What's eating my freesia 'royal blue'?

Freesia 'Royal Blue' is susceptible to aphids more than any other pest — they spread viruses that cause streaking and distortion of the distinctive blue-violet blooms. Thrips damage petals directly. Bulb mites can attack corms in storage or wet soil, causing rotting before plants even emerge.

Dense colonies on stems and buds; virus spread can cause yellow streaking and malformed flowers. Act at first sighting with insecticidal soap or neem oil spray. Discard plants with viral symptoms to protect others.

Pale streaks and silvery scarring on petals; blooms may be distorted or brown at the tips. Remove infested flowers. Spray with spinosad or neem oil in the evening. Sticky yellow traps help monitor populations.

Corms become soft and rotted; plants fail to emerge or collapse early, with white powdery mite colonies visible on corm surface. Inspect corms before planting; discard any soft or infested ones. Store corms dry and cool. Improve drainage to prevent wet-soil conditions.