Ask John Negus
How can we stop vine weevils this year?
Q Last summer we had terrible trouble with vine weevils in our patio containers and lost lots of plants. We have tried everything to get rid of them. What else can we try?
Joyce Partridge, Bridport, Dorset
A Once you have an infestation, vine weevils are a complete pain and you need a combination of methods to get the situation under control.
Start by washing out used containers to get rid of vine weevil eggs, and always use fresh compost when potting up plants.
Adult weevils tend to feed in the evenings during spring and summer, and can usually be spotted at dusk by torchlight. They tend to drop to the ground if disturbed so they might require a bit of hunting out!
Also check round during the day, in all the nooks and crannies where the weevils might hide.
Ornamental plants grown in containers can be treated with acetamiprid (such as Bug Clear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer) or thiacloprid (such as Bayer Provado Vine Weevil Killer 2) as a liquid drench applied to the compost.
These insecticides give protection against the grubs for up to two and four months respectively and treatment in mid to late summer will control
