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Vine weevils - where DO they come from?

(15 Posts)
ExDancer Fri 15-Apr-22 10:43:31

I've been attacked by vine weevils for about 3 seasons and tried numerous remedies from chemicals to nematodes. Nothing has worked.
Last year I emptied all my tubs, threw out some old tatty ones and scrubbed the rest with hot water. I refilled everything with fresh compost, washed the plant roots of the plants I was keeping in cold water and replanted. That summer I had a satisfactory show of flowers but nothing spectacular.
In Autumn I took cuttings of my geraniums (pelagoniums) as usual and set them in individual pots to overwinter in the spare room. I have done this for many years.
Today I decided it was time to bring these out and start planting up for summer.
I was astonished to find FIVE dead mature vine weevils clinging to the inside of the spare room curtains.
Will my precious cuttings will have to go!

What can I do to make sure they don't return?
Throw everything out?

JaneJudge Fri 15-Apr-22 10:47:33

apparently you are supposed to get up in the night with a torch and collect them all up, then kill them by whichever method you fancy. It depends how committed you are

henetha Fri 15-Apr-22 10:49:26

They are a damned nuisance. I've had a lot of trouble with the pesky varmints.

midgey Fri 15-Apr-22 12:35:07

They come from the devil!

Esmay Fri 15-Apr-22 13:50:20

I haven't had these beastly destructive nasties (yet ) - but I understand that you can get rid of them with nematodes .
The first application being in August .
I'd destroy my parent plants .
Scrub the pots with Jeyes fluid .

Esmay Fri 15-Apr-22 13:52:57

Sorry just reread you've tried nematodes -though if you had a display flowers the you are winning .
Back to my thinking cap !

MiniMoon Fri 15-Apr-22 14:23:31

I jumped on one that I spotted walking across my utility room floor. There are no plants in there!
DH uses nematodes and has some success. They are a blooming nuisance.

toscalily Fri 15-Apr-22 14:26:35

Agree with midgey ! I read recently that they are so common now we must be constantly on the alert for the wretched things. I have used nematodes twice over the past three years whereas until a few years ago I had never been troubled by them at all, might mean we have to do it every year, at least for containers.

karmalady Sat 16-Apr-22 06:56:28

I once lived near a lady with a very large beautiful azalea in a pot, it was taller than me. Vine weavil took it

I moved, three years later I grew strawberries in growbags, vine weavils took them

Now I use chemical vine weavil killer in any pot that does not contain edibles. My nematodes are on order for the end of may, for the edibles and I have very many strawberries. They do seem to be effective but keeping the soil moist can be a challenge. They like mint and strawberries and sedums and of course other plants. They appear from no-where

aggie Sat 16-Apr-22 09:13:44

Exdancer are you sure the vine weevils on the curtains were dead ? They play dead , horrible things , I would get the nematodes for edibles and chemicals for ornamentals as Karmalady says , and make sure any adults are thoroughly squished !

lixy Sat 16-Apr-22 09:45:46

Horrid things - found them in a pot of lily-of-the-valley the other day. Squash them on sight, and the nasty grubs too but the eggs are almost impossible to spot.
Keep cleaning and repotting in fresh compost and you will win eventually.

Coastpath Sat 16-Apr-22 10:35:18

Have you tried buying some sacrificial plants that you know vine weevils love, heucheras for example. Pot these up and set the pots amongst your other plants. The vine weevils will make a beeline for the pots with heucheras in. You will lose the heucheras but might gather all the weevils in one place and can then dispose of them.

I don't know if it will work in reality, but on paper it sounds feasible

I've also read that highly scented plants put the little buggers off e.g. mint, lavender.

ExDancer Sat 16-Apr-22 11:48:29

Believe me aggie they were well dead when I'd finished with them - cremated too in my open fire.
We're having a rotten weekend weatherwise here, I do wish the weathermen would stop yacking on about sunshine and high temperatures with the aside of "overcast and cloudy in the northwest and Scotland".
Still got weevils though angry

Callistemon21 Sat 16-Apr-22 12:33:42

Coastpath

Have you tried buying some sacrificial plants that you know vine weevils love, heucheras for example. Pot these up and set the pots amongst your other plants. The vine weevils will make a beeline for the pots with heucheras in. You will lose the heucheras but might gather all the weevils in one place and can then dispose of them.

I don't know if it will work in reality, but on paper it sounds feasible

I've also read that highly scented plants put the little buggers off e.g. mint, lavender.

Oh yes, heucheras!
I had some lovely ones, different colours, in pots and something ate the roots years ago. It must have been vine weevils.
Strangely enough, they werent interested in the common or garden dark red ones which are now planted in garden beds ? they will be ok.

Coastpath Sat 16-Apr-22 17:44:29

Interesting Callistemon21. I gave up on Heucheras years ago as I was fed up of them being killed. I'll try the dark red ones...good tip!