Vine Weevil attacking Mint

I have just done some major surgery to all my mint plants. I had around 10 different kinds last year, and thought that dispite their hardiness, were damaged by the harsh winter, however,

After tipping up the pot, it appears that the root systems have virtually been decimated, by what im sure are vine weevil grubs. There are also large eggs that look like polystyrene balls nestled within the remaining roots.

I have discarded the old compost, cleaned up what is left of my, now 6 mint plants, and re-potted them. Any advice other than to keep my eye on them?

I didnt even know mint had any enemies?

 

Yes... theyre the ones! Though I only found a few baby slugs... I found quite a few vine weevils lower in the compost so Id bet thats whats been so destructive during the winter... I havent touched them so they have had free run of the plant pots for months. :DOH:

Mints I have/ or *had

Apple Mint
Pineapple Mint
Orange Mint
Lime Mint
Chocolate Peppermint
Black Peppermint*
Eau De Cologne Mint*
Spearmint*
Garden Mint
Morrocan Mint*

As you can guess... I like mint tea :WINK1:

If both Slugs and Vine Weevils are present, youd bet your shirt it was the weevils that have been attacking the roots though surely?

 

How have/are you dealing with the vine weevils?

I had them once in a container. They killed a small tree that was in there, just chewed the roots right off. I took drastic action. I immediately moved the container away from all the others as soon as I found evidence of vine weevils (the big fat vine weevil in the pot was my evidence), and I was burning some tree clippings in my incinerator bin that evening, so as soon as the bin was full of hot embers, I emptied the whole container of compost into the bin and put the lid on, so that it and everything living in it was baked.

While that strategy might be practical for one or two pots, if you happen to have the incinerator bin going at the time, but its hardly a practical solution in most situations. So what would be the best way to deal with vine weevils normally?

 

Nematodes,

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/pages/category/category.asp?ctgry=Vine_Weevil&AffiliateCode=Google010&gclid=CI3Q-vGH2acCFQEY4QodhiHA8w&cookie%5Ftest=1

Not had problems with vine weevils yet, think i've only seen one.

Had problems with root aphids though, found they thrive in underwatered pots.[hr]

Blimey Luke,

You're going for the national mint collection there

Penny Royal & Ground Ivy could be added to the list.

 

It is the larvae of the Vine Weevil which does the major damage . They will feed on the plant roots throughout the winter often distroying the total root system .The adult will lay its eggs at the base of the plant and the larvae will hatch around August time .As Ziggy mentioned you can use nemitodes watered into the pots ,or thiacloprid (Provado Vine Weevil Killer 2) again as a pot drench
I do get a fair number in my older fuchsias ,I always repot in the early spring and find any that escape the treatment . I
The adult weevils eat plant leaves during spring and summer and the telltale sign is the nibbled edges on the leaves ,and they tend to be nocturnal .

Dave

 

After lifiting the plants out of the pots... there was almost NO roots at all. Im guessing that almost any other plant would have snuffed it, but as it is mint, has managed to throw out some new root growth this year.

I have carefully washed down the remaining roots, and 'seperated' the pieces to help give the plants more vigour this year. I ensured no eggs or anything was in the roots, however I will be keeping a close eye for the next few weeks, and If all else fails I may use (I think its called) provado for vine weevil.

The old compost which has the grubs in has been put into an old (clearly labelled :WINK1: ) compost bag and will be taken to the household waste site in due course. It was pretty much depleted of anything anyway... what is the correct term? Spent?... this was well and truely Skint!

If you close your eyes, and think really hard of a bar of chocolate when you sip on 'chocolate peppermint' tea, then yes... otherwise, no I think it got its name because of its chocolate brown coloured stems which filters into the base of the leaves, very nice looking herb.

I am quite a fan of mint tea, and growing your own, you know exactly whats going in your mouth... just like growing any herb or vegetable/fruit I guess... and the range of flavours is very wide. The lime mint for example, though slow(er) growing than a standard mint, does taste delicious.

As for the other mints... I have heard of them before, however, didnt get them as my local garden centre doesnt stock them. I know 1 or 2 mints are actually inedible... not sure if the ones you mentioned are or not? Do you have those?

An interesting thing is that one of my favourite plants (as you may have guessed from other threads) is Coleus (Solenostemon)... which is also part of the Mint family... but I wouldnt go drinking coleus tea, as its a hallucinogenic.

 

Don't have Penny Royal but do have Ground Ivy. have used Ground Ivy as a herbal tea for chest problems, its really soothing.

 

Well your still up and walking so I guess that Ground Ivy is edible!

 

:D Tried worse things than that and have survived. Don't smoke the red poppies and don't eat the contents of those cap bang thingers.:DOH:

Ground Ivy or Alehoof was used as a beer preservative/flavouring before hops were introduced.

Beer without hops was called Ale. Now to us that sounds good, but i've made it to a pre hop recipe and it was dire. You really, really wouldn't want to drink beer without hops.

Another pre hop additive was hogweed, which was great untill you went out in the sun & had all your skin blister & peel off because of the photsensitivity it induced:DOH:[hr]
P.S.

Ground ivy is good, but, like Valerian, it smells like cat wee:DOH:

And to all you newbies, Ground Ivy is not of the Ivy family, don't go brewing ivy up, that'll make you sick.

It is a mint.

 

Corsican mint is also missing from your collection ( I bet u wish u hadn't started this now,don't u !! ) - Its probably the tiniest mint in a sense, its a creeping , mat forming form - looks like 'mind your own business' but smels loads nicer! : )

 

After suffering an attack last year I thank you for this post. I was not aware the little devils went for Mint

 

I use Vine Weevil killer and change the soil of my Mum's pots every spring, just to be sure. I keep aside the grubs and put them on the Bird Feeder - all for recycling!

 

I like to give them to the birds too! I have a real problem with vine weevil, seem to have masses in my garden. Every time I dig up some grass to create new beds, I find them even if nothing but grass there. Do they like grass? So far I have lost strawberries twice in pots and heuchera, just had to bin 2 coral bell ones that were in the beds. Have just planted several erysimum in the same bed, are they safe? Or should I douse the whole area with nematodes.