On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 21:33:35 -0800, Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi Everybody,

I have experienced a caterpillar attack on my broccoli and then
similar-appearing damage to my cauliflower.

The broccoli was an obvious victim, since I caught them in the act,
swarming on the head of a couple of plants one morning. The cauliflower
have recieved lots of holes in the the leaves, just like a previous
symptom on the broccoli. And I also found a bunch of apparant larvae on
one of the cauliflower leaves.

However, other vegetables in the same area were left alone.

Is this just a coincidence? Just a random, one-time distribution of the
caterpillar population? Or does this indicate some dietary preference?

This specific gang of perpetrators are each about a centemetre or so long,
neon-green, and walk with a sort of "inch-worm" type wave through their
body (but the legs are obvious.) I think the butterfly version is a
small, white variety.

Comments? Thanks.

-V.


Sounds like the cabbage moth. Treat the plants with
Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a naturally occurring
bacteria that attacks the digestive systems of caterpillar and which is
not harmful to humans. The critters have discovered an easy food source.
Do you really think they will breed once and move onward? You will have
to spray at regular intervals, perhaps once a week. The other option is
to yank the plants and grow something else.