Tag: pests

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Vine Weevil

vine weevil, roots

Worse than them cousins that appear empty-handed every Christmas, eat all of your mince pies, clear out your drinks cabinet and then reappear twelve months later unannounced… Vine Weevil are one of them that just make my blood boil. I hate them, nobody likes them and really they have zero characteristics of benefit to anyone but themselves. Harsh ? You have no idea….

Who Are These Little F@*?ers ?

Vine Weevil or Otiorhynchus sulcatus have a life cycle similar to that of a butterfly and depending on the stage they are at, is dependent on the damage type they will cause. Never seen ’em before ? They look very like something the I’m A Celebrity Get Me Outta Here jungle folk would eat in one of them challenges, except they are smaller. Further…

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Fireblight

Two of the photographs above are of a collection of Sorbus trees that I had in my garden. They are now nothing but a pile of ashes. The sorbus you see are members of the rosaceae or rose family – the most of which are susceptible to a disease known as fireblight.

The first thing I noticed was that the leaves were shrivelled, dead and still clinging to the plant. [These photographs were taken the last week in January btw]. The buds were also dead but still held to the plant. When I checked inside they too were gone. Necrosis had set in and the stems were dying from the top down.

The cause of this is the bacteria Erwinia amylovora spread generally by the wind blowing, insects and rain splash. It is that simple.

The recommended method of control used to be to burn the plant and that was the route I chose. I guess old habits die hard 😉 But some books recommend the pruning of the plant well below where the fireblight can be found. I simply prefer the better safe than sorry route and the chances of it affecting some of the many other Sorbus sp. that are planted in my garden.

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what’s eating my plants

I couldn’t believe it when I looked outside and saw, literally every cabbage plant, stripped. What is left over,  probably hasn’t got long left.

This little git is the catterpillar and will eventually become a butterfly – as I’m sure you already know. But how, domestically and non chemically do I deal with the little insect.

The only solution is to pick them off and cover with a horticultural fleece to prevent them returning to their f-l-avoured leaf. I’d better get started on my 100 plants, while I have some left!

Apart from the obvious signs one will know if it is catterpillar [in this case] because they cannot eat the large veins of the plant as its mouth parts are not big enough. That said if the catterpillars are not there be careful, not to confuse the damage with what could be that of birds… you’ll know this because the bites [holes] are not interveinal [though the veins] as their mouth parts can eat through any part of the leaf.