"Gary" wrote in message
...
"Sam" wrote:

Our brassicas are being shredded by thousands of caterpillars what
would be
the best, preferably natural, control to use?

BT works well... it's a biological control that kills the cabbage
looper
caterpillar. Harmless to humans. Dunno brand names in the U.K., but
look
for "bacillus thuregensis." I use the wettable powder form, which is
really the spores of the disease that kills the worms. Coverings work
well, if they're put in before the pretty white moths lay their
eggs...


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at
home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

*********
Yup! - BT works very well, - I should know, I worked for them for 38
years and left just as the glass fibre cables were installed and the
big telephone buldings became redundant along with all the Techs and a
small suitcase did it all and they were all fail-safe so lots of profit
was made and the prices lifted yet again so my shares cleared the
remaining mortgage, and I had enough left to get a nice Rover and build
a 8x10 greenhouse.
As far as the Great White Flutterbys are concerned it is my experience
that there is one way and one way only to reach a point where you can
have cabbage on your dinner plate. There is no escape, specially if the
attack is virulent, and that one way is to go out each morning, and, -
lifting every leaf of every cabbage, and grasping each offending green
crawler between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and squeeze
each little bu---er into two pieces. (Ladies are permitted to use
rubber yellow washing-up gloves, but using swear words is taboo)
A few years ago I passed a big field of caulies and cabbages, and
hovering over them was a massive cloud of millions of White flutterby's,
next day I passed again and all there was left was a field full of green

stumps.
BTW 1, This year the toads and frogs have deserted my pond, - probably
they've fallen foul gradually as time passed and been scoffed at the
crack of dawn by the blackbirds and crows. I noticed that snail and
slog slime was all over my concrete paths.
BTW 2.
Later, :-
I've just been out with a torch and coal shovel and collected 8 big
brown slugs plus 6 snails , all crawling on the wet concrete paths. I
was very kind to them; instead of suffering my big clodhoppers they are
now enjoying the lush weeds and window-height couch grass in the 'N.'s
from Hell's wasteland next door.
Oh! I forgot! - there was one medium sized frog on the path as well, so
they haven't all deserted their domiciliary edifice.
Doug.