Tiny holes in everything

[newboy74]

I found this
BBC - Gardening - Advice: Pest and disease identifier

and this
BBC - Gardening - Advice: Pest and disease identifier

sorry for answering my own question. should ave looked it up first. t'internet is amazing.

[Marb67]

Cabbage whites are getting in through my netting, and what they can't get through they manage to lay eggs on leaves touching the netting. As we have a small space it's impossible to have the luxury of a distance between netting and plant. It is heartbreaking. Every year the same expectations only to be shattered by every pest known to man that wants to ruin your little oasis of joy in an otherwise harsh world. I had my gooseberry leaves stripped overnight by sawfly. Flea beetles run amok. Leaf miner. Even the sparrows are pecking off my pea leaves. Pretty much like life. You have expectations only for it to turn to dust.

[Tripmeup]

Cabbage whites are getting in through my netting, and what they can't get through they manage to lay eggs on leaves touching the netting. As we have a small space it's impossible to have the luxury of a distance between netting and plant. It is heartbreaking. Every year the same expectations only to be shattered by every pest known to man that wants to ruin your little oasis of joy in an otherwise harsh world. I had my gooseberry leaves stripped overnight by sawfly. Flea beetles run amok. Leaf miner. Even the sparrows are pecking off my pea leaves. Pretty much like life. You have expectations only for it to turn to dust.

Don't be too despondent... Yes there are challenges ( and some we would rather do without) but it's all part of life's rich tapestry and a challenge is there to be overcome or managed as best we can.. Don't give up!

[Two_Sheds]

I am in Cheshire.

if you edit your profile ~ Cheshire will show up in all your posts

Cabbage whites are getting in through my netting

you need butterfly netting, and you need to suspend it above the crop: put canes around the place, with pop bottles or cans on top of them, then drape the netting over the top. Peg down with tent pegs

shattered by every pest known to man

Yep! You're growing food ~ it's food for wild critters as well as us

gooseberry leaves stripped overnight by sawfly

net them

Flea beetles ... Leaf miner

flea beetles are deterred by damp soil. Leaf miners do little real damage. Neither pest should destroy a crop, just make it look a bit tatty

sparrows are pecking off my pea leaves.

Yes, they're thirsty in this hot dry weather. Do you put water and bird food out for them?

[newboy74]

Just got back from a lovely walk in the Gloucestershire countryside- cabbage whites everywhere ! never really noticed them before.

My turnips have soft little white balls under the leaves- can only imagine these are cabbage white caterpillars.

Now I know why the garden centre said not to touch brassicas unless you net them.

[Guykp57]

Cabbage fly? Do they really harm the veg or is it ok still to eat even though leaves look like a sieve?

[Two_Sheds]

My turnips have soft little white balls under the leaves- can only imagine these are cabbage white caterpillars.

No, caterpillars are green, or green/yellow/black

small cabbage white



large cabbage white

Cabbage fly? Do they really harm the veg or is it ok still to eat even though leaves look like a sieve?

Do you mean cabbage ROOT fly? They are maggots which eat the roots, not the leaves.

Nibbled leaves are fine to eat, yes. They just come with a little extra protein

[Marb67]

I can't understand why most of my plants have mottled patches on the leaves. My greenhouse basil and kitchen has paper thin patches on the leaves, some eaten away. This isn't slugs. They were very healthy no so long ago. It's so hard to grow anything salad related for me without it being thin and spindly, spots of damage all over the leaves. Coriander is the same. Never lush and bushy like supermarket bought. Just thin, spindly with not much growth.
Lettuce is the same with mottled spots all over. Very dispiriting.

[newboy74]

[QUOTE=Two_Sheds;1157603]No, caterpillars are green, or green/yellow/black

Thanks Two sheds, so what are the yellow balls in the right hand image?, I think its them.

[Martin H]

Those are the eggs of the large cabbage white butterfly.