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Everlasting sweet peas being destroyed by vine weevils!

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  • DirtyFingernailsDirtyFingernails Posts: 14
    edited April 2023
    This is the situation and the culprit! I didn't realise how bad things had got but the plant is decimated :/
    (also apologies for my skanky nails...)
  • JacquimcmahonJacquimcmahon Posts: 1,039
    Vine weevil adults systematically destroy my climbing rose leaves, luckily it’s a resilient plant which just keeps putting on new growth. Nighttime torchlight picking sessions and a satisfying crunch when you stamp on them. I lost the battle against the grubs, no amount of cleaning them up destroys them completely in pots. Costs a fortune for the nematodes in France.
    Marne la vallée, basically just outside Paris 🇫🇷, but definitely Scottish at heart.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It does look pretty ravaged. I think the only thing you can do is cut it back, but whether it'll recover well is another story. Don't be tempted to feed it though. Feeding a struggling plant isn't a good idea. Just refresh some soil around it.
    An otherwise well established plant will recover, but if you've just bought and planted it in March, it might be worth taking photos and showing them to whoever you bought it from. If you can get pix of the grubs - so much the better.  A new build plot is unlikely to have an infestation in situ, so you're right - it's probably come in with the grubs already there. You might, at least, get a refund     :)

    You can try those nematodes, but the conditions have to suit, and if it's in the ground, it may be less effective than in a container. Makes your new plant rather more expensive  too.  :/
    Hope it works for you though. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited April 2023
    The image does not look like a vine weevil adult to me, though it is actually a weevil of some sort. Nor, to be honest, does the damage look like normal vine weevil nibbling. Still the advice given on what to do is good so does it matter?
    Had a think and it looks more like a Pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum) to me.



  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited April 2023
    I wasn't sure if it was a vine weevil either @Palustris as it didn't look quite right for those, but I thought it was the photo [ or my ignorance! ] more than anything else. 

    Just wondering - is it the same nematodes regardless of the type of weevil? I never really use them.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Palustris Can I just say well spotted. Something didn't add up.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes- that would make perfect sense @Palustris, re the type of weevil since it's a Lathyrus. Brilliant spot as @GardenerSuze says.

    I was going to say 'top notch' but that might have been a bit too much considering the problem!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Thanks for the advice folks. I am going to complain to the place I bought them as I put two plants in different places in the garden and they have both got it.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
     @katarney You do have certain rights when purchasing plants but I am not sure what they are. I have returned a pot full of large alliums in leaf, I realised when I got home that they would be a tangle of roots and disturbance might mean no flowers. 'No problem' they said. This year they have one per pot.
    It may depend on where you return them to but there must be some consumer rights as you haven't long purchased them.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    The nematodes are specific to Vine weevils.
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