The dreaded vine weevil

Hello all, I grow many of my plants in pots as I live in a rented house and also, I love pots. I have been moving stuff around as we gardeners do and have found so many vine weevil larvae. Some years ago I had great success with nematodes for slugs. Has anyone tried the ones for vine weevil? If so any tips? Thanks in advance.

 

I decided it would be too pricey @Debs64 , but perhaps because of the 'captive' nature of pots, it could be easier. Not worthwhile for me in the ground because I'd have to wait too long for the ground temps to be suitable, which would be too late, so I'd have to do it twice - or maybe more, for it to be effective.

 

I’ve got my own vine weevil detective my OH !he checks our home grown plants in pots we have left over from last season meticulously for grubs especially susceptible ones Primula Millers Crimson , Heucheras and others . He enjoys doing it while I’m potting on all of our other plants or other gardening jobs like this week cutting down our Beech hedge running on the left side of our garden , Phew lots to do this time of year and looks like the SUN is around today here in Wales , Happy Gardening

 

I didn’t think it was too expensive @fairygirl less than £30 for enough for 100square meters which should treat all my pots easily and I do dislike the nasty little grubs eating my plants while I am not looking. Hoping if I kill enough grubs there will be an ongoing effect with less adults next season. I know the soil needs to be warm so keeping an eye on temperatures the next few weeks.

 

I appreciate you have a quite different situation from me @Debs64, and it's certainly worth it when it's your entire garden.
I expect the advantage of the pots is that they should warm up a bit earlier than the ground too, so hopefully it'll pay off, and if it makes it less of aproblem in future years, that's even better.

I have to do everything in the garden myself, so there are other things I'd rather do @Valleysgirl -but I certainly dispatch any that I see - if my eyesight keeps up with them!

 

I use vine weevil nematodes in my pots (hostas mainly), and applied some only last week.
I know the little so and so's are around because l emptied a pot of Narcissi bulbs a few weeks before, and there were 2 or 3 of the grubs in the compost I'd just reused for plants for a local sale in a few week's time. They were right at the bottom of the trug after I'd done 99% of the plants
I couldn't take the risk of passing them on to unsuspecting buyers.
Touch wood, I've found the nematodes seem to do the job.

 

I think I may give them a try in some of my pots this season as I often use small heuchera with flowers. Yesterday I intended to plant out a decent sized heuchera (emptying the pot to reuse) only to find the dreaded vw grubs, some growing legs. Just in time as the plant still had some roots, so I cleaned, divided and repotted it. And squished all that I could see before chucking the compost in a messy area. Good luck everyone!

 

Nemasys nematode vine weevil treatment is very effective in pots. Best to apply in September when it's both warm and rainy, as the grubs do most damage over winter. I've used it most autumns in my pots and I haven't seen a vine weevil for years.
A £10 pack will do at least a hundred pots, so not expensive. I don't need it on the ground as my soil is a heavy clay, and vine weevils will only lay their eggs in light, friable media (they like potting compost).

 

Would it not be better to get some effective treatment now like BugClear or Provado Weevil Grub Killer as the Nematodes might not survive these cold nights.

They might not be such friendly products but you need something now before the grubs eat all the roots away as you could loose a lot of plants.

Some say that using a layer of fine gravel on the top of the pots helps deter the Adult laying its eggs.

 

Vine Weevils are a real pain in the proverbial butt! They do so much damage and are difficult to find without digging up plants or emptying pots. Any of the effective treatments are expensive and need to be carried out regularly, as well as night patrols to catch the beetles who like to move around when it is dark. At least they do not move quickly so are easy to catch and squish.

I hope the Fire Ants causing so many problems in Australia do not find a way into G.B.

 

Absolutely not! The Provado Killer is systemic and remains in the plant for up to four months. The pesticide and its residues will be in the nectar over summer and will harm the pollinators.
Why use such a devastating kill-everything poison when the harmless nematodes are so effective?

 

I try not to use any chemicals of any sort in my garden and nematodes appeal because they are a “natural” product which don’t hurt other living things. Or so I believe, I am not an expert. Will order some nematodes next week (payday) and hope to succeed.

 

I found an adult vine weevil a couple of nights ago, I dont know, but that suggests to me the overwintering grubs are at the adult cycle just now.
So damage done until the next generation get going

 

I can't really help but our resident robin couple go absolutely mad for the grubs. I was going through some pots last week and the robins were queuing up for them.

 

Today I took 32 grubs out of one medium sized pot. I think I need those nematodes!