Compost beatsies (again)

[M]

I've always had slaters and worms and various crawlies in my little
black Kmart-type compost bin, and they've all worked together to make me
some nice rich dirt.

However, in the last week, when I turn over a few forkfuls of stuff, I
unearth MANY curl-grubs - like 40 in about three minutes! There are
clusters of the fat little buggers!

This can't be good. In the past there have been one or two turn up at
the bottom of the compost, but now they're all through the middle. A
couple is easy to remove when putting the compost on the garden, but
what about the dozens and dozens I'm finding now?

Any useful thoughts on what I should do???

Regards,
Mark.

[Chookie]

In article >,
M > wrote:

> However, in the last week, when I turn over a few forkfuls of stuff, I
> unearth MANY curl-grubs - like 40 in about three minutes! There are
> clusters of the fat little buggers!
>
> This can't be good. In the past there have been one or two turn up at
> the bottom of the compost, but now they're all through the middle. A
> couple is easy to remove when putting the compost on the garden, but
> what about the dozens and dozens I'm finding now?
>
> Any useful thoughts on what I should do???

Get a pet chook?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

[Jumbuck]

Hi Mark,
I live in Brisbane and have an acre block of land, eventually hoping to
build a house on it soon.
In the meantime I made contact with a couple of tree loppers who kindly gave
me loads of unwanted mulch which I dug copioulsy into proposed garden beds
thinking it would enrich the soil.
After about 6 months when I decided to plant, every time I dug a hole, I
found curl grubs in plague proportions, and I mean around 50 or 60 per
square metre. I had initially planted canna lilleys with the mulch which
wern't going too well so I pulled them out and honestly, the roots resembled
a bee-hive of curl-grubs.
So I went to the local produce store and bought some poison to attack them
with, but the trouble was that when I got home and read the
instructions/warnings, I wasn't gamed to use it as I wanted to use the beds
for growing veggies (as well as ormanentals), and the label said not for
home use.
So I kept digging up and turning over the proposed garden bed soil and
squashed every curl grub I came across, hundreds of them.
My research on the internet indicated that curl-grubs are the lave of a
family of beetle called the "Scarab", such as the rhinoricious beetle, and
they love eating decaying vegetable matter, however their delicacy is the
tendertips of roots of certain plants.
Apart from locating them and sending them to the great happy hunting ground
via underfoot while digging, or using what I interpreted as a pretty lethal
poison, I havn't really came across the solution of how to eardicate them.
Apparently the bandicoot considers them a delicacy, as do magpies and
kookaburras, but as I see the evidence of them in action, they are hardly
making an impression in the curl grub numbers.
I would welcome anyone's opinion with crossed fingers as I previously made
an appeal to the group but didn't get a response - so does this fall into
the too-hard basket or where do we turn?
Regards and good luck Mark, hope we learn something,
Jim





"M" > wrote in message
.. .
> I've always had slaters and worms and various crawlies in my little black
> Kmart-type compost bin, and they've all worked together to make me some
> nice rich dirt.
>
> However, in the last week, when I turn over a few forkfuls of stuff, I
> unearth MANY curl-grubs - like 40 in about three minutes! There are
> clusters of the fat little buggers!
>
> This can't be good. In the past there have been one or two turn up at the
> bottom of the compost, but now they're all through the middle. A couple is
> easy to remove when putting the compost on the garden, but what about the
> dozens and dozens I'm finding now?
>
> Any useful thoughts on what I should do???
>
> Regards,
> Mark.
>

[Dave]

Hi
Generally these things are not a problem, as they feed on decaying plant
material. If you have a lot they may cause damage by moving around
among plant roots, and occasionally taking a nibble.

In the compost pile- don't worry. It is better not to dig ram mulch in
as it may drag nitrogen out of the soil as it breaks down. The white
grubs (scarab larvae) help to break down organic material.

Other species (most from different subfamilies) DO attack live plant
roots and are major pests around the World (e.g the "cane grubs" in
Australian sugar, the New Zealand "grass grub" and the Japanese beetle
in the USA).

Vigorous cultivation may disrupt them- give it a try.

The chemical imidacloprid (Confidor) may be effective as it works
against at least some pest species, and has very low toxicity to
vertebrates. Apply it as a soil drench. As far as I know it is not
registered for that use, so no guarantees, and the directions will not
be of much use. Try it on a small area, wait a few days and see what
happens. I would not treat compost piles- the grubs are beneficial (if
anything) in that environment - (Anybody knows otherwise, please correct
me).

Cheers,
Dave

Jumbuck wrote:
> Hi Mark, I live in Brisbane and have an acre block of land,
> eventually hoping to build a house on it soon. In the meantime I made
> contact with a couple of tree loppers who kindly gave me loads of
> unwanted mulch which I dug copioulsy into proposed garden beds
> thinking it would enrich the soil. After about 6 months when I
> decided to plant, every time I dug a hole, I found curl grubs in
> plague proportions, and I mean around 50 or 60 per square metre. I
> had initially planted canna lilleys with the mulch which wern't going
> too well so I pulled them out and honestly, the roots resembled a
> bee-hive of curl-grubs. So I went to the local produce store and
> bought some poison to attack them with, but the trouble was that when
> I got home and read the instructions/warnings, I wasn't gamed to use
> it as I wanted to use the beds for growing veggies (as well as
> ormanentals), and the label said not for home use. So I kept digging
> up and turning over the proposed garden bed soil and squashed every
> curl grub I came across, hundreds of them. My research on the
> internet indicated that curl-grubs are the lave of a family of beetle
> called the "Scarab", such as the rhinoricious beetle, and they love
> eating decaying vegetable matter, however their delicacy is the
> tendertips of roots of certain plants. Apart from locating them and
> sending them to the great happy hunting ground via underfoot while
> digging, or using what I interpreted as a pretty lethal poison, I
> havn't really came across the solution of how to eardicate them.
> Apparently the bandicoot considers them a delicacy, as do magpies and
> kookaburras, but as I see the evidence of them in action, they are
> hardly making an impression in the curl grub numbers. I would welcome
> anyone's opinion with crossed fingers as I previously made an appeal
> to the group but didn't get a response - so does this fall into the
> too-hard basket or where do we turn? Regards and good luck Mark, hope
> we learn something, Jim
>

>
>
> "M" > wrote in message
> .. .
>
>> I've always had slaters and worms and various crawlies in my little
>> black Kmart-type compost bin, and they've all worked together to
>> make me some nice rich dirt.
>>
>> However, in the last week, when I turn over a few forkfuls of
>> stuff, I unearth MANY curl-grubs - like 40 in about three minutes!
>> There are clusters of the fat little buggers!
>>
>> This can't be good. In the past there have been one or two turn up
>> at the bottom of the compost, but now they're all through the
>> middle. A couple is easy to remove when putting the compost on the
>> garden, but what about the dozens and dozens I'm finding now?
>>
>> Any useful thoughts on what I should do???
>>
>> Regards, Mark.
>>
>
>
>

[M]

Well, thanks all.

I'm most inclined towards Chookie's idea, but unfortunately the rotten
bloody local cats (thanks to their inconsiderate and unthinking bloody
owners) (don't get me started!) would make short work of any pet chooks.

I think I'll just leave them, and do a cull when I eventually spread the
compost around.

(Interestingly, I fed a heap to the maggies some time ago - they ate one
or two, but wouldn't take any more. They left me with half a tin of the
wriggling pver-sized maggots. Too many to use a Blundstone on.
Eventually bagged them and binned them. Yuk.)

Mark.

[Jumbuck]

Cheers Mark and very much appreciate your response Dave.

Don't know if I have the live-plant eating varity of curl grub or to just
try and ignore them?

Might take a sample to the Dept Primary Industry, have them positively
identified and go from there...

I will let the group know if I get any the wiser.
Regards,
Jumbuck.


"M" > wrote in message
.. .
> Well, thanks all.
>
> I'm most inclined towards Chookie's idea, but unfortunately the rotten
> bloody local cats (thanks to their inconsiderate and unthinking bloody
> owners) (don't get me started!) would make short work of any pet chooks.
>
> I think I'll just leave them, and do a cull when I eventually spread the
> compost around.
>
> (Interestingly, I fed a heap to the maggies some time ago - they ate one
> or two, but wouldn't take any more. They left me with half a tin of the
> wriggling pver-sized maggots. Too many to use a Blundstone on. Eventually
> bagged them and binned them. Yuk.)
>
> Mark.
>

[jason]

On Sat, 28 May 2005 14:29:16 +1000, M wrote:

> I've always had slaters and worms and various crawlies in my little
> black Kmart-type compost bin, and they've all worked together to make me
> some nice rich dirt.
>
> However, in the last week, when I turn over a few forkfuls of stuff, I
> unearth MANY curl-grubs - like 40 in about three minutes! There are
> clusters of the fat little buggers!
>
> This can't be good. In the past there have been one or two turn up at
> the bottom of the compost, but now they're all through the middle. A
> couple is easy to remove when putting the compost on the garden, but
> what about the dozens and dozens I'm finding now?
>
> Any useful thoughts on what I should do???
>
> Regards,
> Mark.

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