vine weevils

Went out to do some tidying and dead heading today and as i gently pulled a flower from my primula the whole plant came up in my hand totally rootless! After a closer look i found 2 white grub type things. They curled up into C shapes when disturbed. After some research online I've come to the conclusion that they are vine weevil. What I want to know is, other than collecting them by hand and squishing them, is there anything I can do? Is there anything you can buy that kils them? It's a massive pot of primulas and was looking great and I've been wondering why they've been going off a bit. Now I know (

 

Forgot to ask too, is it likely that they will be in all my pots now? Or, do they like certain plants and leave others alone?

 

I had those last year in my pots.. I tried to pour boiling water in the soil after I'd removed the plants (being poor I couldn't afford any mroe soil at the time - sad huh?).. didn't work so I'd be interested in finding a cure..

I've not found any in my other pots.. yet.. (cringe at the thought!)

Hopefully this year tho I'll get a payrise and I can stop stealing soil out of my neighbours unkempt flower bed!

 

They attack my fushia's...there is a powder and spray that I used and it did the trick, but I gave it someone and can't remember the name of it. The garden centre will advise you. They told me to throw away affected plants, but I washed the roots under running water and they all survived!!!! Good luck.

 

Almost certaily they will have affected other containers - I've had this too but they love primulars and fuchsias. Where you can tip out your containers and check for them - they are usually either quite close to root system or the edge of the pot. Remove what you can and squish them.

The beetles chomp the leaves and are not a problem - the larva, white grubs with brown heads, are voracious root feeders and are a major problem for container growers.

Its a bit late in temperature terms for the organic treatement with nematodes - though can be used in late spring for protection during the summer.

I use Pravado - and drench my containers in accordance with instructions as I set them up for winter. Its about the only thing that is effective against vine weevil grubs - its systemic and also protects against other pests like whitefly (also a pest in the greenhouse in early spring)

 

Pravado, is the one that says it kills vine weevil, I say it "says" it does, because I've not tried it myself. It comes in different forms, you can buy an aerasol for killing leaf pests and there's a granular form that you mix with water and water on the pots/soil for the grubs.
You beat me to it there Fran :D

[ 04. October 2005, 07:45 PM: Message edited by: pete2255 ]

 

I posted this very same question way back in June and Lynne gave me this link
http://www.defenders.co.uk/vine_weevil_control.htm where I got some nematodes which are an organic method of control. Worked very well, too, I might add.

 

I've had them in Buisy Lizzy too. I squished their 'eads then recycled 'em via my friendly robin. :D

I do have some vine weevil killer but I've forgotten the name so I'll have a look tomorrow when I go to work.

 

a friend of mine has a pond with koi in it, he feeds his to them and they love em

 

I just bought myself a bottle of pravado so will obliterate the little blighters this afternoon (I hope!). It's tipping down with rain so the neighbours will probably think I've gone completely off my rocker when they see my watering my plants!
Think it's too late to save my primulas but everything else looks healthy at the moment so hopefully I've caught them before they do too much damage.

 

You know a few weeks ago I found loads and loads of eggs while repotting my plants. They were mostly around the edges of the pots about a cm under the surface. I posted about it either here or on a newsgroup (cant remember which!) and came to the conclusion that they were snail eggs. I now wonder whether they were weevil eggs?

 

Remembered to check the label on my vine wevil killer today - it's Pravado :rolleyes:

 

Melmethinks those eggs were more likely to be slugs or snails.

Remove and destroy :D

 

Hopefully the pravado will kill any of those lurking in the pots too!