How to Kill Bugs in the Soil of Amaryllis

Determine the Insect

• 1

  Identify the type of soil dwelling insect in the amaryllis's soil. Slugs and snails are soft-bodied worm-like animals. Slugs have no shells and snails have coiled shells. They leave silvery trails along the amaryllis's leaves after ravaging large holes in them.

• 2

  Notice grubs in the soil by digging underneath the soil and finding white, brown, black, grey or yellow C-shaped insects. Because grubs eat plant roots, the damage often looks like cultivation problems and so can be hard to decipher. Amaryllis plants with grub infestations wilt and show nutrient deficiencies because their damaged roots cannot take up adequate water and nutrients.

• 3

  Recognize wireworms by the damage on the amaryllis bulb, which exhibits stunted growth or lack of germination. These amaryllis pests are yellow to reddish-brown, segmented larval worms of click beetles.

Control Soil Pests

• 4

  Use copper strips around the amaryllis' pot or as edging to keep snails and slugs away. The copper creates an electric shock when the pests' mucous coating comes in contact with the copper, preventing the pest from crossing over the barrier.

• 5

  Purchase predatory ground beetles from specialty gardens stores. These species voraciously feed on soil-dwelling pests, like slugs, snails and wireworms that damage amaryllis plants. They live for two or three years and lay eggs in the soil that hatch into larvae that also feed on soil pests.

• 6

  Dust diatomaceous earth (DE) on the base of the amaryllis to kill soil-inhabiting pests. The DE kills pests by draining all the moisture from their bodies and dehydrating them.

• 7

  Release beneficial nematodes, such as Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis heliothidis into the soil for quick control of the amaryllis soil pests. These microorganisms are available for purchase at garden stores and actively seek out insect hosts. After entering an insect, the nematode sheds its protective coating to release a intestinal toxin that kills the pest. It then leaves the host's body in search of a new one. Keep the soil moist to accommodate the nematodes.