The most serious pest to container gardeners is the grub of the vine weevil. The adult, a black, flightless insect is not harmful to plants, but its dirty white larvae, which hatch in compost, feed off the roots of plants. By the time a plant begins to wilt, it will be too late to save it.
Avoiding boggy conditions will help, or you could try applying a long-lasting, systemic insecticide, imidacloprid (or Provado) to plant roots as a drench. Even if you haven’t had vine weevils, this is a good preventive measure, and also controls a wide range of other pot plant pests.
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Vine weevil larvae are a serious threat to container plants.
