Allotments 4 All

hi every one
we have some brassicery things growing in pots
and we have caterpillars
if i flick of the catterpillars onto the soil are they going to die or climb back up?
i dont mind squashing them but if they will just die then so much the better

lbb

LBB - they will prob just climb back up. I don't squish but just put in a pot and launch as far away as I can - the birds will probably pick them up.  :)

Ninnyscrops

so collect them up and dump them on the grass?
will that do do you think?
lbb

They are even in our first floor rooms this year!!

I would deal summarily - if you're not squeamish. If thet don't get eaten - & birds don't seem to care for them - they may pupate & come back next year to haunt you!

A colleague at work asked about my cabbages on Tuesday,he said his had been decimated by cabbage white catterpillars.....I said mine are fine..!

On Tuseday afternoon after work I had another check,and yes,they were fine.....however on closer inspection of my sprouts I saw two in the middle of the bed that could only be described as "open umbrellas with no fabric",if you know what I mean?.....the leaves had been completely stripped down to the stalks.

I can deal with that but its the "mess" they leave all over the place that bugs me! :(

It's a strange year. Usually, having stripped a frond, they move on. This year they are trying to eat though the stalks - even the garden hose!!

And I've found them on 1/4" seedlings.

i have noticed them on my Corn eating the Hairs off (chopped off mind ) not eaten down been raining so much again will go out when i get home from work to feed the birds

mine are big black caterpillars not the green little ones

ok we are all collecting them up in a bucket then middle child is stomping on them on the path.

does anyone know if we could "hatch" them in a suitable container?
how long does t ake from eggs to butterflies?

lbb