Pest or Friend?

Ok, so last summer I build a planter lined the bottom with weed guard and filled with compost and we grew herb in it. They did really well, and most even survived this winter, until today when I decided to tackle my novice gardener error from when the herbs were planted last year. I planted mint straight into the planter (1200mm x 600mm x 450mm), and didn't realise how invasive/aggresive it would be! A few days ago I noticed all sorts of shoots coming up all over the planter, and they were all mint...

So this morning I set about uprooting it, and getting rid and in the process discovered it was going to be very difficult to keep any of the other herbs that had survived the winter, so ended up getting shot of everything in there to ensure I was rid of the mint and all of its roots.

Whilst doing this I kept on seeing little white, maggot look-a-likes. They were slightly shorter and fatter than any maggots I've seen before but a curious if anyone has any ideas as to what they may be, and if they will give me any problems?

They move like maggot's/caterpillars, with a little brown tip at one end. Every time I saw them they were curled up tight in the soil. Attached pictures - hopefully you will get the idea and be able to give me some clues/answers.

I have a few herbs ready to be planted and was going to put them into this planter, but before I do, I want to check if I need to do something in case these white creatures are pests.

All advice much appreciated!

 

They are probably vine weevil grubs and should be got rid of as quickly as possible.

They eat the roots of plants.

I'd change the soil before planting anything else.

 

Yep it's Vine Weevil larvae - responsible for the death of many potgrown plants and a few grown in the soil.

Don't re-use the compost unless you want to painstakingly hunt through it. Much safer to get some fresh compost

 

Thank you - after spending some more time reading about such things on the internet I thought it may have been Vine Weevils.

Have either of you any knowledge of Nematodes? I have read elsewhere that they can be used to get rid of them?

I don't really want to go down the route of changing the compost for a couple of reasons: firstly the quantity - I have no idea how I would shift it, and secondly I don't know where I would put it - you cannot take soil to our local 're-cycling' centre.

Also, if they are in this planter, are they likely to be elsewhere in the garden too (I know this is probably a daft question!)? If that is likely, surely just by changing the soil or compost in this individual planter I would not solve the problem? Or is that the point about Weevils - they can stick to one location?

Thanks again.

 

They work on slugs and the company I order Nemaslugs from also do them for vine weevils. Worth a try.

 

never heard of these,how do you keep them and where do you get them from????

 

I recieved (and have used) my nematodes (same as Nemaslugs), and the instructions that came with said to refridgerate immediately unless using immediately - and there is a note which also says not to freeze them.

I got mine from plantsbypost.com for two reasons. They are actually local to me and soon plan to take stock of these themselves, so in the long-term I actually hope to be able to pick them up directly rather than have them sent through the post, and secondly, on the nemasys website they appear to be the cheapest.

I may give the nemaslugs a go once I see how well the nematodes for Vine Weevils works.