Cure for cabbage white???

[Squirrel]

Careful the EU police don't read that post J.Flett!

[shallotman]

My late Father used this mixture during WW2", but he added soft soap to the brew, this made it on the sticky side, so would stay on longer..

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Percy! Welcome! Nice to read your first post after joining so long ago! I hope this is the first post of many!!

[Glenn]

Many thanks everyone for your comments. I went to check on the crops yesterday, and the fleece, netting, curtain netting has all been crossed and my whole crop of cabbages and sprouts have been ruined! I was all for giving up next year and using the bed for something else (the wife has persuaded me otherwise) and I will definately try the rhubarb brew as there's plenty at the bottome of the garden.

So can I check, place the leaves in a bin, add water, let it rot down for a few weeks and then spray over the crops. And this shouldn't harm the plant or affect the taste??

As for carrot fly, I've not had this since I placed a cold-frame (with the top removed) on a raised bed. Excellent crops, no fly as they can't fly high enough, it's just those pesky butterflies!!!!!

Glenn

[multiveg]

I would guess that a lot of insects and other pests are attracted by smell, so carrots & onions together confuse the other one's flies. Fennel has a strong smell. Chamomile is supposed to be a good companion plant.
As with slugs & snails, you could go hunting and collect the caterpillars and destroy the eggs.
Another idea could be to sow a kamakazi trap crop. One year, I read something about planting nasturtiums next to french beans to deter the blackfly - I lost my nasturtiums as they were covered in aphids but not a single french bean plant had this unsightly pest. Perhaps grow some nasturtiums as they are brassicas. Flowers and leaves are tasty as well.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi multiveg - what a good idea! will do next year. dexterdog

[burnie]

Fleece

Fleece is widely used in my part of Angus, local farmer grows his organic swedes under it with good results,it also helps warm up the soil a bit. Last year I picked off the caterpillars by hand and squashed the eggs,failed completly.This year I've given up and grown no brassica at all.I have had success with my carrots though,last year full of grubs,this year under fleece,full of flavour and no grubs.

[janie]

Hi, I have been following this thread and the last with interest as I am also suffering heavily from various caterpillars and sawfly larvae. (The bu**ers didn't manage to get my gooseberry bush for the first time ever though!!! Woohoo!)
They have even munched through my kale, nasturtiums, beans, peas, caulis, and even some of my herbs, I will be definitely be trying the rhubarb spray next year!!! I felt awful about spraying them ( I deport my slugs rather than squish them ) But I think my time of being soft hearted will have to come to an end because I am now losing more than I am growing at the mo
Will have to be more vigilant!!

[Two_Sheds]

I've resurrected this thread, because the first Cabbage Whites were spotted yesterday (def. CW, not Brimstones)

btw, fine netting over your brassicas is the best thing (debris netting, eBay) but you do need to whip it off now and again to check, because a few butterflies will still get in.

[Eyren]

Good idea, T_S - I'm about to harvest the last of the PSB on the lottie (and I didn't get any spring cabbage in last autumn), but the summer brassicas are waiting in the wings...

[gojiberry]

It is surprising how in three years things move on. There was no mention of using enviromesh and yet now, I find, it is one of the most effective ways of stopping the CW from getting at my cabbages.

Ian

[SarzWix]

Yep, Enviromesh is my brassicas best friend The only downside is that it doesn't stop whitefly, but I can live with them

[starloc]

for a 100% cure of all things catapiller, get some dipel and spray every now and then, it works and is listed as organic safe as well, its a bacteria extract and it works

[Creemteez]

Snadger, don't confuse CornMEAL with CornFLOUR! the two are compleately different!
Cornmeal is also known as Polenta Meal/Flour and is very yellow, comes in various grades of fineness and should be available in some supermarkets (Tescos only has it pre-cooked!) and most health food shops and delis.
Leave your OH's cornflour in the cupboard to thicken your gravy with!