Vine Weevil Grubs

I assume these are the little b*st***s


I was repotting some herbs. I threw the whole plant in the bin in a panic - was that a step to far? Can I rescue it? do I now need to check ll my pots? I suppose so!

How annoying! Didn't have them last year in my pots though my mum did gift me a fuschia which had some suspicious bite marks and I was a little worried.

 

Those are the blighters!

I tend to pick them out one at a time, and feed them to the birds, it seems a waste to throw out the entire plant! They really seem to like my primroses in pots - so much so that I can lift the clump out the pot, check for weevils, then replace weevled plant - they do survive!

 

A tip I've just been given is to paint Methylated Spirits on the bottom(inside) of the pot. I'm going to give it a try 'cause this is the 1st year I've suffered from them.

 

Are vine weevils the ones you can control with friendly nematodes? I haven't had any yet, but with my first vegetables going in at the moment I'm sure they're not far away.

 

You could try http://www.gardenforum.demon.co.uk/vine_weevil.htm

 

I just investigated one of my Lily pots because, unlike its neighbours, nothing was growing. I found 2 poorly looking bulbs, when I'm sure there were more like 5 in there, and loads of these little beasties. I'm going to pick them out into a pot and give the birds a treat.

 

Thanks everyone, I'll dig the plant out and put the grubs on the bird table. Next weekend I'll empty all my pots - they need new compost anyway - I hope I don't find anymore!

 

Ellie, wash all the compost from the roots so that you are sure there are no more eggs. Also, I prefer to squash the little blighters as this way they cannot escape.

 

Put mine on a plate and left them out for birds on an evening flight. A couple of hours later they were still there waving at me and the birds were nowhere to be found. A moonlight mission and they were all back on the plate (they had been heading back towards the lilies). Was just about to give up and squish them when a friendly blackswooped down and cleared the lot. Job Done.

 

Craig, the thing is, if you hadn`t been watching, they would have been back in you plants. Squash them and they can do no harm, and they most certainly can`t reproduce.