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Here is my experience with the Nasty wee Beastie and how I got rid of them using Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer.
As an amateur gardener I didn't know what these creatures were when I first encountered them in my garden.
I was out pottering around one day when I started complaining to ... Read review
Advantages: Easy to Use Disadvantages: Need to apply a couple of times a year
...got rid of them using Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer.
As an amateur gardener I didn't know what these creatures were when I first encountered them in my garden.
I was out pottering around one day when I started complaining to my husband that one of our plants that had been in a tub for years didn't seem to be growing at all. It was then that I decided I would re-pot this poor plant to see if it was pot bound and could do ... ...and I proceeded to take the old plant out. YUK! You can imagine my disgust when the whole tub seemed to be full of wriggling little grubs, some were white and some were going brown. Luckily I had my gardening gloves on. "Well at least I know why this plants not growing" I thought.
I thought that was the worst of it until I saw some other ugly wee creatures crawling about, I had no idea what they were, but they looked liked a kind ... more
It's Vine Weevil come out of winter hibernation time again, from April onwards, so I'm adding a wee bit to the bottom of this review.
Here is my experience with the Nasty wee Beastie and how I got rid of them using Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer.
As an amateur gardener I didn't know what these creatures were when I first encountered them in my garden.
I was out pottering around one day when I started complaining to my husband that one of our plants that had been in a tub for years didn't seem to be growing at all. It was then that I decided I would re-pot this poor plant to see if it was pot bound and could do with a bigger tub. We bought some new peat and I proceeded to take the old plant out. YUK! You can imagine my disgust when the whole tub seemed to be full of wriggling little grubs, some were white and some were going brown. Luckily I had my gardening gloves on. "Well at least I know why this plants not growing" I thought. I thought that was the worst of it until I saw some other ugly wee creatures crawling about, I had no idea what they were, but they looked liked a kind of grey/black beetle thing with what looked like spots on it's back. Disgusting they were. I re-potted that plant into new peat and then went off to look on the internet to see if I could discover what the crawly things were.
That was the start of my crusade against the Vine Weevil, not that I knew that's what they were then. There were lots of pictures on the internet, but nothing seemed exactly like the beetle like thing we had in the garden. I then had to go and buy a Garden Pest book to confirm that they were Vine Weevil. And yes they were.
Horrible looking things that crawl all over the place; I didn't really think much more about it, until a few days later when I saw some of them hiding under the lip of one of my other pots in the garden. That's when I knew I would have to do something serious about them.
I had to re-pot, (or so I thought at the time) all my garden plants that were in any kind of container. It turned out everything was infested with the grubs and some adult Vine Weevil. My husband and I spent a fortune on new soil and I re-potted everything. When I found this leaf (pictured below) in my flowerbed: I knew they were back. That's when I found out about how to eradicate them and I felt I had to write this review to let other amateur gardeners know about Vine Weevil and how to get rid of them. So here goes; "The real Technical information" about the "wee beasties" that eat all your plants and invade your garden (and how to get rid of them) is below.
Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)
The adult beetle feeds on the foliage of many herbaceous plants, especially woody plants like Rhododendron and Hydrangea (and they love Strawberry plants), but my pot didn't have one of those plants in; so as far as I'm concerned they'll eat anything. The adult beetle is flightless; it is dark brown or black in colour and looks dull grey. It has small yellow speckles on its back that are raised and look like lumps in lines down its back. (See picture below).
The Adults munch on the edges of leaves during the summer, around April to August, they are fantastic climbers and walkers, and this makes plants in hanging baskets and wall boxes just as vulnerable as the rest of the garden. (A point I didn't know first time round). There is a picture below of a leaf from my garden that was eaten by an adult Vine Weevil. The adults can be seen by torchlight at night, (personally I'd rather not see them, and so I didn't try that one).
You can find them in the daytime in the base of plants, under pots and under garden rubbish, I even found one in the house, apparently this is not uncommon.
All Vine Weevil are female, so they can all lay eggs. They lay their eggs around the base of plants, each laying about 500-660 eggs throughout the summer, (YUK, can you imagine!) New eggs are white and they turn brown as they get older. The eggs then hatch into grubs (I know, it gets worse). They are about 1mm long, white with brown heads, they eat everything around them including succulent tubers and they gnaw at larger roots and stem bases. Basically, they eat your plant from the root tip to the base. They can grow to about 1.3cms after feeding. When they are fully grown they burrow down to pupate before hatching as adults. (Picture of Larvae below).
The adults feed and lay eggs throughout the summer, and die out during autumn. The grubs lie dormant and then hatch in the spring.
HOW TO GET RID OF THEM.
You can use the pesticide imidacloprid and that will control larvae for up to 12 months, but I didn't even follow that road, it looked a little complicated for me. It involved re-potting and washing roots and as I am not a dedicated gardening fanatic this option didn't appeal (Not saying it doesn't work though, you'd have to try it) Let me know if you do!
A better option is "Nematodes" this is a biological control for the larvae, you can get this as a microscopic pathogenic nematode (Steinernema KrausseI) don't stop reading, it really is simple to use. You can get these from many suppliers, nothing complicated here, just type in "Vine Weevil Killers" into your search engine and you will come up with various links. I got mine from Nicky's seeds, and one pack to cover 12m squared, or 40 pots cost me £9.95 (no postage).
You apply the nematodes in August or early September when the soil is warm enough for them to be effective (5-20 degrees C or 41- 68 F) and before the horrible wee white slimy things have got big enough to cause damage.
A note to mention: Vine Weevil can be around all year in greenhouses. So you would have to treat more often. And if it's a warm start to the year the adult can hatch before April.
Nematodes should be applied March-May and August to late November to keep them at bay.
Nematodes are extremely easy to use; you just dissolve in water and use a watering can to put in your pots or flowerbeds. You don't have to re-pot or dig up anything and clean the roots like I thought at the very beginning. Not only that they are completely harmless to Humans and animals. A good supplier will not deliver Nematodes through the winter months as they are useless then as the grubs are "hibernating".
Note: When you receive your pack of nematodes, put into the fridge and use within a few days for most effective results. These are living creatures, though microscopic.
Finally- If you do have Vine Weevil, keep on your toes with the treatments because if you don't they can multiply under soil and the first you will know is when your plants stop growing again.
Well that's me, I feel much better for writing that, it took me more than a couple of weeks to positively identify the Vine Beetle, find the best treatment, buy it and successfully treat them. Hope this review has helped other unfortunate amateur gardeners out there, who, like me didn't know where to start. Right I'm off to do my hanging baskets!!!!
Well it's now May 2006 and they are back. I am waiting for the Vine Weevil killer to arrive in the post. In the meantime I have tried the "going out at night with a torch lark" And it's works...Get yourself a tub of water with a liberal splash of washing up liquid, a spoon or other implement, a torch, someone to hold said torch, go out into garden after four glasses of wine, skulk round giggling, check all foliage on plants, when you find the beasties, flick them into the water and the washing up liquid kills them quickly, cruel yes, sorry, but they eat everything.
Giggle some more, watch out for the police that the neighbours have called at this stage, swear when you miss one and it drops to the ground and you can't find it, collect lots of weevils, go indoors, stick torch on to charge, have another glass of wine and sleep very well indeed.
