What kind of tuberose pests might I have to deal with?

Tuberoses have generally been one of the most pest-free flowering plants we have grown over the years.

The main insect pests of tuberoses that we have experienced are thrips.  They are very small insects that live inside the plant and they will damage the buds so the flowers end up with brown spots or streaks. They can be controlled with chemicals if necessary.  We cannot recommend specific chemicals or natural treatments, but there’s plenty of information available online. Generally, the  cleaner you keep your planting, the less insect problems you’ll have. Thrips overwinter in the bulb clumps, so if you have a particularly bad problem, you should consider drenching the bulbs with a systemic insecticide after you have divided them and before you dry them.

Other growers have told me that they occasionally have other beetle-like insects on their tuberoses, but it hasn’t consistently been one particular one.

As long as tuberoses have well-drained soil and proper sunlight, you will have no fungal problems while in the ground.  The bulbs, however, are very susceptible to developing fungal problems if they are not properly dried before storing in winter, or if they are stored in too damp a location.

Tuberoses are advertised in some places as deer-proof.  We have experimented with growing them outside of deer protection. Sometimes the deer haven’t bothered them.  But sometimes they have.  In particular, when there are drought conditions and their normal food supplies are gone, deer will eat about anything, tuberoses included.  The best bet is to plant them in an area that is not subject to frequent deer grazing.