The dreaded vine weevil!
Poly-anthus
Posts: 153
Thinking that the weather had lifted the polyanthus from several pots, I went to firm them in, only to find that they had no roots left. I can see the vine weevil grubs which devoured them, grrrrr. The plants have duly been binned 
. I'm wondering whether the winter will kill off the grubs, or should I drench the pots with Provado now? I usually skim the compost off the top of the pots and put the compost on the borders in the Spring and then top up the pots with fresh compost. Help please! There does seem to be quite a lot of the horrible little blighters. I don't have room to empty the pots out to leave a feast for the birds!
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OK Buddy. Thanks. Job for tomorrow, weather permitting!
Exactly the same thing has happened to me! Blamed the kids for pulling them out at school then had to explain to everyone about vine weevils
. I have drenched all my new polyanthus plants with provado and am giving them 2 weeks for the stuff to work before I replant - weather permitting! 
And you think Provado works? I stood my Auriculas in soaking trays of the stuff, overnight, up to their necks a few weeks back. Today I have been going through them, actually not looking for grubs, rather removing dead and dying leaves to prevent botrytis and guess what I found , live and eating in some of the pots?
Dilution was as recommended on the bottle, using that stupid delivery system they have put in place,just to make life harder for us. Last time I cut the top off the bottle and used the old measuring cup which came with the stuff.
Drench them now. They always go for them.
Hi Poly, best thing to use is Nemasys for Vine Weevils. Thousands of nematodes which eat the grubs. Buy it from various places & treat pots in Autumn & then buy a new supply next spring & treat the pots again. I also always empty each affected pot at first sign & carefully pick out the grubs & squidge them between finger & thumb. Repot the plant in same soil then treat with the nematodes as above. Two hits in one go.
As 3Ms says above: I really don't like using chemicals but have been plagued with Vine Weevil grubs eating the roots of seedlings. I now use Nemasys Vine Weevil treatment and it has been amazingly effective. The soil needs to be warmer than 5° C though as the nematodes will be inactive below this temp. I give a treatment in the spring as soon as the weather is warm enough and another in the Autumn before it gets too cool. I buy on E-bay mostly - just depends where I find the best prices but expect to pay around £10 for a small pack sufficient to treat 160 pots and follow the instructions exactly.