Pests and Diseases - Symptom Selector

Vine weevils

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Vine weevils

Symptoms

Irregular notches are taken from the margins of the leaves are made by the adult damage. If a plant suddenly dies and appears to have no roots, this is the work of the larvae.

Cause

Vine weevils are the scourge of the horticultural world because they can be so devastating and it is so hard to protect your plants against attack. The adults are nearly all female and reproduce parthenogenically (they do not need a male partner). The bites that they take from the leaves do very little harm but it is unnerving because it shows that they are around and may have laid their eggs by the roots of your plants. Each weevil can lay hundreds of eggs. It is the grub stage of the vine weevil that is so destructive since they live off roots.

Harm

The effect on your plants will depend on the size of the root system and the number of grubs eating it. To start with the growth will slow, the plant may then begin to wilt and finally die as it no longer has sufficient roots to sustain it.

Treatment

Organic - adult vine weevils cannot fly, they walk and mainly at night, so you can go out at night to find them and step on them.
Biological - nematodes are small soil worms which lay their eggs in the vine weevil grub, which then hatch to feed on the vine weevil. The nematodes come in powdered form and are watered on in late summer, while the soil is still warm but the grubs are, hopefully, still small enough not to have caused too much damage.
Chemical - Bio Provado is a new product based on thicloprid that can be used as a soil drench to control vine weevil grubs. For new container plants try Levington Plant Protection Compost which also contains the same chemical.

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