David Hare-Scott wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:

Something is nibbling on my bok choy , and I've seen grasshoppers .
Not certain that they're to blame , but ... which will work better for
grasshoppers ? Other pests that I've seen on these plants before are
like a very small beetle-type bug , hopefully one of these will help
with those too . Chemicals are problematic , I'm trying to avoid any
chem based insecticides because of our bees .

In sunlight look very closely particularly under leaves, along stems and
down in the centre. Run your fingers over leaf surfaces. One candidate is
cabbage butterfly larvae, they can be very well camouflaged indeed,
especially if small. If your closeup eyesight isn't good use reading glasses
or a magnifier. If nothing then go out at night with a light after the dew
has fallen or after you have watered. There is no point in doing anything
until you identify the eater. For example if it is slugs or snails BT will
do nothing whatsoever as it is specific to insect larvae.

have you seen the small white butterflies around yet?

the eggs are not too hard to see if they are being
laid on the undersides of the leaves.

the larvae are very sneaky on the cabbage plants,
it seems like they hide down along the stems when the
day gets sunny. might have better luck finding them
early in the morning. their massive piles of droppings
can give them away.

if you have wasps about, don't kill them, they will
help control cabbage butterfly larvae.


songbird