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Gardening in the UK

Maggots in my plants!

19 years ago

I have just repotted some herbs and found maggots in the pot. I then decided to check the other pots near it and found they too had maggots in the tubs, in and throughout the soil near the roots (tomatoes and lettuce). I cannot find anywhere a definitive answer as to whether they will harm my plants and also i do not want a lot of flies therefore does anyone know of anything that will kill them that can be administered via water preferably so i don't have to repot everything. I also need something that will not harm the plants and make them inedible as I would like to eat my produce. Thank you.

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Comments (3)

flora_uk
19 years ago
Maggots in the soil in pots are often vine weevil larvae. If that is what you have they are bad news and you need to look up some options for getting rid of them depending on whether you are prepared to use chemicals or not. Follow the link to id them.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:396057}}
plantzzman
19 years ago
Your description of maggots isnt particularly helpful so with luck the link flora uk offers should help. They could be vine weevil although I have never seen them on plants such as lettuce which are a short term crop unless you reuse compost which could carry eggs or grubs. If you do have vine weevil use the product Nemasys L in autumn or spring- its a bio control using nematodes.
An alternative pest could be something like Scarid grubs which can attack plants and hatch into small flies.
Just a few thoughts for you.
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No the only threat is that the grubs will munch on the roots. But there are no food contamination issues. As to the watering - over-watering is as much as issue as under-watering. Consistent slightly moist is the goal and that is almost impossible to accomplish in containers unless they are 30+ gallons in size. Bone meal as a source of calcium, if indeed low calcium levels in the soil was the cause (which it isn't), takes many months to decompose to a form usable by the plants which is why it is a waste of time in containers. In ground gardens mix it in in the fall for effect the following year. Dave
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shrubs_n_bulbs
19 years ago
Sciarid larvae are tiny thin wriggling worms, almost colourless but with a distinct black head. Vine weevil larvae are bigger and much fatter, hardly move at all. I don't know if that is true of all life stages but that's the case whenever I've seen them.

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