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Other than covering my broccoli, cabbage, swede what else can i do to stop cabbage white laying on my veg. Ive heard something about rhubarb being used but am not sure how, any ideas?

Nothing.

You need to cover them. Voile netting or Debris netting is the business. Crack on

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

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Shotgun? ;-)

Bird netting works well, I can't see any other way to stop them.

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Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
- Mark Twain

everyday, even after netting i need to go and pick the pillars off!!!! today i am now trying to use salt water as well as picking & netting, they are getting on my nerves now lol!

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Does anyone know if a Stinging Nettle solution would work?

The butterflies are attracted to a pheromone or a smell in the brassicas. You'd have to somehow block that smell, to put the butterflies off ... they can smell them a mile off.

I've got ruddy PillarCats underneath my netting ... every plant had a dozen of them, munching away. I found the best way to pick them off was to shake the leaves quite vigorously, and the caterpillars drop to the soil - free treats for the birdies

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

http://2-sheds.blogspot.com/

My gfd uses a badminton racket!

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aka Neil

The only sure fire way is enviromesh. Bird netting holes are too big.

The ones in my front garden, I pick them off and fling them into the road. Elsewhere, they are picked off into a pot of water and poured into the compost bin once they stop wriggling.

Would something really smelly (grow marigolds, spray with garlic/chilli) mask the brassica scent do you reckon? I'm picking caterpillars off daily and it's no easy task!

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I was doing really well early part of the season, interplanting brassicas with french marigolds. Now the cabbage whites are winning - help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I harvested some broccoli today, picked off all the caterpillars I could see, washed the heads, cut them into florets, picked off a few more caterpillars, washed them again, cooked them, rinsed them - and one still managed to make it onto my plate! Argh. It wasn't moving much by then though...

(PS In fairness there could have been more than one in the plate, it's just that there was only one that I managed to identify as Not Broccoli before I ate it! )

(PPS For the pedantic among us, actually all of it was Not Broccoli - it was all in fact calabrese. Ho hum.)

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

I have a water butt set aside from the others. I put my rhubarb leaves into it when I cut a few sticks. Put the lid back on the butt and leave for a couple of days. STAND WELL BACK WHEN YOU REMOVE THE LID...the smell is rancid!!!. Give the goo a good stir and put some in an old watering can and use on brassicas. It isn't 100% effective but it sure does cut down on butterflies appreciably. Don't spill any on your clothes or HID will not be best pleased!!!
It may be worthwhile keeping a few clothes pegs near the butt to put on your nose whilst using the goo!!!

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If someone approaching you does not have a smile on their face...give them one of yours.

This is one that I hadn't heard before: put some eggshells on sticks among your brassicas. Apparently the Cabbage White thinks it is a competing butterfly, and stays away.
Top Veg Blog Archive Cabbage White Butterflies

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

http://2-sheds.blogspot.com/

Also try planting nasturtiums near your brassicas as a sacrificial plant. The cabbage white will lay eggs on that, and so you can compost the whole lot, caterpillars and all.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

http://2-sheds.blogspot.com/

this one is gross: "pick off all the caterpillars you can, and put 'em in a blender with some water, and spray 'em back onto the cabbages. You will not get any more eggs laid there. Of course..remember to wash your cabbages well before eating"

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

http://2-sheds.blogspot.com/

Yuk that really is gross!!! I've been spraying mine with garlic solution. There's a few caterpillars, but not as many as some of you seem to be getting. When I do find a leaf with eggs on, I break it off and chuck it to the chooks.

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i have been shaking, picking and squishing caterpillars everyday now, hoping that everything will come under control!

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

If the butterflies are attracted to the smell what do people think of hanging mothballs near the planted veg.
My OH is going to build me an enclosure at the weekend ready for me planting out some (boo hoo shop bought stuff as mine got slugged!!) and I just wondered whether the smell of the mothballs would put off the butterflies as it does the cats and squirrels. Going to hang them in those little mesh bags that the fatballs come in.

Think I'll give it a go anyway and see what happens and if it works I'll let you know.

Mothballs contain paradichlorobenzene (PDB), a substance also found in air fresheners and insect repellents ... can cause liver and kidney failure, and severe anaemia.
I know, even plain water can kill you, but I still wouldn't want to hang a poison among my veg.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

http://2-sheds.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the advice Two Sheds,will have a rethink. Sanjo

The other way to use rhubarb leaves is to boil them in water and once the liquid has cooled use it as a spray. That way you don't get the terrible pong that you do when you compost them in water.

Ian

Thanks for the tip about covering them - I hadn't thought of netting ( I know - I don't feel clever admitting that).
I've tried several times the garlic/washup liquid/water mix and still the leaves are all eaten away - I guess the rain washes the mixture off before it dries in and that makes it totally ineffective.
I'll try covering them in a last-ditch attempt to get some to grow on - cheers, Demeter, I hope you enjoyed yours, never mind what stowaways managed to get in along with them.

totally devastated my red and green cabbage plants.

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joanne geldard