vine weevils on Hens And Chicks
Quick answer
If your Hens And Chicks has vine weevils, the most likely cause is: Vine weevils are explicitly listed as a pest of Sempervivum arachnoideum (cobweb houseleek, a hens and chicks) and other succulents: blackish, long-snouted adults chew notches in the succulent leaves while their soil-dwelling grubs chew the roots and burrow into the stems of the rosettes, sometimes killing the plant.
Start here:
- 1. Drench the potting medium with pathogenic nematodes or an insect-killing entomopathogenic fungus to kill the grub stage hiding around the roots of Sempervivum.
- 2. Go out at night with a flashlight and hand-pick the adult vine weevils off the rosettes, since the black, long-snouted beetles are most active after dark.
Why Hens And Chicks gets vine weevils
Hens And Chicks
Vine weevils are explicitly listed as a pest of Sempervivum arachnoideum (cobweb houseleek, a hens and chicks) and other succulents: blackish, long-snouted adults chew notches in the succulent leaves while their soil-dwelling grubs chew the roots and burrow into the stems of the rosettes, sometimes killing the plant.
How to reverse vine weevils on Hens And Chicks
- 1
Drench the potting medium with pathogenic nematodes or an insect-killing entomopathogenic fungus to kill the grub stage hiding around the roots of Sempervivum.
- 2
Go out at night with a flashlight and hand-pick the adult vine weevils off the rosettes, since the black, long-snouted beetles are most active after dark.
Keep vine weevils off this Hens And Chicks
Use fresh sterile soil whenever you repot Sempervivum, avoid stacking pots against walls where adult weevils hide during the day, and isolate new purchases so you can catch a grub infestation before it spreads to the rest of the collection.