White grubs in Lemon Tree Soil

I have a lemon tree that is growing in my conservatory and has been happily growing fruit over the last year.

However, I have just noticed some small, white grub-like creatures in the soil of the pot in which it is growing.

Can anybody tell me what these may be, if they are harmful to the lemon tree and, if so, what the best treatment for them is.

Many thanks to anybody who can help.

 

Have you also noticed any small black flies skipping over the soil surface?

could be sciarid fly grubs see here
http://www.defenders.co.uk/sciarid_fly.htm

defenders also supply a treatment

I think they feed more on rotting stuff and seedlings so shouldn't bother a mature plant, but it is an indication of maybe over watering

 

Thanks for the reply - not noticed any black flies on the surface but the flowers that have dropped are still on the surface of the compost. Do you think the grubs have developed as a rsult of this and should I then remove said dropped flowers?

 

Not the dreaded vine weevil are they?

 

Do they curl up into a C shape when you disturb them? If so, vine weevil

 

They are only a couple of mm in length so difficult to tell if they curl up - what size are vine weevil?

 

A couple of Mill sounds like sciarid fly grubs

has the compost been kept too moist?

 

Lemon tree is only being watered once a week and is in a conservatory which gets quite hot, so not sure if overwatering.

Another sign on the plant itself is that some of the leaves are now getting a yellow speckled effcet on them, and are then dropping off. Not sure is this is connected or gives indications of some other problem.

Any ideas??

 

I've found citrus plant get everything there is going in the way of pests, especially if kept inside all year round.
As Steve says they dont sound like vine weevil, anyway you normally have to take the plant out the pot to find them, as they are pretty deep in the roots.
Dont water it once a week, water it when its dryish.
They are not easy plants to grow well in a pot I find :(

 

so if the watering stops on a regular basis, will this mean the grubs eventually disappear?

 

Sciarid maggots do thrive in the top layer of moist soil

Is the pot in a large saucer? you could water in to the saucer and keep the top dry, alternatively see the earlier links to the defender site

 

It would be impossible for me to list every possible insect that can attack this type of plants. The insects encountered the most often are mites, aphids, mealybugs, scale, whitefly, thrips and various soil insects. If the problem is found early enough, it can often be taken care without the use of insectcides, and that is, by far the best, as you will be eating the fruits I guess.
I suggest to clear most of soil, as it will only encourage breeding more of this pests later, then take off anything you see on plant...if mealy bugs, get cottonwool buds ,dab with Methilated spirit,try a little Washing up liquid sprying for other pests.For white flies just spray with water,outdoors. You may need to remove some badly affected leaves. You can't stop watering the plant, just to hope the pest will die, plant will too, as they are heavy drinkers. Hope that helps.

Ladybird