... (Did you know they are parthenogenetic. - 100% lesbians. That fact may warm you to them ... or not.))
As I understand it they don't need a partner at all, male or female. They just get on with it all by themselves.
Sort of. There are actually two species that people would recognise as 'black vine weevils' Otiorhynchus armadillo and Otiorhynchus sulcatus. O. armadillo requires sexual reproduction, which means it has a tougher time reproducing but it has healthier and more resilient genes because it's not just cloning itself. O. sulcatus is the classic vine weevil that most people will see and that one is parthenogenetic. O. armadillo is spreading and apparently out-competing the other species though. The whole Otiorhynchus family seem to be pests but most are native and don't effect gardeners too badly.
I just found a pot full of larvae this afternoon and another saxifrage is a rootless gonna. The blackbird chicks in the conifer will be very pleased with them though.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
So, @TheGreenMan, do you reckon that covering the soil in the pots with grit might be a working solution to the vine weevil problem ? If so I'm going to give that a go too.
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
So, @TheGreenMan, do you reckon that covering the soil in the pots with grit might be a working solution to the vine weevil problem ? If so I'm going to give that a go too.
Before I moved here I had a back yard and so my garden was pots….lots of them.
I lost a few plants to the, unbeknown to me at that point, pesky weevils.
Once I found out about them and did some research (mild obsession) I covered all of my pots in grit and also went out at night squishing the little f*ckers.
I’ve not lost anything since using the grit (including their favourites): heuchera, epimedium, hydrangea etc.
I definitely have them here but so far nothing has been taken in two years so, for me anyway, the grit is the key (or barrier!). 👍🏼
I’ve noticed over the years that most of the vine weevil damage in my little plot is done to plants in pots filled with compost. There are exceptions though, but these have mostly concerned garden roddies and Pieris which coincidentally have had a great deal of stuff dug in before planting in the form of peat and compost.
Plants love open airy garden compost. Their roots can romp through it with the minimum of effort as can vine weevil grubs. I think it might be the planting medium that attracts the dastardly egg laying adults.
In an effort to back up this rather ropey hypothesis I’ve planted a bay in John Innes no 3 this year with a fine gravel mulch away from the other pots. Ok the pots a lot heavier but just maybe, someday, I’ll harvest a bay leaf without a chunk chewed out of it.
So, @TheGreenMan, do you reckon that covering the soil in the pots with grit might be a working solution to the vine weevil problem ? If so I'm going to give that a go too.
No. It's what I do with my auriculas for aesthetic effect. But no effect on VWs.
VWs, of the problem type, don't need any partners for fertilisation. But they must have other fun than letting their toddlers eat my plants' roots.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
So, @TheGreenMan, do you reckon that covering the soil in the pots with grit might be a working solution to the vine weevil problem ? If so I'm going to give that a go too.
No. It's what I do with my auriculas for aesthetic effect. But no effect on VWs.
... I’ve planted a bay in John Innes no 3 this year with a fine gravel mulch away from the other pots. Ok the pots a lot heavier ...
1. The weight for me is major advantage in preventing a top heavy mophead from blowing over. 2. JINo3 has more minerals and longer-lasting fertiliser than most peat-substitute composts. 3. No rewetting problems.
I have never seen a VW
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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I just found a pot full of larvae this afternoon and another saxifrage is a rootless gonna. The blackbird chicks in the conifer will be very pleased with them though.
Before I moved here I had a back yard and so my garden was pots….lots of them.
I definitely have them here but so far nothing has been taken in two years so, for me anyway, the grit is the key (or barrier!). 👍🏼
In an effort to back up this rather ropey hypothesis I’ve planted a bay in John Innes no 3 this year with a fine gravel mulch away from the other pots. Ok the pots a lot heavier but just maybe, someday, I’ll harvest a bay leaf without a chunk chewed out of it.
VWs, of the problem type, don't need any partners for fertilisation. But they must have other fun than letting their toddlers eat my plants' roots.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
2. JINo3 has more minerals and longer-lasting fertiliser than most peat-substitute composts.
3. No rewetting problems.
I have never seen a VW
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."