Vine Weevil

 


Hi All
Just discovered vine weevil in my Fushia (Voodoo)
They are last years plants and have washed off all the compost and
replanted
hopfully they should regrow or at least I can get some
cuttings and have put in
a dish for the birds I have some older half
standard fushias and realy dont want
to wash roots I dislike using
chemicals but having the half standards that I
trained over (I think
they are 5 years old)
Can I use provado on them now
Advice appreciated
Spruce




--
spruce

 

spruce.4575046@gardenbanter.co.uk says...

Yes, and if they are protected the compost will be warm enough for
nematodes to work as well
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

 



Hi Spruce,

I think if you're seeing the creature you want to kill, then now's the time
to use Provado.  I believe the usual quoted times for applying Provado are
May and August, but I'm sure now is fine, since they're active.

You shouldn't need to wash the roots of your standards; simply water the
soil thoroughly with the Provado solution and that should do the trick.  To
be on the safe side, apply Provado again in a few weeks (check the
application instructions) so that you catch any larvae that may reinfest in
May.  Oh, and don't forget to re-apply in August to catch the later
generation of larvae, so you don't over-winter the plants with the evil
weevil on board.

Good luck
Spider

 

On Wed, 15 Apr 2009, Spider wrote

Do you get vine weevils in the ground as well or just in pots?  I think
our pots are OK, though we have had them in the past.  But if they got
into the flower beds it would be ghastly.


--
Kate B

PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne dot org
dot uk if you
want to reply personally

 



Hi Kate,

You will normally see vine weevil adults either on the ground or climbing
into pots.  They can't fly, so have to crawl everwhere - they seem to manage
:~(.  They are dark (graphite coloured) bugs with lightish brown specks on
their backs.  They eat chunks out of the edges of leaves (not to be confused
with sawflies), and lay their eggs in the soil around the base of your
plants.

The larvae develop in the soil.  Yes, border soil as well as pot compost,
but usually the latter.  You don't usually see them until it's too late
:~(((.  They are curled in a c-shape, are cream with brown heads.  They eat
the roots of your plants, which is why they're so devastating.  Fortunately,
I haven't seen any for a while (fingers crossed), but I killed my first red
lily beetle this morning.  Tee hee!

Spider