Insect pest on Balcony Garden

 

Hello all

Just found one of those disgusting fat worm like creatures in a pot on my
balcony, the ones that eat all the roots.
I emptied all the pots as other plants had failed to grow and were growing
weaker.

Can someone explain how they find their way on to a balcony, do they start
out as an egg having been carried there by a flying insect and do they
travel from pot to pot?

My balcony is up high and has full light and sun all day but manages to
attract more livestock than you can poke a stick at.

Be glad of any help to keep these wormlike things at bay.

Thank you, Kate
(Sydney)

 

Kate Spencer wrote:

Can you give a better description of the animal? What colour is it? How
long/wide? Does it have legs or claws? How many body segments (3 - 10 -
or many)?

If you mean the fat whitish grubs from one to three inches long that
curl into a ring and have six orange claws, then those are beetle larvae
and they certainly are laid in the soil as an egg. They bite too (check
out the mouthparts)!

--
Trish Brown

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

 




Yes, that's the one, curls up into a ball, whitish gray and fat, obviously,
as its been very well fed :-)

How can I prevent this happening again, if at all.

Thanks, Kate

 

Kate Spencer wrote:

You can get various solutions for 'curl grubs' or 'lawn grubs' at
nurseries.  I hate using poisons in my garden and just leave them for
the magpies to dig up. In your case, repotting would probably fix the
problem. ;-D

--
Trish Brown

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

 



Thanks Trish
I did repot eighteen months ago, hardly had a flower since that time.
Left one (a tough old Jade plant) out of about ten pots, that's why I
wondered if they migrated from pot to pot.
Of course I'm inclined to love my plants too much which can be destructive
and might explain a lot apart from the livestock.
Have emptied all except one pot again, might just plant something and let it
get on with it without interference.
Kate
Have