Are Drosera especially prone to vine weevils?

Discussion in 'Gardening Discussions' started by groundbeetle, Sep 18, 2022.

  1. groundbeetle

    groundbeetle Gardener

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    I recently re-potted my Drosera aliciae, which I have had for over a year now and it survived outside last winter. All my other carnivorous plants, Drosera capensis, Venus fly trap and others also bought at the same time survived last winter and have thrived this summer, including that the Venus fly trap died back completely and then re-grew.

    The Drosera aliciae flowered and thrived this summer, but very recently started to look like it was dying. I re-potted it a few days ago and it didn't seem to have any roots, most of its small pot was just loose soil, compared to the Drosera capensis which I re-potted about a week ago and found what looked like a vine weevil larva in its roots, which seemed otherwise healthy and filling the pot.

    A few days ago I gave all my plants a treatment with Nemasys vine weevil nematodes, using a bottle of rainwater to apply it to my carnivorous plants.

    I had found some vine weevil beetles crawling among my plants last summer, but haven't noticed any this summer, after using the nematodes for larvae several times as well as the nematode trap for adults.

    I am wondering if Drosera are especially prone to vine weevils? The last time I treated for larvae was last April, and also a trap for adults at the same time. Fingers crossed all my other plants look healthy. (It is possible that I forgot to treat my carnivorous plants in April when I treated my other plants, but I can't think why I wouldn't have). The carnivorous plants are growing in coconut coir, so maybe that has some effect?

    Maybe I just didn't treat my carnivorous plants before, as it has taken me a while to sort out their rainwater, and I was using a watering can with tap water to treat my other plants for vine weevil.
     
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      Last edited: Sep 18, 2022
    • NigelJ

      NigelJ Total Gardener

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      Can't say I've ever seen vine weevil on any of my insectiverous plants. They grow in mainly chopped moss and a bit of peat. Do find the odd slug and worm in there as it is always damp in there.
      My Drosera and Sarracena have relatively small root systems as they don't need them living in wet, nutrient poor conditions.
       
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      • groundbeetle

        groundbeetle Gardener

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        Maybe Drosera dies back a bit after flowering. I have just treated all the carnivorous plants with nematodes for vine weevil larvae, and have started to re-pot them, so maybe they will grow back like the Venus fly trap did.





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        Last edited: Sep 18, 2022
      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        Seems an odd time of the year to be repotting.
         
      • groundbeetle

        groundbeetle Gardener

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        I noticed that my Sarracena is getting a bit eaten by slugs.
         
      • groundbeetle

        groundbeetle Gardener

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        I am not sure when the best time is to re-pot, maybe spring is better? I thought while the weather is still good, they can settle into their new pots before winter?

        If I hadn't just re-potted the red Drosera capensis, I wouldn't have realised that there was a vine weevil grub in its roots.
         
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        • pete

          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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          Some of them seem to be in quite large pots anyway.
          I dont actually grow any of these anymore but I always repotted rarely and only when totally overcrowded and divided at the same time.
           
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          • Spruce

            Spruce Glad to be back .....

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            Hi

            I have had vine weevil grubs in my venus flytraps and pitcher plants I only found out when I was repotting them all in the spring .. I was surprised to see them to be honest ... but re potting, quickly solved the problem as I washed all the roots off .... and the old compost was sprinkled on the lawn and the robin did the rest for me ...

            Spruce
             
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