Common pests -vine weevils

These little white larvae can make a real meal of wur crops in pots.

Time to do: spring-summer

Vine weevil larvae can be a problem if you grow lots of crops in pots; they will live in the compost and eat the roots of plants and seedlings.

Vine weevils love to lay their eggs in containers of compost, and their larvae can destroy crops from the bottom up, eating away the entire root system of a plant. 80 check the compost for these distinctive white, iegless grubs with a brown head.

Luckily these pests are very easy to control with biological nematodes, which can be watered on to the compost and last for several weeks. The treatment is expensive, but if you grow a iot of things in pots then a couple of applications during the summer months are we“ worthwhile.

The adult weevils dull black beetles -are relatively easy to spot as they’re very slow moving and have distinctive bent or ’elbowed' antennae. They are mainly nocturnal and tend to hide in dark comers during the day. so keep an eye open for them at dusk.

TIP A good way to catch the adults is to place toilet-roll tubes or small pots filled with straw in pots and containers. Check the traps regularly and destroy any adults you and.