Velvety and Green
Under normal (non gardening) circumstances, chances are those two words would evoke warm fuzzy feelings…not so when it comes to the Brassica family living in Planet Veggie Garden. What do those two words mean to our cauliflower, kale, broccoli and mustard?
Imported Cabbage Worm.
They are kind of cute – plump velvety and green…but wow do they have an appetite.
It began in late summer with lots of white ‘butterflies’ (really moths) flying around the garden. These innocent moths began to lay little yellowish oval eggs on the undersides of the brassica’s leaves. In no time at all, leaves began to have big chunks eaten out of them with lots of green pellet like ‘poops’ left behind.
I’ve been plucking them off infested plants ever since. Some tiny and some up to 1 inch long…eeewwww. I usually grab a nearby twig and stab the bugger resulting in a bright green ooze…double eeewwww!
There has got to be a better way…
So off to googling I go and what do you know? There are many better ways…
Prevention
- Use row covers for your brassicas during the late summer so the moths can’t lay their eggs on the leaves.
- Hot pepper spray! I guess this stuff irritates the little critters. Blend 1/2 cup of the spiciest peppers you can find with 1 pint of water. Strain and put into a spray bottle.
Kill Them
- Hot pepper spray – repels and kills (see above). Spray every few days to burn up every last one of them.
- Dilute soap solution – this acts by drying up the worms. I make my own using a tablespoon of dish soap in a quart spray bottle of water.
- Poke them with a sharp stick (not for the squeamish)
- Spray with the bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis aka BT. This is an organic method where the bacteria kill the worms but do no harm to you. You’ll need to spray every 7 days or so until all the worms are gone. I’d reserve this method for those that have lots and lots of infested brassicas
Well, that about sums up methods to dealing with cabbage worms. Now were is my stick…
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