Cabbage White's

[vegnut]

Thanks for that Cutecumber. I will have to make a bigger framework for next year, me thinks.

[Fred Perry]

I use rhubab concentrate every now and again, they do not like the smell and it dries leaving a residue on the leaves, it gets washed of by the rain though.
Seems to work as the lotty next to mine got some awful damage, you can watch them atempt to land then shoot off next door.
All the best.
Fred P.

[lainey lou]

Rhubarb concentrate?
I that something you make yourself? If so is it poisonous?

[King Carrot]

Can't remember where I saw this but some older gardener recommended making a brew of lettuce plants that had gone to seed and spraying on any plants you want to protect, I guess the smell of the bitter lettuce would be unattractive to feed the young'uns and the buterflies would move on to better smelling veg!

I'll try this next year as whatever I cover with, net and mesh, I always get some level of intrusion and end up picking off caterpillers anyway.

KC

[Fred Perry]

An old man told me to put Rhubab leaves in a barrel, top up with water, allow to rot, keep stiring and adding leaves.
Use fluid on Brassicas to stop the white buterflies from landing and laying eggs.
This is my second year at the allotment using the fluid and have had good crops so far.
The resulting brew stinks to high heaven though.
Also seen it done on TV program about allotments recently.
All the best,
Fred P

[ysb33r]

yes, they will easily lay through netting unless it is the very fine "enviromesh" type. There is a compromise - "butterfly netting" which had around 1cm squares. If this is kept well away from the leaves, it is reasonably effective.

Remember, though, that it isn't just cabbage white butterflies that lay - some smaller moths are also responsible.

I have used enviromesh with great success this year - never realised that home-grown cabbage can look that good!

[Two_Sheds]

I am picking caterpillars off every week... big ones, tiny ones, eggs. I never thought I'd like large cabbage whites, but they're preferable to small CW, and cabbage moth. My netting is keeping off the large, but the small and the moth are still getting in. I hate all the netting, its such a faff to take it off to weed/pick and then it gets tangled when you put it back on again, and the pests are getting in anyway ... every year I say I won't bother growing brassicas again, but there's precious little else to eat over the winter, so I persevere

[Two_Sheds]

if you want to know which caterpillar is which, have a look here:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...terpillars.asp

[bubblewrap]

They have done serious damage to my PSB

[nick nack]

They have done a lot of damage to my brussels. I agree with you TS the netting is a bind and it doesn't seem to work the little b***ers still get through.

NN

[Snadger]

There are now clubroot resistant varieties of brassicas, what a shame there are no Cabbage White resistant varieties!

PS Funnily enough my Kilaxy clubroot resistant cabbage haven't been bothered by caterpillers, but the pigeons luv em!

[Paulottie]

My son and I found a load of steamed ones in the broccoli the other day...not a great help..his favorite veg from his little bit of plot, poor mite didn't fancy it after that.

[Sebbster]

I found another lot of these at the weekend and there were plenty of White's flying around when the sun came out.

Dont seem to like the sprouts though and Kale is not badly affected. Always find them on the psb.

[Two_Sheds]

My son and I found a load of steamed ones [caterpillars] in the broccoli the other day...

oh yuk.
I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years ... on Sat night our pub made a vat of chilli and a vat of curry for OH's birthday - one was veggie, one was meat. I was a little tipsy and couldn't remember which was which, so had a big plate of the one with all the beans and veggies in it.

Next morning, everyone delighted in telling me I'd eaten the meat chilli and not the veg curry. Might be a coincidence, but I had horrible stomach pains all weekend. I have now banned them from ever again mentioning "the chilli night"

[dasantillo]

I've had an absolute plague of cabbage whites. I'd been checking the brassicas daily and picking 4 or 5 off each day, missed a day because of rain and suddenly they're infested and even the gooseberry bushes had 60 or 70 on - an hour with the jet setting on the hose sorted out the gooseberries and drowned the caterpillars - hopefully the 10 or so leaves left will mean it's OK. I tried the hose technique on the brassicas, but it wasn't so successful... I'm going to have to try something different next year.