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Produce => Pests & Diseases => Topic started by: ina on August 20, 2004, 17:11:14

Title: Goodies or badies?
Post by: ina on August 20, 2004, 17:11:14

Are these critters good of bad? I hope they just make pretty butterflies, if not I'm going to mow down all the plants they are on.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/fergina/volkstuin/rups_resize.jpg)

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: Hugh_Jones on August 20, 2004, 18:26:08

Ina, although the colours are not quite right (the darker bits should be more greenish), this looks like a near perfect picture of the caterpillar of the dear old cabbage large white butterfly (pieris brassicae) busily demolishing a nasturtium leaf.

Don`t let it get near your brassicas!

If you pick off the caterpillars by hand and drop them in your goldfish pond the goldfish should love them.

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: tim on August 20, 2004, 18:30:07

Hugh - are you questioning Ina's new camera capability?? Brave chap! = Tim

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: ina on August 20, 2004, 18:45:22

Hahaha Tim, Hugh just doesn't know how sensitive I am about anyone questioning my camara's capabilities. Never mind, I forgive anything for sound advice.

That's it then for the caterpillars, the nasturtiums are going! Would frogs eat them? No fish pond but a canal with lots of frogs bordering the lottie. I don't grow any brassica due to clubroot in the soil but I don't want to spoil the fun of the other allotmenteers at the complex.
Thanks for the warning Hugh.

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: Hugh_Jones on August 20, 2004, 18:49:57

tim, I would never dare question any of Ina`s capabilities.

 I think the problem is simply that Ina`s camera regiusters in Vermeer colours, while my monitor only registers in Constable or Gainsborough

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: tim on August 20, 2004, 18:55:54

To think that, at 10, I used to sun-print my home developed  negatives - & later went on to develop & print Dufaycolour in the late '40s. = Tim

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: Mrs Ava on August 22, 2004, 22:29:56

ooooo Ina, for me they are the biggest and baddest baddies of all!  They have decimated my brocolli!  And they are 'orrible to squash!  But, now I know fishes will eat them I think the kids and I will get up to the plot tomorrow with a couple of jam jars and the kids can go caterpillar hunting and then feed them to their fishy friends!  ;D

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: Multiveg on August 23, 2004, 22:34:40

Maybe the cabbage whites prefer the nasturtiums? One year, having read a book on companion planting (think it was a translation from Dutch?), I planted nasturtiums next to my dad's french beans as we had problems with blackfly the year before - not a single aphid on the beans, but my nasturtiums looked a bit worse for wear!
Maybe you should try nasturtiums as a trap crop...

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: cflossy on August 25, 2004, 19:41:17

I planted nasturtiums next to my cabbages and the caterpillers absolutely devastated the cabbages but did not even look at the nasturtiums >:( , I was picking at least what seems like 100 a night off. even had nightmares about the blighters!
the cabbages and the caterpillers had to go.  :'(
have cocooned my puple sprouting broccoli tho. I defy them to get in!!!!

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: Doris_Pinks on August 25, 2004, 22:54:01

Plant my nasturtiums in front of my runners every year........the black fly  feast on my flowers and seem to leave the beans alone! ;D

Title: Re:Goodies or badies?
Post by: ina on August 26, 2004, 17:50:43

So, baddies it is. I know what they look like, they won't get a second chance.
Thanks all.