into the stem.
Luckily, this pest is rare, for about the only way to get rid of it is to pinch the rolled-up leaf edges or remove the infested leaves. WATER-LILY LEAF BEETLE (Galerucella nymphaeae). This ovate beetle emerges from winter hibernation in pool-side vegetation, attacks leaves and blooms of water-lilies, and spoils the appearance of both. Beginning in June, it lays from 6 to 20 bright-yellow, ovate eggs in clusters on leaf surfaces. The larvae, which hatch in a week, are blue-black on top, yellow on the underside, and somewhat longer than the parent. Clustering in colonies, they feed hungrily upon foliage and soon strip a leaf.
The beetle produces several broods a year. It is the most destructive pest known to water-lily fanciers-but it also is one of the rarest. Rid the pool of it by trimming pool-side vegetation in the winter and by submerging infested leaves so that fish can eat larvae and eggs. FUNGI There are two forms of fungi which affect water-lilies, but they are so rare I have never been able to find a popular name for either of them. The names under which they are listed here I gave myself in order to differentiate them in my own mind. LEAF FUNGUS (probably a form of Ovularia nymphaerum). This one makes infrequent appearances in hot, humid weather. It shows up in dark patches on the leaves, which disintegrate shortly thereafter. The few water gardeners I know who have seen it say it is easily controlled by quick removal and burning of the first leaves on which it is seen. LEAF SPOT (probably some species of the Cercosporae genus). This fungus shows up as scattered spots on water-lily leaves, and causes edges to dry and turn up. Bordeaux mixture, thrown in a fine, misty spray on the lily pads every other day for a week, usually kills it. Leaves on which it has already made appreciable progress should be removed and burned.
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