Brassicas

[chalkies_shorts]

I'm giving up on brassicas. I can grow them easily but I can't protect them. Everything loves them and they get munched to death. Pretty chessed off. Did get a few lovely greyhound cabbages though.
I don't know if this is reasonable but I'm going to put a good few containers of kale / pak choi / calaberese in the greenhouse over winter.

[binley100]

you need to net them with something like debris netting to keep out the butterflies and pigeons. Slugs need some sort of control either pellets or try eggshells (anything gritty) .....can't find a way to keep the whitefly out but they don't seem to do much damage.

[SarrissUK]

Bless ya.. I've always had that problem in my back garden as it's full of slugs. They even crawl up walls to get to my hanging baskets that I cleverly thought would be the solution. I almost gave up until I heard of nematodes and tried it out. It killed the slugs and kept them at bay for a good couple of months. Not sure if it's worth doing on an allotment though, which would be quite a lot larger than my back garden!

I got one packet last year and it cost about £8 and that's enough to cover an average terraced house back garden. Effective beyond my expectation

[chalkies_shorts]

Caterpillars are the biggest problem - hundreds of them.

[binley100]

that'll be the cabbage whites then........fine netting tis the only way unless you go over them hourly and pick the little bighters off......

[chalkies_shorts]

Thanks binley. I'm going to see how i get on with the greenhouse over the winter and probably concentrate on other stuff in the ground. Brassicas don't seem to be worth the trouble.

[SarrissUK]

I am so lucky - I've not seen any caterpillars on my cabbages so far.. just loads of white fly, but even they are getting handled by a ladybird infestation this year. Thousands of them!

[binley100]

Don't give up on them chalkie ....

[Bren In Pots]

I've netted my brassicas but still got caterpillar damage not as much as last year when I didn't net at all though.

[Shadylane]

Gone netting free this year, just interplanted with flowers and herbs and such. They've been crap though, due to various reasons but hardly any caterpillars and I used spiky sticks and twigs to put off the winged rats which worked a treat.

[snohare]

I know exactly how you feel, in years gone past mine have been chewed to h*** and back. Dismal, disheartening, dismaying...
This year I put down lots of Vitax Slug Off around the seedlings, which did seem to do the trick at least for the crucial first weeks, and then after that I was given an old trampoline safety net, which did a lovely job of keeping everything else off. Finally, I got round to paying £10 for some Enviromesh, which once sown together to fit is ready to give me years of protection for them.
They have grown like nobody's business to the point where I had to harvest plants because there was not room for them, and now I know what works and have the framework for the 'mesh, I am going to never leave them netless again !
(I will confess though to buying some plants from Victoriana Nursery, and they have made getting a good crop as hard as falling off a log. )

[Two_Sheds]

I'm giving up on brassicas.

Caterpillars are the biggest problem - hundreds of them.

Well yes ~ you are growing caterpillar food
Seriously, you need to keep them netted, from cradle to grave. Brassicas are really tricky to grow, because they get attacked by every flying, crawling thing around it seems. If it's not caterpillars or pigeons, it's whitefly, slugs or mealy aphid.

Try again, with netting. If you're still disheartened after that, give up. (Brassicas don't do well in a greenhouse: too warm and the soil isn't firm enough)

[Snadger]

I would persevere if I was you. By kicking brassicas into touch you are effectively waving bye bye to the biggest, most nutricious and hardy vegetable group.

Enviromesh will keep nigh on everything off them, closely followed by debri netting which is a lot cheaper.

You also have to remember that brassicas can be grown through the winter when butterflies or cabbage root fly won't be a problem. (Pigeons are still about though so netting may still be necessary)

[chalkies_shorts]

Enviromesh it is then. I suppose the 3 or 4 good greyhound cabbages I got are worth the agro. I'll give it another crack.

[bethduckie]

Oh, do persist... I've just picked two cracking red cabbages which are currently melting into braised red cabbage and apple in the oven and the house smells glorious.