Caterpillars... how do you cope with yours?

[splatcat]

hiya

Last year i lost all my cabbage, cauli, and brussels etc to caterpillars... how can i avoid this...

i have covered some veg, but i cannot cover all, i havent the space

is there a spray? I thought i had picked them all off last year, but missed a lot of the blighters!

[SarzWix]

Prevention is better than cure I invested in a length of Enviromesh every year for 3 years and now have enough to cover all my brassicas and my carrots.
Alternatively, you can get a biological control against cabbage white caterpillars now. Just have a google and I'm sure you'll find it -perhaps Wiggly Wigglers?
I'd never recommend a pesticide though, too many of them affect bees and other wildlife IMO.

[chris]

I'm shocked at the amount of CWB around already!

[Two_Sheds]

i have covered some veg, but i cannot cover all, i havent the space

I don't get it? Netting doesn't take up any more space than the veg it covers...?

I know what you mean though, they are such a nuisance. I've really scaled down the brassicas I grow because they are just too labour intensive. They get caterpillars, flea beetle, root fly, mealy aphid and whitefly, the pigeons eat them, and then the winter winds blow them down

Let me have a look what Charles Dowding does:

sow winter brassicas in early July, plant out in August. They will be less troubled by caterpillars & flea beetle than earlier sowings

[Alison]

I don't understand the netting and lack of space comment either but I now don't grow any of my brassicas (except a few radish) without enviromesh as it's just not worth the effort. I don't spray on principle and if you net then you don't need to do anything other than squish the odd one which gets through when you're weeding.