Is it vine weevil on my strawbs

[Jimmy]

Some on gave me a strawberry plant and I nurtured it through the cold winter.
It's on my greenhouse bench now and was doing fine.
I noticed that the leaves now seem to have lots of "notches" in them.
I have seen vine weevil around in previous years.
1) Is this likely to be the culprit.
2) How to deter them , traps or what ?
Thanks
Jimmy

[Paulottie]

Does sound like it may be weevils...are the plants' roots still sound?...perhaps try furtling around to check for grubs.... and try the old painted card with glue trick....put it on a glue covered card and brush plant...they'll drop off and get stuck to card

[Guttata]

If it is vine weevils, you will need to expose the roots to be sure, then you have two options. Chemical treatments so no crops, or nematodes. They can not be detered and traps seem not to work unless by accident.

Though isn't it a tad earlier in the year for there to be adults about?

[Liza]

I have seen adult vine weevils recently.

[Jeanied]

Vine weevils are particularly fond of strawberry plants - the adults like the leaves and the grubs like the roots! The only method I found to work was - dig up strawberry plants, wash roots of all soil - then replant in fresh compost. Not great if the strawbs are in the open ground. And not great for their fruiting potential.

[Guttata]

I have seen adult vine weevils recently.

Time to break out the torch and get on the balcony tonight and see if I can find any to vent vengeance on.

[rustylady]

Vine weevils and wasps are about the only wildlife I don't mind stamping on. As far as I can see they serve no useful purpose.

[valmarg]

Vine weevils and wasps are about the only wildlife I don't mind stamping on. As far as I can see they serve no useful purpose.

I agree about vine weevils, but disagree re wasps. In Spring wasps collect aphids and caterpillars to feed the larvae in the nest. They are voracious predators, and I let them get on with it. It's only in Autumn when they are dying, and have got a bit tipsy on fruit they become a pest.

valmarg

[sewer rat]

Vine weevils (and cockroaches) make a satisying crack when you stamp on them

[wellie]

Adult Vine Weevil Beetles cannot fly. They only crawl, so that's why they tend to settle and lay their eggs in compost of tubs.

It would be worth your while, seriously, finding out what an adult Vine Weevil Beetle looks like in the flesh, because once you can identify them, you are so much better prepared to deal with them, and their offspring, and that really makes a huge difference to stamping them out in your own garden environment.

And one further word of warning: the adult beetles feign death when disturbed? It's their survival mechanism. Don't be fooled. It's them or your crops. And I'd choose my crops anyday.

Just to give you an example, I worked as gardener to a loverly elderly couple about 15 years ago, and they had a really, really sick Clematis plant to the right of their kitchen door. Upon investigating, I found no less than 60 immature vine weevil grubs in its rootball. No wonder the poor thing was struggling......
But your best method of control is by 'hand-picking-out' if you can? Please don't be tempted to use quick fix methods with chemicals that may harm other wildlife?

[w33blegurl]

You can get those nematodes now to water on to the soil. Am trying this on my strabs this year as I lost the lot to vine weevil last year. Am going to be keeping a much keener eye out for the adults as well this year so I can nip it in the bud before it gets to be a problem!