Vine weevil eggs in bought pots please help
wakeshine
Posts: 967
Soooo....I bought some hard geraniums yesterday from a garden centre..they were Geranium Rozanne. I bought 3. When I was deciding I did have doubts because they were all looking not very healthy - leaves flopped and some brown. But I just thought maybe they need rescuing from the shop, maybe been in the pot too long or something. I felt sorry for them and really wanted some hardy geraniums so went ahead. I am so inexperienced!! Should have left them there.
When I was planting them I saw there was not much root system at all. It was odd - the pot was quite big, and lots of compost but when I liftred the plant it was not root bound at all and only went about half way. Hardly any roots - could explain the miserable apperance of the plants.
Then I saw vine weevil eggs all the way through. I thought they were slow release fertilizer but a little research (on this forum and elsewhere) has now told me these are eggs. They are yellowy green and if pinched they crack like eggs. So this morning I was really worried and went and dug them up. I have removed most of the eggs but I don't know whether to chuck away the geraniums? Can they recover? I didn't see any larva through thr compost. Or should I maybe put them in a different pot with different compost and see how they do. I am trying to avoid having patio pots so am not keen on doing the latter.
I have just rung the shop and the guy says he doesn't think they are wine weevil eggs and I probably won't be able to get a refund. Also it's quite far away and I can't be bothered to put it all back in the pots and take them back. Not sure what to do. Hope I haven't infected the bedding area with vine weevil eggs.
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If there are still roots on the plants they might grow on, I would pot them up with fresh compost for a while and drench the soil with Provado vine weevil killer.
sorry I don't mean to advertise a particular brand but it's the only one I know which will do the job.
Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer is another
If I've removed all/most of these yellow balls though is there still a chance that there could be vine weevils in there? Is Provado a liquid that i can just apply? Is Nemasys a lot of work? Sigh...just wanted to stick these in the garden and watch them grow. Can't believe I now have to put in pots and do more work...
Vine weevil eggs are brownish and tiny (less than Imm in diameter) and impossible to spot in compost.
Yellow balls that pop when squashed sounds like the Osmacote slow release fertiliser balls - they have a liquid fertiliser in them - the shell of the ball becomes permeable when wet and the fertiliser passes through them. http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/thread/?threadId=948638
Logically, if vine weevil larvae were eating the roots of your plants you'd find the larvae in the compost, not the eggs. The eggs don't eat anything!
I think your plants just need the chance to grow on a bit. I'd pot them up in a mix of John Innes No 2 loam based compost, with some added grit, and look after them for a while - you should get stronger plants that way.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It's always a good idea if you can tip the plant out and have a look without damaging it before you buy. I introduced vine weevil into my garden in a plant bought from a famous diy store and it wasn't even in the sin bin.
I rescued a vine weavil from certain death when I saw it flailing around in our pond the other day. My love of all things animal may have gone too far.
Sorry *weevil
Just read this and went out to check my Honeysuckle, I remember seeing some small, yellow / brownish balls when planting.
Just like dove says, they burst when you squash them, so I agree re Osmocote.
Sheps...
OMG Sheps the balls in your photo looks like what I saw within the compost of the geraniums. I would have posted a photo but I would have to fish it all out of the bin. When you pinch it, does it crack, are they hollow? The ones I found seemed hollow and were indeed like a shell. I am confused now but also a bit relieved if you are right. ?? Why are the fertilizer balls hollow? I used orange balls in my baskets, they are not hollow.
Last edited: 13 June 2016 11:15:58
Yes I should have done that but I thought the shop people wouldn't appreciate it!!