When do caterpillars finish?

[veggiechicken]

Excuse the title but I couldn't think how else to ask when (if ever) would it be safe to plant out brassicas without tempting a cabbage white butterfly along to use them as a nursery?

[Potstubsdustbins]

I think it really depends on the weather.

I was up in Buxton, High Peak yesterday and they are already seeing the back of them. Mind you it is a good few degrees colder up there than here in Notts.

Potty

[veggiechicken]

Thanks Potty Reading all the recent posts about holey brassicas I wondered whether there was any point in keeping seedlings undercover for as long as possible before planting them out in the wilds, so to speak!

[WendyC]

Plenty around on my plot today.

[Pineberry]

Ha, as the rain finished, here they are straight away hovering over my 5mm seedlings. And it is getting cooler now. So not sure if they will give up until the first frosts.

From the more accurate source hrs.org
Large white caterpillars are likely to be seen in June-July and late August-September;
small white caterpillars feed May-June and July-early September;
cabbage moth caterpillars are active in July-September

So October planting is the safest

[veggiechicken]

So..........if one grew only those brassicas that could be planted out in October or later, you wouldn't have to worry about the holey leaves - or netting
Wonder what brassicas would be suitable

[Bren In Pots]

When do caterpillars finish?


I think its when they've eaten every brassica in the UK

[veggiechicken]

Now I have a picture of them stuffing themselves on cabbages, saying, Just one more, just one more, go on you can do it..........until their skins burst

[Martin H]

Last year they were still eating my brussels sprouts at Christmas.

[veggiechicken]

That's worrying Martin - you're blowing my cunning plan out of the water
According to this BBC - Gardening - Advice: Pest and disease identifier
an egg takes 2 weeks to hatch and the caterpillars feed for 4 weeks. So your Chr***mas caterpillars were laid in November !!
Now I need to find brassicas that can be planted out in November and be ready before spring when the pupae hatch and the flutterbies are at it again

[Martin H]

Yes, I stopped worrying about the butterflies in October, I thought the frost will soon kill them. But I think last year was unusual.

[Pineberry]

If last year was bad, lots of rain = less butterflies, and they were eating your Christmas sprouts. What is awaiting us this year, less rains = more butterflies

When I took on my gardening hobby, never thought I will have to take on a netting hobby too.

In one of the Mark Diacono books he writes, that he does not like to net his brassicas, he just likes to be closer to his plants and just picks the caterpillars off regularly of them. Oh I thought I could try that, so did remove the net of mine and I only had 12 plants. Bad advice, bad idea. I could not keep up with them in the end I was left with caterpillars pretending to be my brocollis after the flesh was gone.

[rustylady]

Little bu@@ers are even on my curly kale this year Normally they don't bother with it.

[Bren In Pots]

My brassicas are under a cage and not even touching the sides but butterflies seem to squat and drop their eggs so i still get caterpillar damage unless I check every day. At least with the cage they're not eating the whole crop like they did the first year I grew without protection.

[Penellype]

I found a small white caterpillar wandering around the netting on my fruit cage this morning - if it had been a brassica cage it could easily have got inside. This probably explains how I found one inside a fleece cage I'd made for the broccoli - it probably crawled underneath. Sinca they have completely demolished the kohl-rabi they are probably walking round the garden looking for something else to destroy.

Don't bank on no caterpillars over winter. I found one that could have been cabbage moth on my spring cabbage in February

Also - I just went out to check how the veg was doing, and saw a small white butterfly had got inside my brassica cage, which is 2 layers of the netting sold for protecting brassicas. While I was undoing the cage to get it out, it flew to the top and wriggled out through the double layer of netting. Great.