Grow Your Own Magazine

[Just checked my veg plot and found a huge caterpillar on my sprouts,looked under all leaves but saw no eggs.Could have dropped off the apple tree i suppose but as we're going away for a few days am worried that i'll come home to nothing but stalks!Have got pea netting over them as the pidgeons love to feast on the leaves too.Anyone know if i can prevent a caterpillar invasion?We actually prefer the taste of the leaves than the sprouts themselves so don't want to lose them.

The pea netting should work as long as a cabbage white butterfly can't fly through the gaps. Needs to be less than 1" square I would guess.

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Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

[thanks capsid,I think my netting is a bit too big, will go and change it.

What colour was your caterpillar. The cabbage white are yellowy green and black. If it was large then it will be from a type that lays single eggs and should not be to much of a problem. The cabbage white lays dozens of eggs but you should see them before they get to big and do to much damage. If you are only going away for a few days there won't be a problem.

Ian