I`ve just taken the pop bottle tops off my purple sprouting broccoli as the stems were starting to bend and overnight something trashed all the leaves. I think they were a bit tall (7-8 inches) for snails and slugs but the leaves are chewed almost back to the "skeleton". Any ideas of what did it and will the plants recover? All help much appreciated.
could it be the dreaded caterpillar?
Thanks Multiveg, but apart from it being a fat b*****d, can you suggest which sort it/they might have been, where to find them and if I can stop them getting any more?
Thanks, Frank
look for any hairy, pale greenish caterpillars that look well fed.
on the underside of large leaves is where they might hide during the day....i had a few on the underside of my rhubarb - though they didnt eat the rhubarb leaves at all.
if you have a book, look up cabbage white butterfly (??)
Could be pigeons, Bl**dy things ate all my, just about to sprout, purple sprouting this year! >:( Overnight too!
thats interesting Doris, i never thought of that - theres plenty of them on our site. I`ll get a net and see if it works. Thanks all.
Frank
If you use a fine net (with small holes) it'll stop both pigeons and catepillars.
Pigeons have massacred my purple sprouting too a;though I have saved a few using scaffold net. They have also had my peas ( I assume it is them) so have netted them too!
Helen
Bl**dy slugs had my first, and then my second bl**dy planting of early sprouting! GGRR
I'm new to this so it might be a load of rubbish but a neighbour on our lottie reckons that if you put tubs of water between the plants the birds will leave them alone he had had a lottie for years and has never covered them as the birds are only after moisture. put mine out a couple of day ago with marg tubs of water between them and they seem to be left alone. hope i haven't spoke too soon???