Agapanthus gall mite

Hello, I’m new to Gardeners corner, I’ve searched but can’t find any reference to this. I bought 3 new agapanthus plants 3/4 years ago, Midnight Star. The buds didn’t open properly so after finding out about the gall mite I cut into one and found tiny grubs. Sent them off to RHS who confirmed it was gall mite. Tried a Strulch mulch on their advice. Worse than ever this year and spread to my pot of Headbourne hybrids, flowers the size of footballs, so I’m a bit upset to say the least.
Has anyone managed to get rid of the things? Or is my only option to chuck them all out? All advice very welcome.

 

It would appear that this midge is a recently identified problem (2014) and according to the RHS the only control measures are hygiene so remove affected flower heads as soon as identified, repot over winter to remove larvae/pupa and keep your fingers crossed that they find a biological control.
I wonder if it affects plants in the ground as badly as mine are in the ground, not pots.

 

Yet another pest to worry about. Our plants look ok and hopefully they are.

 

Oh no! I had not heard of this. My fuchsias are badly affected, so I hope the agapanthus one is a different strain and cross contamination can't happen.

Thank you for the info, @ValK ... and welcome to GC.

 

Thank you Nigelj. Think it came in on my new plants in the ground. I’ve got rid of the flowers. Decided last night that I’ll chop back the leaves, scrape away a good amount of the soil around them and mulch again with Strulch. Seems they drop down into the soil and re- emerge. Taking them out will leave a big hole in my border so one last chance. The evergreen pot I’ll give up on as at 77 its a challenge to haul it in and out of the greenhouse every year.
I love the intense blue of the Midnight star, might be best to always buy agapanthus in flower so you know what you’re getting. I’m also digging out my Darcy Bussell rose, David Austin have stopped selling it and it certainly hasn’t performed well in my garden. So 2 big gaps in my border- that’s gardening for you!

 

RHS called it agapanthus gall mite so hopefully different, view ahead. Thanks for the welcome

 

I've just dipped into the Gardeners' World repeat whilst waiting for the washing machine to finish its cycle, and I happened to hit on a piece about the fuchsia gall mite. Apparently there is a biological control you can buy in sachets which you attach to branches. Maybe there is something similar for agapanthus.

 

The Fuchsia Gall Mite is a different critter to the Agapanthus Gall Midge which is related to the Hemerocallis gall midge.
I've stopped growing tender fuchsias that need overwintering in the greenhouse, however I have half a dozen species fuchsia in the ground that, so far, are unaffected.
Hemerocallis gall midge I live with it as most years it's a minor problem.
Agapanthus gall midge I haven't seen yet.

The biological control for Fuchsia gall mite is Amblyseius andersoni; at the moment there doesn't appear to be anything similar for the Agapanthus gall midge.

 

That’s interesting about the Hemoracallis. I had some around the same spot before the agapanthus.

 

I used to get them on fuchsia and still get some on valerian. Probably not the same ones. I got rid of the fuchsia ones by cutting the plant down to the ankles and being careful not to spread it on The secateurs. The valerian is only affected in the second flush so I cut off the affected buds too.

 

Not seen any on my Hemoracallis.

I cut back my affected fuchsias hard too, @BB3 , and that works for a season or two and then they get it badly again.

I suppose in some ways the fact these pests tend to attack only one species is good, as you don't lose huge swathes of planting in an infestation. But on the other hand, it means each problem needs a different solution.