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Lil maggots in my soil

believe9122017believe9122017 Posts: 1
in Problem solving
I found these lil "maggots" in my plant pot, as it had eaten the roots. It was in with my houseplants....wondering if any of my other house plants would be affected in the conservatory 

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  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Probably fungus fly larvae, but they don't eat the roots.. just the rotten stuff.  Have you noticed little black fruit-fly sized flies around the plants?  Get some of those yellow sticky traps and put all around the plants.  I even put them on the rim hanging over the soil to trap the newly emerging flies.  Also, let the soil dry out completely if you can, that seems to help too.  
    Utah, USA.
  • ciaranmcgreneraciaranmcgrenera Posts: 313
    edited June 2021
    Vine Weevil larvae.

    Did you buy the plant recently from a DIY or garden centre? If you’re lucky they were in it then and you’ve just brought them in. If not...

    Check the leaves of the plants nearby for “notch-y” looking damage, and have a poke around in the soil if needs be. If you find any more then you can -

    A) dispose of the affected plant and soil- don’t compost.
    B ) dispose of the plant (don’t compost) and spread the soil out on a plastic sheet outside for the birds to eat all the larvae. I still wouldn’t compost the soil in case there are eggs.
    C) if you choose you can get chemicals that will kill Vine Weevil.
    D) you can tread with Nematodes- smaller insects that eat the larvae

    E) Take off and nuke the whole thing from orbit- it’s the only way to be sure.
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