Topic: brassica'd off

[Justy]

Picture the scene......

yesterday at lottie - lovely healthy growing broccoli and purple sprouting.  Even thought to myself - 'they are doing well'.   :)
Kiss of death. 

Today couple of stalks and a some half chewed leaves  :'(.  Judging from the 'present' that the culprit(s) left me it was an eagle. :D

I don't think the damage is terminal (although not far off) I have covered them over with some fleece tonight in the hopes it will stop them.  Is there a better solution?

[Merry Tiller]

10mm mesh, nylon netting supported by a stake in each corner and pegged down around the edges, it keeps the Cabbage White butterflies off too

[Nobbyman]

Same happened to my sprouts and purple sprouting!!  :-[

Netted now - so hopefully they might recover!!

Nobbs xx  :(

[Justy]

all this protection stuff we have to buy - makes for very expensive veg!!  ;D

[terrace max]

One of my allotment neighbours once explained to me - at length - how each of his organic cabbages cost him £3.20 to produce!!

[Doris_Pinks]

Don't tell that to my OH Terrance! My reason for being at the plot so much is "look how much money we save" Though if you added up the man/woman hours........................................

[raisedbedted]

I think I could buy all our veg from fortnum and masone for less than the netting, seeds, tools, man hours etc.

But on the other hand if I wasnt down the lottie then I may be somewhere else spending, or at home in the armchair....

Now theres a thought!

At the HDRA gardens at Yalding they had brassicas growing without netting but surrounded by green manure as this "disguises the shape of the cabbages from birds etc".

Yeah right!  I'm sure our birds would spot an unnetted cabbage from 3 miles!

[tim]

Once again - hate to dispute, but c/whites can weedle in between two tightly overlapping layers of mesh - let alone 10mm net.

[moonbells]

My condolences - as I mentioned in another thread, they got my cabbs too, the winged blighters...

I've gone for double whammy protection now - netting pegged down then fleece on top.  Keeps out the flea beetle if the fleece stays put and if it blows off yet again, the net should stop the pigeons. 

I hope.

I've just been given some lovely PSB plants as yet again I've failed dismally to grow any, and they're lurking under a cloche as I've run out of net!

moonbells

[Merry Tiller]

Yes Tim, but if they do it'll be easy to spot the chewed leaves & deal with the blighters, anyway I've been doing it this way for some time and haven't lost a single plant to caterpillars (quickly touches a bit of wood) or cabbage root fly as I use the slotted paper discs when planting out, it works for me ;)

[carrot-cruncher]

I ummed & arrhhed over buying netting to protect my crops due to the cost until my dad explained something to me called "perceived cost".

What he says is  - Yes, £15 for netting is expensive - but only if used in one year.   If you keep that netting and use it over the next several years it's cost decreases because you then take the £15 cost & divide it by the number of years of use.   So for 5 years use the netting only works out at £3.

Therefore if I use Dad's logic my netting should only cost me £3 which I've then divided by my 50-odd brassica plants which equals 6p!!!!!!

Cheap or what?????

CC

[raisedbedted]

Yes I use that justification tool as well.

However when I go to get last years netting thats stuck in the corner of the shed and it is bonded together I often thing "Oh blow it buy a load more!"

I got 5 of 6M X 4M netting from ebay a couple of weeks back for £9 and another piece 10M X 20M for £25 (fruit cage).

I do hate netting though as it gets in the way so much but needs must!

[Nobbyman]

Hi all!!!

I have netted the sprouts and purple sprouting now!! Hopefully not too late!!!

How long do I need to keep it in place!! For the lifetime of the crop or until they are sufficiently large enough for birds not to devour them!!

Please help!!

Nobbs xx  ???

[moonbells]

You keep the netting on all of the time - give the pigeons an inch and they'll eat the lot.

Wretched things...

moonbells, who is relieved that her pigeoned cabbages are regrowing.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Is there a good way to store netting without it getting in a tangle?

[moonbells]

fold like you would bedsheets then tie string round the middle.

Hang up over winter, then it should be fine.

moonbells

[Justy]

My broccoli recovering nicely after a week under fleece. Now nicely tucked up under some netting (along with the French Beans - just in case!).  It is not very pretty as a bit of a cobbled together affair but they look quite happy and I feel more confident that they will be safe!  Now have the urge to put net over everything!

[Lizard Man]

I've got my brassica bed netted (to stop the pigeons), but will remove once the plants are big and strong. However, I have almost lost three plants now because of ants. At least I think it's ants - they appear to have tunnelled down right alongside the stems and so the plants cannot support themselves properly. Are there any organic controls?