Grasshoppers are my biggest pest problem in the nursery, including potted bulbs and Lycoris flower stalks in the beds. I've seen the black ones in east Texas when I was a boy, but these are the regular ol' light brown/yellow ones. I've just ordered a bunch of semaspore to see if I can get some control. I expect it to be difficult, though, since I can't really contain the "site". It did help me one year in my winter house, though, so I am hopeful. A scientist like myself is intrigued by rain lilies in pots, because you can experiment with forcing bloom, not relying on nature to give you the occasional bloom. It has been several years since I took a scientific approach. I think I let the listserv for IBS know about it at the time, but I can't find the info. If I recall correctly, a good rule of thumb was to water regularly for 6-8 (4-6?) weeks during the growing season, then completely withhold water for 3-4? weeks. The next time I started watering again, I got a bunch of blooms in a day or two. These were greenhouse conditions, so nature could not interrupt the "scientific" process. ;) The described method, or something akin to it would give me more bloom periods in the season than just keeping them watered regularly. It seems that regular watering encourages bulb division (increase), but more flowering can mean more seed (increase). So, if you want to get a bunch more bulbs of the exact same thing, bring on the water hose, but if you want to play *od and make babies of different colors and shapes, practice some "science" with your rain lilies. Mr. Kelly M. Irvin The Bulbmeister 10846 Hodge Ln Gravette, AR 72736 479-366-4968 USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6b E-mail: mailto:bulbmeister@bulbmeister.com Website: http://www.bulbmeister.com/ Forum: http://www.bulbmeister.com/forum/ Joe Shaw wrote: > They don't have many problems, even with my small pots and stingy watering > schedule. However, they are devoured by the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, > which are truly beautiful but alien-looking insects.