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Bright Idea Against Vine Weevil.

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ed dibbles:
I'm sure we all know the heartbreak feeling when we find our fuschia, cyclamen and vine plants are rendered useless by vine weevil grubs.

The vine weevil killers on the market whether based on nematodes or otherwise are incredibly expensive and need continuing applications during the year.

This year I tried drowning them by immersing a young potted grape vine in a bucket of water for 36 hours which has seemed to do the trick.

But next year what about a layer of enviromesh laid on the compost surface held down or pegged in some way. Would a physical barrier like that that stop the vine weevil adult from being able to lay it's eggs into the compost? Stones or gravel placed on top of the environmesh (or fleece?) could disguise the mesh and water would be able to drain through it.

Also when potting on plants a piece of envoronmesh could be laid over the drainage hole to thwart woodlice.

What do people think? Is it a good idea or can you see any potential problems?

ACE:
The mesh might deter them from the top of the pot, but the sneaky little buggers will just get in the pot from the holes in the bottom. The beetles lay their eggs nearby and it is the grubs that crawl into the pots. They do say that peat free compost helps keeping them down a bit, but most of the cheaper peat free composts are not really up to the job.

When I am potting on I have to check the root system on our show plants, it does not hurt the roots to tease them out a bit and you get a better plant. This uses a lot more compost, but I also spread the compost that has been shaken off the roots on a tarp and let the birds pick it over, then bung a bit of slow release plant food granules in it ready to use again. If you are only doing a few plants it is not worth the bother but as my potting on can be a few hundred plants sometimes, it works for me.

Re-using old flower pots can cause problems as well, get a cheap wallpaper steamer with a nozzle and sterilise your old pots with it.

Palustris:
The kind of barrier used for protecting Cabbage plants etc. from root flies works for single stem plants against Vine Weevils. Been doing that for many years. A circle of plastic with a small hole for the stem and a few tiny holes for watering works well too.
Have to say in the last 30 years I have never seen grubs crawling into a pot through the drainage hole. I cover the drainage hole in a clay pot with Aluminium mesh (the kind used for car body repair).
The weevil lays its eggs on the soil round the stem of a plant so very deep mulch of grit should stop it, but it does need to be at least 2 inches deep.

ACE:

--- Quote from: Palustris on September 21, 2012, 10:00:20 ---
Have to say in the last 30 years I have never seen grubs crawling into a pot through the drainage hole.

--- End quote ---

Do you know, neither have I. Perhaps they do it at night when nobody is around. There you go ed a solution is found, just watch them going into the pot, top or bottom and squidge them before they do any damage.

Palustris:
There you are, that's one's night time viewing sorted. Sit and watch V.W. grubs a crawling. Probably no less boring than TV.

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