At the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), Supervisor Louise Galloway is planning her next overseas plant collecting expedition to collect rare Vireya Rhododendrons from South-East Asia and looking over her collection she remembers a time five years ago when she watched helplessly whilst her beloved recently rooted cuttings succumbed to Vine Weevil.
Looking at the sick plants a colleague recommended
Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer and Louise has not looked back since.
“I spent so much time propagating the cuttings,” said Louise, “that I was really upset when I lost the lot to vine weevil. We no longer have a problem because we now use Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer twice a year, in the spring and autumn.”
“I find the instructions on the packaging extremely easy to understand, the Becker Underwood pie chart is excellent as it explains the lifecycle of the Vine Weevil and therefore tells you exactly when to target the pest, the website is very user friendly too!”
Particularly loving the Vireyas, Louise knows how devastating it can be to lose them to pests. Vine Weevil have a particular liking for Rhododendrons. The plants that Louise look after are slow growing and have very fine surface roots susceptible to damage therefore it is very important to protect them. Louise is responsible for the world’s largest collection of Vireya Rhododendrons. Starting with only an handful of plants in the 1950’s, through expeditions and collaboration with the scientific and horticultural staff in Edinburgh and overseas, the RBGE now hold approximately 165 out of the known 300 species of Vireyas, in total 2,672 plants to protect!
Louise has a particular interest in Integrated Pest Management and now she is a qualified BASIS pesticide advisor she is able to advise staff throughout the garden on pest control with more and more of a leaning to biological control.
At Edinburgh Botanical Gardens there are 10 public display glasshouses and over 20 behind the scenes research and propagation houses, nearly two acres in total. Louise is responsible for the pest control under glass and she uses nematodes wherever possible, using brand leader Nemaslug as an effective treatment against slugs especially in the Fern House, and Nemasys for sciarid flies which can be a problem in the propagation areas.
“New 5 degree Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer is much more tolerant of the Scottish climate,” continues Louise, “
and I will keep using nematodes because I know they work. We grow many rare and endangered plants here in Edinburgh and I want to make sure they stay as healthy as possible. With so many areas in the world lost to mans’ endeavours, we are the custodians of a priceless plant collection and I feel very privileged to work here".
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