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[weevilworrior]

I feel a little ill and this time it's not lager related. I have a palm and I have now learned the Evils of the Evil Red Palm Weevil. Today is my birthday and here I am talking infestation and extermination, not quite how I planned it, although after I opened my first present “ a Pair of Slippers “ I kind of new today was going to be one of those days. First and foremost great site I have already spent too long reading lots of posts all very interesting but not about the wicked weevil. What I really need to know is How do I kill then all is there an all in one death squad rated quality product, I mean I want Action. Best case, long line of white flag carrying weevils marching back to Egypt carrying guide books to The Pyramids. Or does anyone know of a local(Velez Malaga) hired Gun who does that  inject with insecticide trick using a party Balloon, you've got to love Spain. Weevil talk Later(spoken in a German Accent) many thanks.

[Campo Girl]

Hola Weevil Warrior

Happy Birthday for the other day!

We have a blog post about the Red Palm Weevil plus we have a member here who has just had first hand experience with the dreader weevil so she will be able to give good advice also

Red Weevil Spain

Sorry to hear you have been infected, these weevils are not very nice and are killing many trees

[gayleywaley]

Hi All,

We can't help but notice all of the poor devastated palm trees all over Malaga province affected by the wretched Red Palm Weevil and my partner and I are in a bit of a quandry about this.

Our next door neighbour's palm was completely destroyed by the Weevils, we made them cut the the tree down and so far our trees seem to be ok and not affected in the slightest.

One of the reasons for this, we have heard could be our complete lack of pruning on our palm trees. We have not pruned them for well over a year now and driving around it does seem to be trees that have been pruned and groomed regularly that seem to be more susceptible.

We have 2 beautiful palms and we really want to try to protect them from these nasties and so far we have several neighbours in our valley who have had to chop their trees down as they were too infected to be salvaged.

Could this just be luck of the draw or is there some truth in this theory ?

[CampoGirl Gina]

Hi Gayley,

The beetle is more likely to attack damaged, bruised or freshly trimmed tree's, although un-trimmed tree's are still surceptable but less attractive to the beetle as it doesnt offer an easy way in. There is a product you can buy which comes in a small bottle, which you mix with water, which you pour into the crown of the tree to provent them from attacking, but this is provention not a cure. This liquid has to be applied once a month, but also re-applied after heavy rain. There is a product that is said to be able to kill the beetle after the tree's have been attacked, which is a solution to be injected into the trunk of the tree, but this is still not proven to be 100% affective.

First signs of infection to your tree is the frones turning yellow, so keep an eye on them, as once the crown start collasping it will be too late, as we found out with two of ours.

Good luck with them mate

Gina

[Campo Girl]

Your theory is bang on Gayle, the ones which are pruned and tended to on a regular basis are the trees which tend to be attacked, we are the same, we have not (on purpose) pruned our plam tree, we only have 1 big one and I would hate to lose it!

The small ones round the pool - well to be honest I wish they would come and eat them! LOL

[gayleywaley]

Thank you ladies, I think we are going to try our luck with leaving them as they are. They are big old trees and if they have managed this long with very little TLC from both us and the previous owners, fingers crossed they will make it!

[Campo Girl]

I hope so Gayle, it is such a shame to see all the devastation these little creatures have caused - we don´t need them, just like we don´t need mosquitoes!

[terry]

Hi Gayley,

The beetle is more likely to attack damaged, bruised or freshly trimmed tree's, although un-trimmed tree's are still surceptable but less attractive to the beetle as it doesnt offer an easy way in. There is a product you can buy which comes in a small bottle, which you mix with water, which you pour into the crown of the tree to provent them from attacking, but this is provention not a cure. This liquid has to be applied once a month, but also re-applied after heavy rain. There is a product that is said to be able to kill the beetle after the tree's have been attacked, which is a solution to be injected into the trunk of the tree, but this is still not proven to be 100% affective.

The liquid that you need for preventing red palm beetle is called NUPRID (250 ml's) and it is highly concentrated. It needs to be diluted at a rate of 1ml to 100 liters of water. Each tree needs approx 40 liters sprayed into the crown and all over the fronds and especially the trunk every 40 days, March to November. When ever you prune the palm you must coat the cut portions with this liquid to prevent infestation. The death rate of palms in this area (Altea region, Alicante) is terrible this year but the good news is that the birds have just discovered that they are nice to eat so nature is trying to swing the pendulum.