Advice ref: protection for Cabbage/Cauliflowers please
 

Hello,
Once again I am plagued by the cabbage white butterfly laying eggs on
my cabbages & Cauliflowers! I'm loosing them left, right & centre.
Can anyone reccommend a really good 'treatment' to keep the
Butterflies away from my plants please?
Any 'sprays' or 'powder' or 'other' treatment?
Thanks in advance
Allen

Advice ref: protection for Cabbage/Cauliflowers please
 

On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 19:14:06 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

Instead of worrying about the butterflies, focus on their eggs and
caterpillars, which are far easier to deal with.

A quick check under leaves will show the "dotty" inch-wide patches of
eggs; just rip the patch out of the leaf and dispose of them. If it's
too late for that and they have hatched into caterpillars, you can
either, pick off the affected leaf sections before the newly hatched
caterpillars spread; pick off larger caterpillars by hand (or pay kids
to hunt them); or, copiously water the plant with salty water. Brassicas
thrive in coastal situations because they are so tolerant of salt;
caterpilars hate it.

Janet.
Yes Janet, I actually meant the caterpillars...sorry!
What I mean is, I want to be able to Prevent the eggs being laid by
the butterflies in the first place. I mean they don't lay them in the
farmers fields hey?
Still hoping someone has an answer...... :-)
Allen

Advice ref: protection for Cabbage/Cauliflowers please
 

I use 1cmx1cm garden mesh to keep off both pigeons and cabbage whites
but still lets the slimmer bees in. Mostly works a treat (though you
still get the occasional Houdini butterfly inside the netting if you
don't peg it down really securely!). The fruit mesh tends to be too
coarse and they can easily get through.
jane

I'd like to second this option! On my previous veg plot back in the midlands
we seldom got a cabbage without it being completely full of green
caterpillars, often boring right to the heart of the plants. The
cauliflowers and broccoli were too disgusting to eat with lots of the little
blighters and their silky threads completely filling every nook and cranny.
The following year we used some one cm mesh and it worked a dream, simply
draped over the top of the patch and pegged down with tent hooks and rocks.
We had to slacken off the net periodically as the plants grew but at least
we got to eat the produce!
Unfortunately, since moving to our new massive garden here in Normandy, I've
been too busy and never got around to putting the netting over the cabbage,
and the cabbage whites are having fun decimating the entire crop! I'll
remember next year!
--
David
.... Email address on website http://www.avisoft.co.uk
.... Blog at http://dlts-french-adventures.blogspot.com/

Advice ref: protection for Cabbage/Cauliflowers please
 

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from contains these words:

Hello,
Once again I am plagued by the cabbage white butterfly laying eggs on
my cabbages & Cauliflowers! I'm loosing them left, right & centre.
Can anyone reccommend a really good 'treatment' to keep the
Butterflies away from my plants please?
Any 'sprays' or 'powder' or 'other' treatment?

Instead of worrying about the butterflies, focus on their eggs and
caterpillars, which are far easier to deal with.

A quick check under leaves will show the "dotty" inch-wide patches of
eggs; just rip the patch out of the leaf and dispose of them. If it's
too late for that and they have hatched into caterpillars, you can
either, pick off the affected leaf sections before the newly hatched
caterpillars spread; pick off larger caterpillars by hand (or pay kids
to hunt them); or, copiously water the plant with salty water. Brassicas
thrive in coastal situations because they are so tolerant of salt;
caterpilars hate it.

Never thought of using salt water to deter the beggars, thanks.

The trouble is, by next year I'll have forgotten you said that!

Alan

Advice ref: protection for Cabbage/Cauliflowers please
 

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:22:14 +0100, jane
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 21:13:46 +0100, wrote:

~On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 19:14:06 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:
~
I use 1cmx1cm garden mesh to keep off both pigeons and cabbage whites
but still lets the slimmer bees in. Mostly works a treat (though you
still get the occasional Houdini butterfly inside the netting if you
don't peg it down really securely!). The fruit mesh tends to be too
coarse and they can easily get through.

http://garden.tenaxuk.co.uk/prod_info.php?pid=38 is the one I use if I
can find it - Homebase also does it own-brand (without the pegs).

Failing that, use Enviromesh (Agralan, N.A. Kays) which will keep off
butterflies, flea beetle, root flies and just about everything else
bar slugs! (It's expensive though, but does last years, as long as you
don't cut it or poke holes in the edges - use hooked net pegs such as
these http://garden.tenaxuk.co.uk/prod_info.php?pid=29 )


jane

Chiltern Hills, 140m above sea level.

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!
Thanks Jane, I will look out for some of this netting for next year!
Allen