Cabbage Worms
Forum Archives
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: May-11-2005 at 9:38am
My little cabbage patch received its first visit from the white diamond backed butterfly before I competed transplanting the last plant. Since that time it and its friends have put in regular visits. They lay their eggs on the underside of cabbage leaves, which are easily brushed off. As are the eggs on the topside, apparently from a different type of butterfly, a night flying brown one.
Most off the time I do not get the satisfaction of crushing these potential pests, when touched they just fall to the ground and disappear. Is this enough to interfere with their life cycle, or will they hatch and climb back onto the plant? Is an investment in some Bacillus Thuringiensis or BT is called for?
gary
Posted: May-14-2005 at 7:55am
John,
I think I would use some BT. Finding all the eggs can be iffy when the plants are larger because of all the leaf surfaces.
Gary
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: May-14-2005 at 5:17pm
I loved watching the birdies in the garden chasing the moths. But you could also see them eating the caterpillars!
~BakingBarb
gary
Joined: Jul-26-2003
Posted: May-15-2005 at 6:22am
A little later in the year, you'll see the yellow jackets looking for the worms too but they eat enough of them for my needs.
Gary
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: May-26-2005 at 10:00pm
I do remember seeing yellow jackets in the garden quite a bit. We let parsley and onions and such go to flower and the wasps had a flight pattern to and from these flowers, One word of advise, DUCK. Actually they seemed to ignore us humans but they did not like to veer off the path, kind of like the ants in Its a Bugs Life.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton