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An infamous presence on unprotected
crops.
Question
Dear Martin
We are new to kitchen gardens having
built our own 4 x raised beds this year. We have had some fabulous
lettuces but our cabbages and broccoli have been destroyed
literally by caterpillars gouging themselves. How do we get rid of
these or more importantly prevent them from returning next
year? Any solutions would be appreciated although we are not
keen on any chemical sprays for obvious reasons.
Many thanks in advance
Michael
Answer
Dear Michael
Many thanks
for your recent message regarding the problems you’ve been
experiencing with caterpillars ravaging your brassica plants. The
chances are your plants have been decimated by the hairy,
yellow/black caterpillar larvae of the cabbage white butterfly, an
infamous presence on most unprotected crops.
However, help
is at hand for future crops! Heavy Duty Butterfly Netting with
a 7mm mesh has been used with great effect at our own Harrod
Horticultural Kitchen Garden this year, and we have no reports of
any caterpillar damage to the cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts
and cauliflowers we’ve been growing. This netting has been
used in conjunction with the Freestanding Heavy-Duty Steel Vegetable Cage and is one
of this season’s success stories.
We also
supply an organic caterpillar control, Nemasys Caterpillar Killer . This
method of biological control uses a nematode, steinernema
carpocapse, which enters the caterpillar on contact and releases a
bacteria which proves fatal to the caterpillar. The nematodes are
applied by watering can or sprayer and must come into contact with
the caterpillar to work. The nematodes are naturally occurring,
will only kill the caterpillars and have no knock-on effect in the
food chain.
That’s
next year taken care of, but what for now? The news is not good, as
there is likely to be a second wave of caterpillars present now and
through September, so you could try the nematode based Caterpillar
Killer now before taking steps to protect your crop next year. You
might also wish to physically squash any of the yellow conical eggs
which are laid on the plants leaves, and also hand-pick off any
caterpillars in the meantime.
Hopefully this
information is of help: further reading is available in the Kitchen
Garden Section of the Website
Kind Regards Martin Fiddes |
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