Vine Weevil A Gardeners Nemesis

[Bud Lightyear]

One of the most destructive pests in the garden apart from some pathogens is the dreaded Vine Weevil grub. These little monsters will destroy your plants particularly in pots, hanging baskets, window boxes, patio planters etc. The adult mature Weevil is actually a nocturnal beetle that doesn't really do much damage to the plant, they tend to feed on the leaves making them look unsightly. The adults lay eggs from around April. When the eggs hatch they begin to feed on the plants roots till autumn then they lay dormant in the soil till spring when they start feeding again, they then pupate and emerge as adults and the whole nightmare starts again.

I've been battling with these pests for a couple of years now. It's not really an issue if you use fresh compost each year but I have loads of planters, hanging baskets, window boxes, half oak barrels and troughs so It can become very expensive to use fresh compost each season. Normally at this time of year I'm getting things prepared and ready for the coming season..My ornamentals normally consist of perennial hardy fuchsias, trailing lobelia, trailing petunias, geraniums etc so a mix of perennials and annuals. So today I thought I would have a look and start to sort the plants that have overwintered/survived then move them into temporary pots ready for replanting in May. What I like to do is empty all the compost and shake it through a 1/4" sieve, not so easy when it's soaking bloody wet and there is mountains of the stuff to do lol...

No prizes for guessing what i've found...

These troughs hold around 15 litres of compost each so 45 litres total..



45 litres of sieved compost..



Few snail/slug eggs and what looks to be an adult thrip if you look carefully..



And dozens of the dreaded weevil grubs..




I actually treated this compost with nematodes last spring but I made the mistake of not retreating again in autumn, big mistake.. The plants that were in these containers did well last season however out of the 9 fuchsias only 6 survived, the roots completely desiccated on 3 of them. Temporary repotted the 6, these should come back..





Adult Vine Weevil...



Nematodes...



Happy gardening folks.


Regards BL