Help - Wilting pansies

[Airehead]

I grew some pansies this year from seed and planted out in two different positions a few weeks ago. Individual plants are suddenly wilting and dying and when I lift them I find the roots have gone. I can see no vermin on them but that does not mean there is none.

I remember a few years ago I had the same problem with some pansy plants that I bought.

Any ideas?

[cloud 9]

Sounds as it could be Vine Weevil, have a sratch around and you may well find the white grubs which look like maggots. I had the same with impatiens, I first thought they needing watering, but on close inspection all the root had been eaten. I had around a hundred grubs from one small patch which I put on the bird feeder .

[Chalk Downlanders]

Yes it sounds like vine weevil. I have had them in the past, they were in the potting compost from a garden centre. I cured the problem by microwaving the compost before using it. You will do so at your own risk as although it worked for me I cannot recommend you use that method as it is probably dangerous.

Kev

[Airehead]

Well, I agree it sounds like vine weevil and I had these a couple of years ago in some pot plants in the greenhouse. But I have just checked my pansies by digging out 2 which were on the point of collapse and 1 which was not, and I can find no trace of any creeping thing. It is happening to pansies in 2 entirely different locations, although in theory they could have contracted this disease before they were planted out. But no other kinds of plant are suffering.

[pansylover]

Your problem sounds exactly like the one I've had plaguing my pansies for the last 3 years. I've just recently discovered that it is Garden Symphylans. I live in Alberta, Canada but they are all over the world except Antartica. I was told that if I could scrape away the top 6 inches of soil where they live and reproduce I could probably get rid of them, but since my flower bed is full of perenials as well that's not an option, so I bought the recommended pesticide called Sevin. I applied it a few days ago and some of my plants that were dying are starting to perk up Anyway, goggle Garden Symphylans. There is lots of info on them which I really needed because until now, I hadn't even heard of them before. Hope this helps!!

[Paul mabbott]

Have you tried watering them?

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Airehead

Well, I agree it sounds like vine weevil and I had these a couple of years ago in some pot plants in the greenhouse. But I have just checked my pansies by digging out 2 which were on the point of collapse and 1 which was not, and I can find no trace of any creeping thing. It is happening to pansies in 2 entirely different locations, although in theory they could have contracted this disease before they were planted out. But no other kinds of plant are suffering.

The fact that the roots have gone clearly suggests that something has eaten them - and I can't think of a more likely candidate than Vine Weevil. The difficulty with smaller plants is that the problem only shows up after the grubs have moved on. And if you've had Vine Weevil before, it's very unlikely you'll be able to get rid of the damn things while you grow any plant that the grubs will feed on.

Most of the grubs will be developing into adults now so your remaining pansies (that ones that haven't so far been damaged) may survive the rest of the summer, but in the long run you are probably going to have to find ways of living with endemic Vine Weevil.

CM