Topic: Theres nothing left :(

[springbok]

My first year of growing veg. 

I have a problem on my brassicas.  A small green caterpillar has eaten the lot.   
Brussels, Caulis, Broccoli and cabbages stripped bare, no foliage left.

Is it too late to sow more for winter?  And what is this small green caterpillar thats having a whale of a time on my veg?

Thanks

[saddad]

Those pretty white (cabbage white) butterflies that have been hanging around for weeks!  :-[

[raisedbedted]

I wouldnt give up hope completely.  From time to time when I have forgotten to fleece my brassicas this has happened and the plants have been eaten right back to the stems.  Almost always they have mad a full recovery.

Failing that you should be able to buy plants in at this time just make sure they are compost grown and not bare root field grown.
rbt

[tim]

"About cabbage white butterflies
The caterpillars of a few species of butterflies can cause extensive damage to cabbages and other brassicas, eating holes in leaves and tunnelling into the hearts. Plants begin to rot and become spoiled with excrement.
Two species are particularly important pests: the large white butterfly, Pieris brassicae, and the Small White butterfly Pieris rapae.
Both species are commonly seen flying within our gardens and are affectionately called summer snowflakes.
While the small white is a native species, the large white has usually migrated from southern Europe becasue they don't often survive a north European winter.
Large white butterflies have often been seen crossing the English channel in swarms of many hundred individuals.
Cabbage white butterflies overwinter as pupae. Those that survive the cold months will hatch into butterflies during the spring.
The butterflies mate then each female lays a few hundred eggs, on the leaves of cabbages, other cruciferous plants and nasturtiums.
The large white's eggs are often laid in batches of ten to 20,which hatch into yellow and black slightly hairy caterpillars in about two weeks.
Large white caterpillars feed for a month or more and can reach 50mm in length before they turn into pupae.
The small white's eggs are laid singly and hatch into bright velvety-green caterpillars. Unlike the large white, these caterpillars often burrow into the hearts of cabbages to feed.
Cabbage white caterpillars leave their food plants when ready to pupate and usually attach themselves to a vertical surface such as a fence or wall with a silk girdle before their final skin shed.
During the summer months, the pupae soon hatch into the next generation of butterflies and the cycle continues.
The severity of cabbage white problems can vary considerably from year to year due to weather, immigration and diseases."


It's the wee green ones that are often missed - they blend in with the leaf colour.

[Emagggie]

zillions of the green jobbies on my brassicas too  >:(. I have sprayed in hope.

[debster]

ive just arrived back from hols and my garden is over run with them what can i use to spray that is still safe to eat it afterwards please?

[OllieC]

ive just arrived back from hols and my garden is over run with them what can i use to spray that is still safe to eat it afterwards please?

Fingers!

[debster]

trust me Ollie that would be my normal solution but after 2 weeks away there are far too many for that  :o

[OllieC]

I have to turn away for the crunch!

[thifasmom]

I find the green ones will generally fall off if I give the plant a good wack!!, unless its a small plant still then its a soft wack! Then I get the hose turn those leaves over and spray >:(, whatever is left gets squished. Then I gather them up and plonk in a tray of some sort and put up high or in a clearing and watch the birds gobble them up ;D very satisfying.

[tim]

Yes - most do fall off, but do they climb back up again??

[thifasmom]

i don't wait for them to climb back up i feed the to the birds ;D

[tim]

Which begs the question - why don't the birds take them from the plants? Isn't this why we encourage them in the garden?

[thifasmom]

Which begs the question - why don't the birds take them from the plants? Isn't this why we encourage them in the garden?

I ask myself  this question many times :-\

[Emagggie]

The box of stuff is in my shed Debster, will look tomorrow and report back. It isn't too toxic if I remember rightly.

[delboy]

Interestingly there has been a change in the habits of the small whites, showing evolutionary  fervour they have started to lay eggs on cavolo nero and red cabbage which is something rare until recently.

Birds tend to shy away from the red kales/dark kales, and red cabbage - it's a colour thing - so the caterpillars are brazenly able to feast on the kales etc without risk of birds.

Birds are not that good at hovering above caterpillars anyway - they are distracted at this time of the year by everything else that is growing!

[Kingfisher]

http://www.suite101.com/sitemap.cfm/topic/organicgardens

try this site, it has reciepies for all the bugs and fertiliser that are completly organic

[davyw1]

Up to now i have had no catterpiller damage ( as i touch my head ) but in the past when i have i use Bug Clear.
I spray all my brasica with Lemon zest washing up liquid every couple of weeks the picture speaks for its self a few holes but not off catterpillers

[attachment=1]

Also bloody things are getting big again

[attachment=2]

[Suzanne]

As a last resort you could use a organic approved spray based (pyrethrin or derris) - you have to be a bit careful in their use as they kill good bugs as well. I don't use sprays as I normally net my brassica's and did for brussels, caulis and calabrese - but was too late for the PSB. I haven't sprayed yet and probably won't so squishng away everyday. But the plants are looking a little holey at the mo.

[Need a Leek]

Nice bit of info Tim regarding the caterpillars and interesting when you say they head for a vertical location, I live on the end of 4 terraced houses and our house is right next to our allotment site and the white gable end of our house has a mass of caterpillars heading skywards. I have never seen so many on the wall and as for my cabbages and sprouts...this year seems to be the worst ever regarding crop damage from these little critters, strange as we had no problems with them last year....Manure...caterpillars...what next eh a -18 winter???.

Cheers
Tony