Strawberry pest

[burnie]

Just turned out one of my Mara des bois strawberry pots as the plants have looked weak and limp, culprits found, three large brown headed whitish grubs, I guess I should have photographed them before I squished, them but too late now. Pretty much all the roots had been eaten, so the plants have been binned and the compost spread on the garden, if I missed any the birds will soon have them, our garden is awash with baby birds at the moment. Luckily I have plenty of new young plants taken from runners to replace those lost, I will however be also thinking about another unusual variety to try, any recommendations?

[ameno]

There's no need to have photographed them. Those were vine weevil larvae, no doubt about it.
They can be a real menace to potted plants, and love strawberries in particular (although I've also lost two blueberries, a blackcurrant, and several ornamentals to them before now).

To keep them away in future, I'd try plant collars, like one uses fro cabbages. Cut one just larger than the pot (you need to cover the whole area of bare soil) out of card or some old heavy fabric (an old pair of jeans is ideal) and just keep it fitted at all times. In theory, this should stop the adults laying their eggs in the soil, so they will either not lay them on that plant at all, or they will lay them on top of the collar, leaving the eggs out in the open and prone to predation or dehydration.

[Nicos]

Sorry to hear that-very frustrating.

We grow Gariguette. They are incredibly sweet and scented. We do have a few others we bought cross bred with that variety and they are delicious too....but I can't recall their names at the moment

[peanut]

Ameno is 100% correct. There are nematodes and chemical treatments for vine weevils which can be applied now to kill off both larvae and eggs. It's worth checking all pots by giving the plants a gentle tug to see if they're being eaten at the roots. Adults make notch type nibble marks on leaves but its the grubs that do the damage. Begonias are another firm favourite, but I think they'll pretty much destroy anything they can.

[burnie]

The other pots seem ok, so hopefully only one lost, 3 year old plant that was coming into it's prime, oh well.