Curl grubs in pot plant

[EllaCourtney]

Hi there! I have never had a home or garden until about 6 months ago, and have been delighted by a little cumquat tree I got from bunnings the week we moved in. It went from flowers to an abundance of fruit for its 3 tiny branches - but recently started looking a bit sadder and leaves were spotted with yellow. I decided to repot it (finally) and got some citrus potting mix. 

When I took it out of the original pot I discovered 4 fat curl grubs munching away on the roots! I was horrified - but after checking there were no more, continued to put it into the new pot and soil. I later read on google that maybe I should have rinsed the roots to make sure there was none of the 'infected' soil left attached, and discarded the original soil. Is that right?

TLDR: Curl worms discovered when repotting - should I chuck the whole lot out now and get new soil?!

Community manager's note: Check out How to control curl grubs and army worms for expert advice.

Would love your help with this! 

[EricL]

Hello @Vicky2

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. Thank you for joining the discussion.

I believe the consensus was to use Eco-Organic Garden 100ml Eco-Neem Concentrate. The other suggestion was to "bare root" the plant and completely change the soil. The larvae can still infest the soil and be totally undetectable. Our garden guru @Noelle has also recommended a "soil drench" of the root area with Neem oil.

There was also mention of protecting your bagged soil from getting contaminated and that was to store it in your shed with the bag being adequately sealed. Other than physically removing the grubs, these are the options available to you.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please don't hesitate to post them.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Sydgar22]

Hi @Noelle , 

Thanks for your excellent input!

I came across this post and the community while researching the same annoying problem of curly bugs. I noticed them in a few of my pots while repotting and realized why they weren't happy.

Luckily I have recently bought eco oil but can you please advise how much I should be adding to water to do a pot drench? I cant really see an exact measurement for pots, mostly for spraying. 

Thanks again!

[EricL]

Hello @Sydgar22

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about curl grubs.

Sorry to hear you've got grubs in your potted plants. If you're using  Eco-Organic Garden 100ml Eco-Neem Concentrate you'll see the mixing ratio at the back of the bottle. For potted plants, it says 10ml per litre of water. I suggest using a watering can if you're planning on doing a soil drench. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know. 

Eric

[Noelle]

Hi @Sydgar22 

EricL has included the label from  Eco-Organic Garden 100ml Eco-Neem Concentrate in a post to you that gives the rates - I'd use 10ml per litre of water as per these instructions.

[EricL]

Hi @Sydgar22

My apologies for misreading the label. @Noelle's recommendation is spot on, it's 10ml per litre of water. 

Eric

[Sydgar22]

Thanks @EricL and @Noelle 

Doing it tomorrow

[Nat2]

Hi there,

I am having the same problem with curl grubs in my finger lime pot. I was going to use the eco-neem oil and do a soil drench but was concerned as the label said do not use on edibles / or plants that produce food for human consumption. Can you confirm that it is safe to do the soil drench on citrus? There are no fruit or flowers on my finger lime at the moment. 
Thank you. 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Nat2,

Eco-neem Oil is not approved for use on edibles at this time. It is only approved for use on ornamental plants.

I learnt a handy trick of how to remove them from pots. Fill a watering can with water and add a squirt of dishwashing detergent. Water the pot thoroughly with it, so the soil is saturated. Cover the top of the pot with a wet cloth. Overnight the curl grubs should come to the surface, and you can pick them off the following day and dispose of them.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[robchin]

Hi @EllaCourtney - sorry to hear about your Curl grubs. 

Some great info below which should solve your problem. 

I did want to offer a general bit of advice on growing fruit trees. If you are planting any fruit trees it is a good idea, if you can bring yourself to do it, to remove the flowers and/or fruit for the first year or three. You don't have to remove all of them but if you do - the plant will put it's energy into growing more shoots and roots than into the flowers and fruiting. Too late for this plant this season but just something to file away for future reference. 

[Nat2]

Thanks Mitchell.

I will give it a go and jet you know how it goes.