The message
from "Sarah" contains these words:

But i am a bit worried i have an infestation. It is a new allotment and have
no idea how bad these grubs might be.

Chafers and Vine Weevil grubs are smaller than cutworms, growing about
3/4" long. They are creamy in colour with a dark head and are generally
found in a 'C' shape in the ground. Cutworms are longer, creamy brown
with brown shiny heads. Cutworms are about 1½" long. Leather Jackets
are another form of insect larvae that you will come across in grassy
ground they can also do some damage and need to be removed. They are
greyish, about 1½" long and live among the grass roots just below the
soil level almost at the surface.

The old fashioned method of control was Bromophos powder but the powers
that be decided that it worked too well and so banned its sale in the UK
g These grubs tend to be a pest in newly worked grassy ground. I
have two acres and each time I open up a new patch I have to remove the
offending beasties by hand but the hens enjoy a feast of wrigglies. I
feed them to the hens whole and alive, their feeding mechanism responds
better to a wriggling thing than a squashed one. You will tend to find
cutworms in groups of half a dozen or so nestling in the plant roots
upon which they feed, but they fall out of the soil as you turn it so
they should be easily found. Just pick them out and destroy them.

Keep a look out for Wireworms, also found in newly turned ground. They
are about 1/2" to 3/4" long, yellow and as the name suggests, wiry.
Wireworms do much damage to roots, especially spuds.

I find that gardening books help with many questions and there are loads
to choose from at all prices. My particular favourite is one I bought
for 10p some years ago in a junk shop. It was published in 1920 and has
a good section on allotment gardening. However, no book can wholly
replace good advice from people with first hand experience such as you
will find in this news group.

Hope this helps,

Compo - poster welcomes constructive criticism.