A small grey-black beetle often found wandering amongst plants at night.
Symptoms
One of the gardener's worst enemies - virtually undetectable until the plant wilts and begins to topple over. The beetle itself takes irregular chunks out of the edges of leaves and often hides in daylight at the bottom of pots and saucers. The main damage is caused by its creamy white grubs with brown heads, which hatch out from the many eggs a female can lay in its lifetime.
The eggs are laid amongst the roots of a plant and the grubs eat away at the tender white roots until the plant can no longer take in nourishment or maintain its stability. A slight touch can dislodge an affected plant completely.
Treatment
Most cases will be discovered in early spring when plants fail to thrive after a winter's rest. Re-potting in the autumn can often avoid the problem. Removing all the soil from affected roots, the comma-shaped grubs can be seen curled up in the nooks and crannies of the root ball. A knitting needle is useful to prise the grubs out and followed by a good rinse in a mild disinfectant solution the plant will usually be saved by re-potting. If too much root material has been destroyed it may be too late. In this case emergency cuttings should be taken or branches kept in water until new shoots appear for the purpose.
Prevention involves watering in a solution of Provado or similar proprietary remedy before over-wintering. This should kill the grubs in situ. It can be used at any time of year for general protection. It is also advisable to check hiding places for adult weevils in the daytime or even venture out with a torch at night to spot them actually on your plants.
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