Something is growing on my lilies? Help!?

Question

I have three planters of lilies. One of them had these small, round, brown things on the leaves near the stem. The plant is doing fine, new buds are forming, and there doesn't seem to be any holes in the leaves. There are more and more each day. They look like a bunch of small chocolate chips or brown bubbles and they are only near the stem of the lilies. I don't know what they are or if they could harm my flowers. Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

Do they look like bugs or a growth on the plant?  Are they  light brown and look like a flattened bead of wax? If so, they are Mealybugs, most likely. Mealybugs are unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm climates. They are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees.

Mealybug females feed on plant sap, normally in roots or other crevices. That's why you are seeing them near the stem. But you should be seeing them on the underside of the leaves. They attach themselves to the plant and secrete a powdery wax layer (therefore, the name mealybug) used for protection while they suck the plant juices.

You need to buy a spray, such as one made by Ortho, to kill them.

Note: Some species of lilies will produce aerial bulblets, known as bulbils, in the leaf axils along the stem. These bulbils appear at first as small nodule-like buds that become shiny and black as they mature, beginning near the bottom of the stem and continuing up. Fully developed bulbils will drop to the ground shortly after the plants bloom. Bulbils can be harvested once they've matured, but before they fall and planted much as you would a normal bulb. It usually takes 3 or more years to develop a mature, flowering plant from a bulbil. Species most noted for bulbil production include Lilium lancifolium (Tiger Lily), L., and many of the Asiatic Hybrid Lilies. Is this what you are seeing??

http://www.ppdl.org/dd/images/lilybulbil...

(Click on the photo to enlarge)

Answer 2

Those are Bulbils.  The lily's version of a "seed".  Your plants are perfectly healthy, and propagating!   If you scatter them about, you'll eventually have more lilies.

Answer 3

Sounds like scale. A tiny insect with a hard shell over it. They suck the phloem out of the plant, so yes eventually they will cause harm. You need to spray with something that kills scale. They can be hard to get rid of though, as that shell is pretty much like armor for them.