Whilst digging out some old strawberry plants as they were past their prime, I came across a load of Vine Weevil Grubs. Have a look at one of the little beasties below.
The vine weevil grubs are little white legless grubs with a brown head in the shape of a letter "C". They attack the roots of mainly container grown plants causing wilting and also often plant death. Field grown plants are less susceptible to damage but this is a bit worrying for me. They particularly like strawberries! I tried to remove as many as possible from the patch and will have to do a bit of study on methods of control. Unfortunately I cant leave the ground open to predators such as birds, as I have a major problem with the neighbourhood cats using the patch as their own personal litter tray. With this in mind I have to put a net over the bed to prevent the cats getting into the patch. I have to say that I saw no problems with my strawberry yield or health of plants last season so hopefully removing those plants where the vine weevils were found and clearing a load of them of the plot will keep the rest of the strawberries safe....fingers crossed.
If anyone has any success stories or remedies or products they have used to get rid of the vine weevil, I would appreciate hearing from you.
