vine weevils in my strawberry pots?

[salome2001]

thought I'd start a new thread as I kind of hijacked chitfaced's strawberry one (sorry!)
Two Sheds, I think you may be right about the vine weevils. I have ordered the nematode control (of course, being late on Friday night, i probably won't get it til next week and i think all my strawberries will have keeled over by then)
Should I get rid of all the dying plants and replace the compost and replant new plants, then use the nematodes, or should it be ok to leave the compost in if I use the nemasys on it?
If I do replace the compost (which I am happy to do), I am thinking it might not be a good idea to use it to dig into my allotment.... because it might infect the plot??? Am I right??

[Two_Sheds]

It's too cold now to apply nematodes

... which means you can't do anything for your strawbs now. They might be saved ~ if you want, take them out, cut off all dead leaves, rinse roots under a tap and repot into clean compost.

The old compost can go in your compost bin. The grubs need live roots to feed on: anything in the compost heap is rotting so they'll go hungry, and die.
Vine weevils only really seem to be a major pest in containers: in the open ground they may have too many predators to do much damage

[salome2001]

a lot of the websites I looked at said you can use the nematodes in Autumn. it's still quite warm here- no frosts yet - so I was thinkiing of applying it and keeping the pots covered in fleece or in the conservatory for a week or two to keep them warm and kill the blighters. Good to hear about the compost being ok to use on open ground- I'll let it sit for a day or so before I dig it in and let the birds have their pickings

[Two_Sheds]

"This control [nematodes] works best if the soil remains above 12°C for at least 14 days after use" http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf...ils-153715.pdf

Also, have a look for the adults while you're doing your slug patrols at night

[salome2001]

I checked the pots today (first time the weather has let me) and you were absolutely right, the little blighters are in both my pots so pulled all the plants out and the compost is going on the plot. Got some new bare root strawberries coming soon. Apart from disinfecting the pots (terracotta), how can I make sure there's no weevil residue to infect the new pots??
(I am going to have to nematode all my other pots to be sure... my blueberry leaves are looking like something is having a go at them)
It's weird that there seems to be no sign of infestation in my stacking plastic strawberry planters ??!!

[Two_Sheds]

how can I make sure there's no weevil residue to infect the new pots?

By residue, you mean eggs? Looking at my link again, it says you should be free of eggs - they will have turned into larvae - by end of Sept (you can easily see the larvae, and squash them)

[salome2001]

I'm a bit squeamish so I think I'll tip 'em out for the birds...

[plymouthred]

I attempted strawberries in two of the big planters I got very cheaply. One lot went fairly okay but the others got severely attacked by these blighters! As very new to gardening, my first year last year, I didn't really see the tell tale signs.

Today I went to sort out the pots and found tiny little maggots in them, not hundreds but say a couple of dozen in the first foot or so of soil. I do not intend to try strawberries again in the planters but all the compost in both was newly put in last year.

Would it be safe enough to hand sieve the soil, take out the maggots and kill them then spread the soil on my soil patch ready to put into my raised bed (Onions, carrots and leeks) or should I take precautionary action with a spray?

Someone recommended Armillatox but I see this has been banned and hard to come by?

[Aberdeenplotter]

Armillatox is still available in most garden centres but is now licensed as a cleaning substance. If you want to use it, wash your flowerpots in the desired solution over the area you intend to sterilise.

[Jeanied]

You can get vine weevils in open soil. I'll never forget being given loads of free strawberry plants, freshly dug up, and seeing the little devils hanging in there. Needless to say the plants were picked over and washed thoroughly before re-planting.

[rustylady]

They're not so much of a problem in open ground or raised beds. It's the concentration of the little blighters in pots that causes the troubles.

[plymouthred]

I have two containers which have been attacked by the vine weevil larvae and would like some advice.

Today I dug down a bit and found the larvae not a great deal of them say half a dozen in about a bucket full of compost but the pots are big!!

My question is would it be okay just to sift through the compost which was only put in last year, kill the blighters (sure the birds on the bird table would love them) and reuse the compose or should I dispose of it?

[salome2001]

Plymouthred, I had a zero tolerance policy and binned the lot, then repotted with fresh plants and fresh compost, then watered in the nematodes. You could try sifting, but I wouldn't trust it personally

[plymouthred]

Plymouthred, I had a zero tolerance policy and binned the lot, then repotted with fresh plants and fresh compost, then watered in the nematodes. You could try sifting, but I wouldn't trust it personally

Thank you for that.

Since my post I dug down a little deeper and found more of the little buggers so will adopt your zero tolerance policy and do exactly the same.

As my first year of gardening I am more annoyed as I saw a few of the Mums on the leaves and just flicked them off............DOH

Next time though I won't be so loving

[salome2001]

.. and we will know what to look for !!!