Maggots in compost

lil_devil

First of all apologys if this has been asked previously

Ive got some half bags of garden centre bought compost from last year. I planted some stuff a couple of days ago but today as ive gone to plar more ive dug into the compost and found some white maggots. Ive never have these in my compost before and they in all the bags. Ive tried looking online and found conflicting advice as to whether my garden is safe or not, some say the maggots are harmless some say the opposite. The maggots are small, less than 1cm, they dont have legs or a separate head, they dont look like grubs. They look exactly like fishing maggots but ive read that flies dont lay eggs in this type of soil/compost. Any advice? thanks

wellused

Well flies generally lay eggs on anything that's rotting but I would imagine that compost has already rotted so I doubt that flies would lay eggs in it, I recently re potted some plants and found grubs living in the compost they were white with orange heads, I don't know what they were but they were not maggots.

Valli

Spread out your compost (on a plastic sheet if you have one) and the little dicky birds will see to your visitors for you. Rake it over a couple of times.

Linda32

Not sure about the OP's invaders but the second poster described vine weevil without a doubt.

Google vine weevil and see if they look like that.

They are not maggots as in anything dirty and will not harm you, but they will harm your plants, I'm afraid. :eek:

You can get a wash which you dilute and water everything with three times a year. Touch wood I've got rid of mine. You need to look out for the beetles at dusk and squish these. I've seen one so far a year or so ago.

Have a google and see what you find. I know you said that you googled but it helps if you know what your looking for in the first place.

Leif

Could they be fungus gnats? The larvae (maggots) are under 1cm long, and a few mm wide. They live off organic matter and can damage roots. They emerge as small flies, and go on to eat and mate, to continue the cycle. You do not want them in your soil. In fact I suspect any kind of larva is best avoided, as they generally eat plant roots, and emerge into an insect that might eat the foliage. Compost should be free of insects, and weed seeds, and if it isn't then I think I'd dispose of it and not risk using it. I had an infestation of fungus gnats one year, very nasty things.

The Horizon compost I used produced some nice ink cap mushrooms which are harmless, and possibly even beneficial. One year I had some beautiful bright yellow mushrooms, Leucocoprinus birnbaumii:

They are a tropical species, and you sometimes see them in greenhouses.

[Deleted User]

wellused wrote: »

I recently re potted some plants and found grubs living in the compost they were white with orange heads, I don't know what they were but they were not maggots.

omg that is vine weevil and they are terrible. They will spread though your pots and raised beds and wreck your plants. I used vine weavil nematodes twice last year just in case, as I have 40 large pots and endless troughs. They came to me once from a neighbour, who lost a very large and beautiful azalea. I moved since but am now paranoid about vine weavil
http://www.gardenforumhorticulture.co.uk/pestwatch/vine-weevil.htm

Yolina

Been at war with vine weevils for the nearly 13 years that I've been in my flat (I've got loads of plants on my terrace, so obviously all in pots and troughs) They are a complete pain to say the least. Given that one adult can lay around 1000 eggs, they are incredibly difficult to get rid of, particulalry when most of the neighbours do nothing about them so they just walk about from one terrace to the next. I use the nematodes too to get rid of the grubs and I trap any wandering adults by rolling up some corrugated cardboard and leaving it at the base of the plants - they think it's a nice place to rest during the day and I just chuck them in a bucket of water. I also have crushed eggshells and gravel on top of the compost as they're supposed to not like laying eggs if there's sharp stuff around.

lil_devil

I dont think mine are the vine weevil ones as they dont look like the pictures ive seen when i googled. Today i dug over the compost and i found some brown casings from where the maggots have turned and some kind of fly looking things. I took some pics of them but it wont let me upload them onto here

Lotus-eater

OP, You've just got std blow fly maggots by the sound of it. Something will have died and ended up in the compost with fly eggs in it.
Nothing to worry about at all.

wellused

Yes you are right they are vine weevil I fed them to my fishpond and discarded the compost do you think that I should turn the rest of my pots out just in case?

Yolina

wellused wrote: »

Yes you are right they are vine weevil I fed them to my fishpond and discarded the compost do you think that I should turn the rest of my pots out just in case?

Yep, if you can you might as well check the other pots, they just get everywhere.

OP: glad that your unknowns tuned out to be non-nasty type