Cabbage White's

[Snadger]

I've had an absolute plague of cabbage whites. I'd been checking the brassicas daily and picking 4 or 5 off each day, missed a day because of rain and suddenly they're infested and even the gooseberry bushes had 60 or 70 on - an hour with the jet setting on the hose sorted out the gooseberries and drowned the caterpillars - hopefully the 10 or so leaves left will mean it's OK. I tried the hose technique on the brassicas, but it wasn't so successful... I'm going to have to try something different next year.

Pressure washer????? Lol

[dasantillo]

Pressure washer????? Lol

LOL. Strangely, no I meant the jet setting on the normal hose - it works very well on green and black fly too I've found. Better than the garlic and soap spray I made up which burnt the broad beans and killed off the cauliflower (don't ask)!

[lainey lou]

Can't believe I'm STILL picking flippin caterpillars off my brassicas! Is it just me? Is some one playing a joke? Sure the caters are laughing at me.....till I squash them! HA!

[moggssue]

My little brassicas are decimated thanks to caterpillars arriving while I was away and not looking - that'll teach me to leave them! I didn't think they'd still be laying in October? No winter veg for me - another lesson learnt!

[veg4681]

My little brassicas are decimated thanks to caterpillars arriving while I was away and not looking - that'll teach me to leave them! I didn't think they'd still be laying in October? No winter veg for me - another lesson learnt!

Can they decimate that quickly even if they were the October laid-egg caterpillars? My biggest cabbage is big grapefruit sized but I dread to think what's inside coz I heard that even if they look alright from the outside, inside might be caterpillars' cosy home. Urrggh......

Two of my cabbages are much smaller than the rest (because they were messed about) but I think the advantage of this is that they get to avoid the white butterfly invasion. Is there any Brassica timing we can choose to avoid the pest season i.e. autumn sown for spring harvest?

I don't know but it sure sounds like fleece is the best crop protection with one solution for all possible problems (from bird, insect, frost).

[momol]

last year,I don't have cabbage white problem until early summer ( it was my first year GYO ) but this year they came during early of spring ... I have my problem solve by netting my brassicas ) the only problem I have are leaf miner and other moth problem because my net aren't enviromesh. I still see cabbage white at my place but no longer that much.

Momol

[moggssue]

Veg4681 - I planted out caulis and cabbages in early Sept. Having been free of caterpillars all summer and had great success with the earlier brasiccas I just gave the second batch a quick look over before going on holiday, thinking that I'm not bothered by them in my garden and anyway it's getting late in the year, but came back after 16 days to find the smaller ones completely eaten away and the larger ones just crawling with caterpillars so I would say yes, it just took two weeks to destroy my chances of a crop - beware!! I don't know when they stop laying though, or when it gets too damp/cold for baby cpillars to survive?

[Minty]

November 22nd and i am still picking the greedy little B###ERS of my spring cabbages.And we have had at least 3 good frosts Dont they know its winter ?????.
Weather forcast for tonight in the midlands is -4 and heavy frost.
So the options are quickly knit some small caterpillar coats for them and supply them with copious amounts of hot soup OR LET THEM FREEEEZE...MMMMMM