Purple sprouting broccoli limp and got manky things under leaves

[Croila]

Hi,

I'd be ever so grateful if someone could tell me what's gone wrong with one of my early purple sprouting broccoli, and what - if anything - I can do about it, please!

I've never grown a single thing before I planted various bits of veg in May this year, so please forgive my ignorance

Back in May or June I bought some PSB plugs from the garden centre and planted them in three different places in the garden I just got in January when I moved house. (Yay! Garden!!) Some went into a bit of ground half under a budleia (sp?) tree, one went in my square foot box, and five or six went into a bit of ground that looked as though nothing other than weeds had ever grown there.

Incidentally, the PSB in the square foot box has shot up nicely, the two under a tree are wee and spindly, and the five or six in the dug over patch looked ... well ... a bit nibbled, but they seemed to be growing okay.

Then tonight I saw the biggest, strongest one has wilted and drooped badly, and looks very poorly. The leaves seemed awfully soft and floppy, and when I had a look underneath, I saw these minging wee things stuck to the underside of the leaves.

I've noticed quite a lot of cabbage white butterflies in my garden recently, particularly around the tattie patch which is right next to the broccoli and spring cabbage patch. I'm wondering, could it be the larvae or something?

And is there any way I can rescue this plant? I think it might be spreading to the plants next to it.

I really don't want to use chemicals in my garden if possible, but I'm a bit squeamish and nearly threw up when I saw these disgusting little horrors on my poor broccoli, so I'd almost be tempted to blast them with something if it meant I didn't have to touch them *shudder*

Any advice would really be appreciated!

Many thanks,
Croila
PS: Got a picture of the dratted stuff here

[rustylady]

What sort of minging beasties Croila? Colour, shape and size? Are they under all the leaves, or just a few?

[vicky]

It's got a few small holes in the leaves but nothing I'd worry about there.
I wonder if the problem is with the roots if the plant is wilting all over. I had some cabbages die from the roots being destroyed by cutworm (a pest of newly cultivated grassland) and they wilted in a similar way.
I'd advise to give it a water (just in case the wilting is from lack of water) then wait and see. If it dies dig it up and have a look at the roots and take a photo if possible. If the roots look damaged dig down a couple of inches where it was and see if there are any pests in the soil.
Good luck!

[Jeanied]

Those beasties look like clusters of cabbage white eggs to me, Croila. They hatch out into little caterpillars which feed on the leaf and ultimately can strip the plant.

However this will not be causing a previously healthy plant to suddenly wilt. That has to be something else - not sure what.

[Two_Sheds]

Some went into a bit of ground half under a budleia (sp?) tree

Not ideal, the big shrub will take all the water & nutrients.

the biggest, strongest one has wilted and drooped badly, and looks very poorly. The leaves seemed awfully soft and floppy, and when I had a look underneath, I saw these minging wee things stuck to the underside of the leaves.

1) whitefly? little tiny white moths, with fluffy white stuff on the underneath of leaves

2) cabbage white caterpillars will do a lot of damage. You must net your brassicas, or do a daily pick-off

3) your photo link won't work for me ...

[Jeanied]

That's odd, T_S - the link worked for me - and it looks like Croila has netted already.

Croila - do you think the butterflies got in before you netted? Or in between the mesh?

If the light bits are not patches of little eggs, then they could be whitefly. If you are squeamish, get yourself some thin plastic gloves and give them all a squish with your fingers along with a squirt of water and washing up liquid in a spray bottle.

[Two_Sheds]

You'll soon get quite vindictive at squishing once you see all your lovely veg being eaten by beasties

[chris]

As above.. one of my PSBs is limp, when I inspectedit, it was COVERED with cabage white caterpillars...

[Croila]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to do this. I can't believe how helpful people are on this forum, honestly, it makes things so much easier for complete novices like me. Sometimes I do find this grow your own lark really daunting as it's just not straightforward at all, so coming here and having lovely people help and advise is absolutely invaluable - thank you :-)

Well, I think the minging beasties are whitefly - I google imaged "whitefly" and this picture matched what's on my poor broccoli.

The netting thing, ah, well, ahem, that was a totally half-ar$ed attempt at keeping the pigeons away. It's a pretty wee patch of soil: only about four foot by five at the most, and I've got a couple of pointed cabbages, a couple of broccoli, a couple of kohl rabi in there, interspersed with leeks. I was well chuffed with myself that I'd managed to keep the slugs mostly away (by using beer traps and organic slug pellets) and the pigeons. I never thought of insects attacking the plants! So it sounds like I need to completely enclose the brassica patch with netting then ... I wonder if anyone could suggest a particular type, and where I could get it? I've got some spring cabbage seedlings growing at the moment (some of which have overcooked and died) so I really want to get all my defences shored up properly before planting them out!

As for the watering, hmmm, I'll water it today anyway but I kind of doubt that's the problem. Here in Edinburgh we've had an awful lot of rain over the last month or so - it's bucketting right now - plus it's a clay soil which I'd expect would retain moisture, so I'm guessing it's not that?

And yep, I know now that planting stuff under the buddleia tree wasn't the best idea because of lack of nutrient, but at the time I just thought oh well, this wee spot does get a bit of sun despite it being under a tree, so just go for it. I never thought of nutrient loss. And as expected, the kohl rabi, broccoli, cabbage and chives growing under there are not doing very well at all. Maybe I should bung on loads of organic fertiliser? That could bring them on? Or maybe it's just too late in the season now

CRIKEY there's so much to learn!!!!!

[gojiberry]

Whitefly are not likely to make your broccoli wilt. Wilting brassicas are usually down to cabbage root fly. Dig them up remove all maggots and replant and, they will be late but, should be alright.

Ian

[Two_Sheds]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to do this.

You're welcome, and with that attitude you'll always get help People who get ar$ey when given advice, aren't given advice for long.

btw, you've started off with a very challenging crop: brassicas are, imo, one of the very hardest to grow. They attract loads of pests, it's often a losing battle against them.

As I speak, the strong wind has blown the netting off mine for possibly the 6th time this year? I give up: I'll eat pumpkin and beans all winter again

[Croila]

Thank you ... I actually feel better now I know other folks find brassicas tricky too. I started off with this really naive idea, "oh aye, just plant, grow, eat, no problem". Was I wrong or what!!

Thing is, I actually like eating cabbage and broccoli so it seemed logical to try and grow them. I will absolutely not give up though, and hopefully following the advice of you guys I'll manage at some point - thank you for your help, I'm really grateful!