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vine weevil : do i need to treat all containers?
Newb
Posts: 211
In one of my deciduous azalea (rhododendron) i see vine weevil damage in leaves. I have ordered three packets of vine weevil clear concentrate.
I have loads of large containers. do I need to treat them all even if I dont see damage on other containers or shall just treat ones kept around this damaged one? what else should i do stop the spread?
0
Posts
yes, treat them all when the pack says to treat them (you're killing the grubs not the adults)
The adults go from plant to plant, laying eggs all over the place, so yes - you need to treat them all... sorry!
To save a bit of money as the killer is expensive, stand the pot in a basin to collect the drained off water and then pour it into the next one until it runs out, then make up some more.
Not being a user of such things, can I be contentious, perhaps, and urge you not to if it's Provado?
H-C
I agree, nematodes the best we have to date. There's a recent article from growers which discusses the problems around vine weevil and whether we should be a little more relaxed about small amounts of damage. Personally I hate them and the way they can ruin so many plants, quite apart from making them unsightly and therefore no good on the sales bench. It's one of my many mini wars - along with getting enough water into pot plants, standing up plants on a windy day, tidying up after careless customers . . . . . !
I spend a little time each day checking the bays, olives, and other shrubs for weevil damage and sliding my fingers around under the lips of the larger plastic tree tubs to dislodge them from where they're hiding!
H-C
I've found the nematodes to be effective, in pots and on plants in the open ground. Breaking the breeding cycle is the thing, I think.
Newb, in case you're not aware - the chemical in vine weevil killer is a neonicotinoid, and other varieties of this chemical have been withdrawn from use in Europe because they're linked to a decline in honey bees. Modern vine weevil killer's version of "neonic" is supposedly safer than the old ones, but there's now a question mark over it, as more research is done.
It's a difficult decision.
I found some in an isolated pot earlier in the year. I squished them and decided to do nothing unless there was further evidence. I've seen nothing yet so fingers crossed.
I have a rhodo in a pot waiting to go somewhere and it is being decimated by adults. I'm afraid all my primula, bergenia, heuchera and hellebores are going to have to be looked at
Oh dear