I didn`t cover any of my brassicas this year(I got lazy)and yet despite the normal number of cabbage whites around I had not one caterpillar.
Am I speaking too soon or could the huge number of hover flies and ladybirds around earlier have had something to do with it?
Well done, mine are simular but its becuase i have a big colony of house sparows that have pecked them all off! leaves are holey but no catterpillar suprize in the broccolli!
;D
x sunloving
I had a lot of grey aphids and these seem to have been dealt with by the hover fliies and ladybirds. Like you so far I have only had the sinlge green caterpillars not the patches of yellow eggs followed by the marauding hordes Last year I spent the second half of august squishing. Hardly seen any at all this year.
I had to take the netting off my brassicas in July because my new kittens were getting seriously tangled in it. I waited for the onslaught but it never happened, there's hardly a hole to be seen. I saw plenty of white butterflies earlier this year but somehow they either didn't lay or maybe the birds could get at the eggs? I don't know what to do next year.....
Stop sending them my way - i have one lot under cover and one not. The one that aren't under cover are sticks on storks and they have still got in and done there thing under the covered lot - lol!
Oh well these things happen - so yes in answer to your query yes its a miracle.
I never cover my brassicas against the 'whites' ;D...yes they got odd hole but nothing drastic..and now there is not even any odd caterpillar to be found.
I think if you have predators and food supply in balance you are blessed..yes it is miracle..sort of.. ;D
Last year there were squadrons of Cabbage Whites permanently over our allotment site - this year I guess there were about 90% less.
This year uncovered brassicas have survived, last year they were skeletons.
Personally, I will stick with the environmesh walls and netting (or even the Ikea net curtains!)
If they werent covered on my site they wouldnt get as far as having cabbage whites on them. The pigeons would strip them bare in a day.
same here weequeenie!
Oh..bloody pigeon...we've got plenty of those...yes I do put netting on against birds for few weeks after planting..but after that it will come off and they do not normally bother mine anymore after that...part in winter.. ::)..but only sometimes..
It is usually my sprouting broccoli that gets 'hammered' if any..but bucket placed on plant will stop them landing on to do their wicked deeds..yes I have too many buckets hanging around the plot ;D
the first year we had our plot, I went up one evening and saw that all the cabbages were infested with tiny caterpillars. Trouble was I was going on holiday the next day and couldn't do anything. Came back two weeks later expecting the worst, and there wasn't a single caterpillar or any sign of damage. My diagnosis - wasps
Pigeons are the real pest - especially when they leave your plants alone for a long time, and then suddenly decide to strip the leaves off all at once
Ah, pigeons.......I posted earlier about how the butterflies have left my brassicas alone......well today I walked down to my plot and about a dozen pigeons rose in a great clapping cloud from my compost heap - brassicas untouched, and no obvious sign what they were doing there.....all my stuff tastes fine to me but clearly wildlife isn't so keen this year!
your tempting provedence making statements like that cleo ;D
just about to put in winter stuff well covered to keep the magpies and pigeons off.
But my problem seems to be of the 2 legged sort. They'll be no legs if I catch em >:(
your tempting provedence making statements like that cleo
I know but things are very odd this year. I have been eating hazel nuts for a few days now-no sign of a squirrel
Please send me some of your house sparrows and pigeons then.