Topic: Semi-Circular notches on Blueberry Leaves

[gerbera]

I have 2 blueberry plants in pots on the patio. They have semi-circular notches cut out of many of the leaves, and the plants are looking rather ill...with hardly any leaves and little fruit.

Am I right in thinking that they have the dreaded vine weevil? I have had a bit of an exploratory dig aroung the root ball, but have not encountered any suspect white grubs (yet!), but the rootball does not seem very healthy to me.

Can anyone advise? What do I do now?

[Ceratonia]

Semi-circular notches in leaves certainly sounds like damage from adult vine weevils. If you put some newspaper round the pots and then distrub the leaves, you sometimes see them - they like to fall off the plant when disturbed. Have you checked nearby pots for larvae/eggs - some people advocate growing things like cyclamen or primula nearby as sacrificial plants?

Provado is a pesticide you can use, but it's not suitable for anything edible. Nematodes can be used, but are quite expensive. You can try catching the adults at night with aid of a torch, or making a corrugated cardboard 'trap' - somewhere for them to sleep during the day which you can then squash?

Leaf cutter bees make similar shaped holes - but very smooth, regular shapes - could it be those instead?

[gerbera]

Just had another look....wiggled the plant a bit......and realised the root ball is tiny, and looks like its rotting......infact with a gentle tug the whole lot came out of the pot!

I'm convinced its vine weevil >:(...but haven't found the grubs yet.....not sure I want to either!!!!

I'm propagating as many cuttings as I can from healthy areas ....so at least I might be able to save something for the future! These two plants are definately on their way out.  :'(

[moonbells]

You could try pulling the plant out again, wash the roots (if you're allowed a hosepipe, even better cos you can blast them clean!), give a good shake to lose any adults then tip out the compost. Check under any pot rims for adults lurking there...

Repot in good, new ericaceous compost, watering in well (perhaps with some ericaceous feed?). Move plant preferably to another area of the garden. (You can then safely drench the old compost with Provado to kill any remaining grubs before reusing for an ornamental plant.)

One way to keep them out after you've done this is to site them where none of the leaves touch anything else (unless it's another plant protected this way), and then put the pot on a base saucer, which is itself inside another, much larger saucer. Then fill the outer one with water. The moat should keep them off as long as you keep it topped up!

Works for snails and slugs too.

moonbells