Leather jackets.

[gmm243]

Afternoon,

Have been digging out the green house for the winter now that everything is finished for the season but the ground is full of leather jackets.

I still have a grape vine growing a bed in the green house but all the beds are empty of other plants. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of them? I am not adverse to using chemicals if it didn't harm the vine but I have turned over the soil twice and am still finding them.Don't want to be planting in the spring if they are still there.Had at least 25 young beech trees in pots last year that all failed.In every pot there was at least 1 and as many as 4 leather jackets and the roots were non existent.

[discobob]

https://www.greengardener.co.uk/product/leatherjacket-killer-100-sqm-autumn/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqoibBhDUARIsAH2OpWgHn8KnjdN-zq-odskguzKA1M7fiEOSjlUAZuCX5dQ0i_PiVYImehwaAim3EALw_wcB

[old'un]

Try covering the soil overnight with black plastic sheeting, this encourages the grubs to come to the surface, might have to-do it over a few nights.

Give the ground a good soaking before you cover it.

Next year cover the ground with plastic sheeting but do it before September as this is when the Crane Fly lay their eggs.

Unfortunately all the stuff you could buy to kill them from places like B&Q have been taken off the shelves.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by old'un

[Cosmicblue]

Every day is a school day - I never knew any of this, thanks for sharing.

[peck]

Are they Leatherjackets or Vine Weevils.?

 

 

[gmm243]

They are leather jackets for sure.Little ******* are in every second or third fork full I turn over.At the beginning they were in nearly every fork full.

 

Thanks for all the replies,I was not aware of the nematode treatment and looking at the reviews it is very effective. 

Will be trying that treatment next week.

[30-6]

My brother bought nematodes, different types so get the right one.

Or, get yourself a flock of starlings.

[smokingdragon]

chickens are keen on leather jackets but make sure the beds are empty as they do more damage than the  insects!

[old'un]

18 hours ago, gmm243 said:

They are leather jackets for sure.Little ******* are in every second or third fork full I turn over.At the beginning they were in nearly every fork full.

 

Thanks for all the replies,I was not aware of the nematode treatment and looking at the reviews it is very effective. 

Will be trying that treatment next week.

Did you try covering the ground with plastic sheeting?

[gmm243]

3 hours ago, old'un said:

Did you try covering the ground with plastic sheeting?

No, I really only noticed them 2 days ago. Haven't had a chance to get at them yet.

[Mice!]

On 02/11/2022 at 19:33, gmm243 said:

Thanks for all the replies,I was not aware of the nematode treatment and looking at the reviews it is very effective. 

Will be trying that treatment next week.

Double check what the temperature needs to be, but green gardener are good so they should let you know if it's too cold for them to be effective. 

[gmm243]

2 hours ago, Mice! said:

Double check what the temperature needs to be, but green gardener are good so they should let you know if it's too cold for them to be effective. 

We had 3°c last night so there has been a sudden drop in temp but I will ring them on Monday.My dad has the same problem so he wants to use any I have left over.

I went over the soil again today to try and remove the last of the weeds that had grown up and got another 20 or so leather jackets .That's pretty much the third time over and it's only a small green house. 

[Mice!]

First frost here in Lancashire this morning!

The nematodes we got years ago were for slugs👍

[Houseplant]

I was briefly very confused. Leatherjackets in this part of the world are a completely different kettle of fish 😀

[Bigbob]

A pal puts his chickens into his greenhouse after the growing season 

[ditchman]

mate had leatherjackets once.....he ended up removing all the turf down to 4" deep and resoiling and seeding........

[peck]

Vine weevil grub

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by peck

[ditchman]

put Matt Handcock on yer grass......he'll chew them out boi

[old'un]

1 hour ago, peck said:

Vine weevil grub

 

nightmare on my strawberry's in containers, have to change the soil every year, strangely though they don't seem to bother ones that have self-set in the boarders

[Keith RW]

Used Doff weevil killer 20 years ago with great success after a serious invasion and before starlings made a comeback, had an instance where they were exiting one lawn and spread across the driveway literally in their hundreds if not thousands like something from a horror movie, product no longer available as contained Lindane chemical, still have a batch of 12 which have been in garage since 2002 just prior to being withdrawn from sale and not had to use it since.

 

[old'un]

21 minutes ago, Keith RW said:

Used Doff weevil killer 20 years ago with great success after a serious invasion and before starlings made a comeback, had an instance where they were exiting one lawn and spread across the driveway literally in their hundreds if not thousands like something from a horror movie, product no longer available as contained Lindane chemical, still have a batch of 12 which have been in garage since 2002 just prior to being withdrawn from sale and not had to use it since.

 

unusable to get vine weevil grubs in lawns, sure they are not chafer grub which look very similar.

 

[Keith RW]

Used Doff weevil killer 20 years ago with great success after a serious invasion and before starlings made a comeback, had an instance where they were exiting one lawn and spread across the driveway literally in their hundreds if not thousands like something from a horror movie, product no longer available as contained Lindane chemical, still have a batch of 12 which have been in garage since 2002 just prior to being withdrawn from sale and not had to use it since.

 

 

used the Doff on Leather jackets as per OP original posting

[old'un]

8 minutes ago, Keith RW said:

Used Doff weevil killer 20 years ago with great success after a serious invasion and before starlings made a comeback, had an instance where they were exiting one lawn and spread across the driveway literally in their hundreds if not thousands like something from a horror movie, product no longer available as contained Lindane chemical, still have a batch of 12 which have been in garage since 2002 just prior to being withdrawn from sale and not had to use it since.

 

 

used the Doff on Leather jackets as per OP original posting

but leather jackets are not weevils? Does this stuff kill leather jackets as-well? and is it safe on fruit?

[peck]

5 hours ago, old'un said:

unusable to get vine weevil grubs in lawns, sure they are not chafer grub which look very similar.

 

They are not in his lawn they are in his greenhouse which contains a Vine.

[gmm243]

Yes,I have a vine in the green house but everything else - tomatoes,sweetcorn,Cucumbers,gherkins and (by accident)  pumpkin. All these have now finished for the year and I have dug them all out bar the vine.I have seen no evidence of vine weevils but the leather jackets are there in force.

If I didn't have the vine I would be happy to use chemicals but am afraid of using anything that might harm the vine. Looks like I will be ordering nematodes this week.