Claire Brown warns of the dangers of importing Vine Weevil into your garden when buying contaminated plants from garden centres.
On her Plant Passion blog, Claire says that whilst it may be November, she is still finding Vine Weevil and explains to new gardeners, who may not be familiar with the vociferous pest, that if you see a plant wither and then die and on later inspection find the roots are non existent, Vine Weevil should be considered as a likely cause.
I agree, if you buy a new plant from a nursery or garden centre and a weevil is found, inspect the rest of your plants and take back any contaminated plants.
Just tap the plant lightly from the pot and inspect the soil around the outside edge. Look also for tiny little holes where the grubs might have bored their way through the soil.
I would advise Nemasys Vine Weevil killer to treat your soil and greenhouse. Steinernema kraussei is a relatively new nematode that has been discovered to have been very effective in controlling what is one of the Royal Horticultural Societies top ten pests.
Using the nematode now (soil temperature should be five degrees or more) is recommended to ensure that you do not have a problem with plants dying off in late spring. This is a rather cheap preventative measure and better to be safe than sorry.
Comments