Does anyone know if there's any way of getting rid of the hemerocallis gall midge? It ruins the flowers. Thanks.

Hi Eleanor! I'd never heard of this pest so I did some internet research. It seems to be a fly that lays it's eggs on the flower buds and the larva eat them. From what I read the flies emerge in the early Spring and only lay eggs once a year so only early blooming daylilies are affected.

The easiest way to control them is to remove the infested buds and place them in bleach or a plastic bag and get rid of them (don't compost them). You could also get rid of your early bloomers and stick with later blooming cultivars.

It seemed like people were able to decrease the midge population significantly just by removing the infested buds. Hope that helped!

There's some information from the American Hemerocallis Society here:

http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_d...

Their link to the AHS/RHS research is broken. I'll find the article and come back to post the new link.

Sorry to hear you're being affected by this significant daylily pest.

Edited to add link to AHS and RHS research
https://www.rhs.org.uk/science...

:Thankyou: I used to have about 50 varieties of daylilies but gradually have been taking some out that are always badly infected. For some reason , not all are infected equally, even though they're blooming at the same time. Over the years, I've removed all the infected buds that I could but unless everybody does it, it doesn't seem to make a big difference. However, I'll carry on doing what I'm doing and hope for the best. I just thought maybe others had a secret!

sooby said:There's some information from the American Hemerocallis Society here:

http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_d...

Their link to the AHS/RHS research is broken. I'll find the article and come back to post the new link.

Sorry to hear you're being affected by this significant daylily pest.

Edited to add link to AHS and RHS research
https://www.rhs.org.uk/science...

I have had several varieties of daylilies for decades then three years ago I got hit with gall midge.
Right now I have three yellow plants and I had to remove two buds I thought might be infected but it has started to bloom and looks good. Right next to them I have some pink plants and they have the midge. Plants that I have had for 30+ years are being hit the hardest as well as some plants I have had for 20+ years. This year I am not just taking off infected buds, I'm cutting off whole stems. Is there no systemic or something to stop this? This may be the year I dig them all up and find something else to fill the space.

I have used Dinotefuran with fantastic results for rose midges. I am not sure if this will work on daylily gall midge. You can try it and see what happens. Google for products with this ingredient, Dinotefuran.

JKH said:I have had several varieties of daylilies for decades then three years ago I got hit with gall midge.
Right now I have three yellow plants and I had to remove two buds I thought might be infected but it has started to bloom and looks good. Right next to them I have some pink plants and they have the midge. Plants that I have had for 30+ years are being hit the hardest as well as some plants I have had for 20+ years. This year I am not just taking off infected buds, I'm cutting off whole stems. Is there no systemic or something to stop this? This may be the year I dig them all up and find something else to fill the space.

What might be available to you would depend on what is permitted where you live. Are you in Europe, USA or Canada? The link to the AHS/RHS study in previous posts in this thread discusses some pesticides although they were not completely successful.

JKH! Sorry to hear about gall midge being so bad. I am afraid I don't have a solution and don't think I have that problem... yet. It sounds horrible enough that I would probably find something else to grow also if I couldn't enjoy my daylilies.

Not sure, but you might find some useful info in this link.
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nu...