Chafer grubs, what to do, what to plant?

[Leezy2]

Hi all,
Just had a crop of early potatoes do practically nothing on a new plot, so decided to dig over and plant something else. Found quite a few chafer grubs had eaten through the roots and any tubers that had managed to form.

I was going to plant some cabbage and kale, but will any remaining grubs simply eat those as well?

Thanks,
David.

[Nicos]

Hmm..they do tend to eat the roots of anything they can get their gnashers into.

Have you thought of using Heterorhabditis megidis nematodes.
That might sort out your problem.

I've used a slug nematode with great results .
Not particularly cheap though....

[Jungle Jane]

I read an old post & it mentioned covering the area with black plastic & the grubs will come near the surface,hopefully you found most of them already.

[Leezy2]

Chafer vs mole cricket

We are in France and someone has suggested some people have a problem with mole crickets here. Problem is I can't find anywhere that tells me how to tell the difference between chafer larvae and mole cricket larvae, ant ideas??

[Jungle Jane]

You might need a magnifying glass you can check their tail end for raster patterns? Or let one develop to see if it grows mole like forearms? This link shows the raster patterns of chafer grubs;
Insect management | Sports Field Management