cabbage problem

[roy]

I have been growing veg in containers for a 2/3 years now. I have also a couple of small seed bed growing areas, a plastic greenhouse also. I seem to be successful in growing veg we like to eat-courgettes,beetroot,onions,leeks plus others.

My main problem are cabbages. I have tried various cabbage varieties in flower buckets, troughs, wheelbarrow. All get eaten from the top or bottom by fly or grubs.So I thought I would beat them. I have consrtucted a frame with netting on to cover one of the seed beds (bought from morrisons) wicker frame thing with liner. I have grown beetroot, onoins, courgettes in them in the past. I have scooped of the top of the old veg compost and replenished it with new veg compost. Planted a few Durham early spring cabbage sedlings a week ago and covered with my netting frame. All going well till today. All been eaten, many from leaves down, one from root. I nearly cried.(don't tell the missus) as I spent money on the wood for the frame.

Any suggestion what I can do to sterilise the soil/compost or is it a case of removing all and starting afresh?
Ta.

[kathyd]

Hi
I can really sympathise, I've had the same problem with my cabbages - in fact all my brassicas. I think it's slugs mainly. Netting certainly didn't help. I've given up with some of them for this year, but have also started covering some of the small cabbages and cauliflowers with a plastic bottle which seems to help a bit. I'm trying not to use slug pellets but may give in eventually. My sprouts are a joke, with lacy leaves which are also now full of small green blobs (not baby sprouts unfortunately!). I have no idea what they are, but it's not looking good. So I'm interested to see what advice others can offer you Roy. In the meantime, try the plastic bottles - it can't do any harm.

[Aberdeenplotter]

If you have grown brassicas in the compost before, the chances are that the predators are managing to perpetuate their life cycle there. I'd be for starting anew with fresh compost

[Potstubsdustbins]

If your netting is deffo butterfly proof I would go for slugs living in the soil. If you go out late at night you might just catch the little buggers in the act.

Me personally it would be a dose of the blue pellets.

Kath a pic of the green blobs would help.


Colin.

[rustylady]

My guess on the green blobs is caterpillar poo (frass)

[Florence Fennel]

Nematodes? I've never tried them, but I know folks who swear by them. You can get slug pellets that are only harmful to slugs. I hate slugs and snails. They have eaten more than half my bras this year. I raised beautiful healthy plants in plastic troughs with petroleum jelly smeared around the edges which kept them absolutely slug free. I planted them out and wallop, they became fodder for the slugs.

[Two_Sheds]

Planted a few ...cabbage sedlings a week ago and covered with my netting frame.All been eaten, many from leaves down, one from root.

If you've got fine netting over them, it's unlikely to be caterpillars or pigeons (though not impossible, moths & caterpillars will squeeze through very small holes).

My bet is slugs and/or baby snails. Do a search at night, and drop the little beggars into a bucket of salty water

[kathyd]

The culprits!

If your netting is deffo butterfly proof I would go for slugs living in the soil. If you go out late at night you might just catch the little buggers in the act.

Me personally it would be a dose of the blue pellets.

Kath a pic of the green blobs would help.


Colin.

Ah, well now... I must confess I removed my netting when I found a dead robin which had somehow got its head stuck in it and then been killed and half eaten by something else, poor little mite. I checked the veg daily for a while and picked off eggs, but have stopped recently because it's colder now and there are less butterflies about. But you're all correct - I've just looked and found dozens of caterpillars both on my sprouts and on my cabbages!! I'd like to check they're not anything special before feeding them to the chickens, so I'm going to try to attach a photo (or 2 if I'm allowed) to this post in the hope that someone can identify them. I'm assuming one lot is basic Cabbage White, but I'm not sure about the bigger plain green one on the red sprout leaf?

Thanks for your help.

[Two_Sheds]

Kathy, the luminous green one is a Small White, the stripy ones are Large White.

Yes, netting must be kept taut to avoid snagging birdies in it

[kathyd]

Thanks 2sheds. I'll have to see about making it even tighter next year, poor little robin.

[Gurberly]

Lucky chickens too
G

[baldrick]

poor robin :-( I found ours sitting on one of the dogs this evening. Id be devastated if he got hurt. I accidentally shut him in the chicken run last week. My husband came over all peculiar trying to get him out in one piece.

[SarrissUK]

I am one of those that swear by nematodes. My lottie is not so bad, but my back garden.. OMG. I swear I got thousands of the things and they are not only in the back garden - they come into my house and leave little silvery slithers on the floor to show me that they've been in. Yuck.

I bought nematodes last year, and they died off completely. No more slugs. I didn't get many this year either, so it seems to have put them off for much longer than the packet says.

My cabbages have been quite happy up at the allotment, but if I notice slug problems, it'll be nematodes I turn to. Amazing stuff that is