Heuchera Thief

Further to this problem I had with my heuchera working it's way out of the soil, I can confirm it was vine weevil grubs that had eaten all the roots and made the plant unstable, then the wind must have lifted it out of the soil. I was digging in the same spot today and the grubs are still in the soil. But that plant was lifted in mid-Dec. How long can vine weevil grubs live without a plant's roots to feed on? There was nothing left in the soil where they were when I was digging.

Also, what's the best way of getting rid of them? I've seen the water on vine weevil killer in the garden centres. Does it work? And is there anything you can use that's safe to use on fruit/veg plants? I really need to sort this problem out this year.

Ta.

Jo

 

Hi Jo

I have used the nemtodes and water on stuff to be honest I dont know if it works, temperature of soil is the key thing , what I have been doing is using bate pots to entice the adults to lay their eggs , 6 inch pots filled with multi purpose compost and I plant begonias and I have them in various places around the garden then in the autumn I take out the corms to over winter and the soil in the pots I sprinkle on the lawn then a few slices of bread to encourage the birds to come and have a meal I have deffo reduced the numbers but at the same time the plants they like I have less off !!!

Also on the slug and snail hunt when it goes dark in the summer you can catch them then but you have to be quick as they drop off the leaves realy quickly plus to be honest I hate the feel of them as the legs stick to your fingers or hands, I would rather hold one of my bees any day plus they are hard as a dried pea as I try and crush them :WINK1:

Sedums , London pride have taken the worse hit of all and heuchera a close 2nd but we battle on to be honest I am glad I have started to grow daylilys they seem to be be the least troubled plant I grow and up to now stand up to the winters we have had .

But it only takes 1 female adult and you are back to square one

ps I know what you mean about how long do they last , but I think no food they just die in the end even if it takes weeks to do the only good thing is they are bright white !!!!!! so easily spoted by the robins and blackbirds

Spruce

 

huecheras that I have planted are doing well (I have planted loads)

what I have seen though is something is eating some of the leaves .... (there are a few holes in some leaves) .... nothing serious though

should I spray with something? .... it's not snails/slugs as it's too cold for them

 

Hi Dim

Will be slugs and the very small snails , to many mild days

Spruce

 

thanks .... I will use some blue pellets

 

Dim

At this time of year best to check under the leaves top of the soil or just underneath etc as its so damp they have a 90% chance of recovery if they find moisture or it rains plus the pellets dont last that long .

I have had to use a couple in the pots in the greenhouse but have only put 2 max 3 in each one


Spruce

 

thanks ....

what I have found, is that some huechera suffer more .... Electra seems to be favoured by the slugs yet Georgia peach has no probs whatseover

berry smoothie is also targeted, but not as much as electra

of all the huechera I have planted, I would say that Georgia peach is by far the nicest .... grows in full sun or shade

 

Dim

Just like some hostas Fire and ice looks like a sieve but francis Williams is a a tough old bird

 

I wonder if the garlic spray might work on huechera? .... works well with hostas

 

Thanks, Spruce. I'll try the nematodes. I had another look at the chemical stuff and it looks evil. You have to wash everything you use it in a number of times to clean it properly. I don't think I want anything that strong in my garden. I'm pretty much organic, so nematodes sounds good. I have a slight problem in that I can't kill anything by hand. So if the nematodes do their thing where I can't see it happening, all good. The adults I'll just have to live with and try and destroy the larvae instead.

Since I discovered the delightful vine weevil (never heard of them until a couple of years ago when my primulas died suddenly), I've been reading up on them and found out that I had loads of their favourite plants in pots. Heucheras, ferns, foxgloves, geraniums, primulas, sedums, and strawberries. Typical. I probably bought them into the garden in the first place in one of those plant pots. :DOH: