Multiple help questions - karma given in return for answers :)

[buzzingtalk]

Hi, I popped out to the OH's mums garden where we have a few plots and have noticed a few things which I am unsure about...help if you can?

1. My PSB have started flowering - I picked off the flowers I could see but it looks like there will be loads more, should I pick these off too? We can only get out here once or twice a week so I am worried about them affecting the productivity and taste of the PSB.

2. I also noticed lots of cattapillars - 2 different types (or maybe different life cycle?) one is large and green, and small ones which seem to be 'resting' on leaves in groups of about 20 at a time...what is the best way to get rid apart from picking? They have got inside the new folds of my cabbage too and are impossible to get out, is it over for my brassicas?

3. I also have noticed lots of tiny white flies/butterflies - they leave a white powdery residue on undersides of leaves (and when squashed!) what are these, and how best to get rid?

4. Moving on from my poor brassicas...a squash question! I put 8 squashes in a bed, but really should have put 4...how do squashes react to trimming? I might pull one or two up and they still don't have lady flowers on them or fruit...some of them are spilling out onto the grass, and are looking very uncomfortable stooping over the raised bed...might chop these off?

5. Is it too late if squashes are only now just forming fruit? I have all winter squash plants.

6. Now for a cider/apple question, I will post it in the alcohol section too. My discovery apple tree is ready to burst with ripe apples ready for pressing, but the other apples we will use in the cider aren't quite ready - the discoveries didn't store well at all last summer, so is there a way of preserving the pressed juice? We cannot freeze it as last year it was about 20L of juice from one pressing. We are also going to buy some cooking apples and press them while we hire a press (Keep on seeing cooking apples for sale on side of the road), will this preserve in the same way?

Thanks, thanks and more thanks for reading and answering

[Thelma Sanders]

1) flowers on the PSB? the bits you eat are the green buds before the flowers open.
2) They're Cabbage White, and Small Cabbage White catterpillars..squash em or buy chemical insecticide spray. Next time cover with fine netting so the butterflies can't lay their eggs.
3) They're cabbage whitefly& bit messy, but don't really do any harm. They seem to be bad this year
Getting rid...don't think you can they seem resistant to most sprays, nowadays.
4) You can trim them after a fruit has set. They flower on new growth so if you trim you won't get more fruit. May be best to remove the ones that have no female flowers and spread the others out a bit.
5) They carry on growing til first frost so there's time yet. Some of mine are still tiny, but should get there in time
6) No idea sorry.......Karma: can I return as a pampered Siamese cat - Thnx

[buzzingtalk]

Thanks!! When I meant flowers on PSB, some of them have opened and are yellow, but the rest of it doesn't look ready for eating - it also said it would be ready in late winter/early spring on the seed packet? They are huge plants, about 4ft high with lots of broccoli on them already so I guess they are ready-ish now...will they continue cropping into the winter?

This is the first and last time I grow them, they take up all of my space, have been ravaged by bugs and now I am unsure on when they are ready etc.

I didn't think the whitefly were doing much harm, excellent news. I shall concentrate my efforts on the cattapillars - I am unsure if they have done too much damage already to my cabbage, I guess time will tell

Karma - granted. You shall receive infinate strokes, cuddles, food, toys and space to roam in forever more

[gojiberry]

The small caterpillars in groups will devour your complete cabbage given time and they will grow the more they eat. They tend to be fairly easy to get rid of as they tend to stay on the outside of the plant and eat inwards. The green caterpillars may be singular but eat into the centre of the cabbage and tend to make a mess inside the cabbage and are difficult to get rid of. The aphids could be grey cabbage aphid and can completely destroy a cabbage if left unchecked. Just leave squashes to do their own thing. Can't help with apple dilemma.

Ian

[gojiberry]

The small caterpillars in groups will devour your complete cabbage given time and they will grow the more they eat. They tend to be fairly easy to get rid of as they tend to stay on the outside of the plant and eat inwards. The green caterpillars may be singular but eat into the centre of the cabbage and tend to make a mess inside the cabbage and are difficult to get rid of. The aphids could be grey cabbage aphid and can completely destroy a cabbage if left unchecked. Just leave squashes to do their own thing. Can't help with apple dilemma.

Ian

[buzzingtalk]

Thanks i am sure the aphids are harmless as they have been around for ages and don't seem to be doing much. The cattapillars seem to be ruining my brassicas though, my cabbages have a lot of holes in them and I am worried that the ever lack of greenery will affect cropping. I have no idea when they were planted and how long they are meant to be along the growing cycle as someone else planted them without a tag in the plot! They seem like they could soon be a lost cause - I may give up on them as the PSB is going to get eaten by us and ripped up as it will be no good in spring.