Cutworm? Help determine what this is...

[BrianSkilton]

Hey guys, I got most of my brassicas out 2 two 3 weeks ago. However I planted some late this year. A few of the ones I planted late (last week) I see most of the leaves cleanly tore off, very clean looking. I have pictures below of one that has been striped of its leaves and one that hasn't. Anyone know what this is and how I can stop it? Thanks.

[img]https://www.phantom360.com/images/Cauliflower/cauliflower.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.phantom360.com/images/Cauliflower/cauliflower1.jpg[/img]

They seem to go only for the newer leaves...

[applestar]

I don't think it's cutworm -- they chop down the entire plant at soil level. They also don't eat the whole thing, just chops down so you'll find wilted remains in the morning to fume over. Were the leaves gone?

[BrianSkilton]

Yeah that's what I thought I just didn't know what it could be. Yeah the leaves are gone, but the wind could have blown them away I suppose. Laves were fairly tiny. Maybe a rabbit?

[Farmer Bob]

Hi Brian,
applestar's right. Cutworm just bite through the main stem and cut the plant down.!

This looks like it could be snails or some kinda worm . I suffer from this often. Check beneath the top layer of soil. Just scratch through the surface lightly. You may find fat hairless caterpillars, which are the larvae of some kinda moth. Either brown or grey in colour with black markings on them. They come out at night and chomp away and hide under the soil from dawn to dusk.
Or it could be the cabbage butterfly larvae doing the damage. They're white to bright breen in colour, but usually are under the leaves. I don't see any more leaves to hide under here tho.!

Hope you find the critters.!
Farmer Bob

[hendi_alex]

I'm thinking deer or rabbit, that either wasn't very hungry, or mostly grazed past. But the leaves are totally gone, so not likely snail or bug. I would cover with some kind of barrier made from chicken wire or other medium mesh wire.

[ajijoe]

maybe slugs!!??,

I had a bear of a time with them this last season with all the rain we got
try an organic slug and snail bait around the plants

hope this help

your friend joe

[ajijoe]

if it is rabbits try critter ridder

hope this helps your friend joe

[BrianSkilton]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Its pretty late right now (1:00am), but I'm going to go have a look at whats brewing under the soil. I'll let you know what I find

update: Well, I didn't find anything around the plants in the dirt. No grubs, slugs or anything...except earthworms . Anyway I'm guessing HediAlex is right with it being an animal, more than likely a rabbit. On one of the leaves I also noticed what looked like a tear or bite mark.

If it was a rabbit what kind of perimeter can I put up? I never really had much of a problem with them in the past.

[applestar]

2 ft high fence works.

They also sell wire fence specifically called Rabbit guard fence that's usually 28" high. I've switched to that kind -- from 2"x3" vinyl coated wire mesh and 1"x2" wire mesh -- because baby bunnies and smaller bunnies can get in the 2"x3" mesh and 1"x2" mesh means you can't do anything through the mesh. Same for 1" hex chickenwire, though I've tried using that in places as well. Rabbit guard fence has narrow gaps between the wires in the bottom, gradually widening to large 4x4? openings at the top. 28" height means you can step over them.

[garden5]

If it's rabbits that are giving you trouble, make sure that you put up a wire fence because I've heard of rabbits that have actually chewed through the plastic one .

[gixxerific]

I would say rabbits myself slugs I wouldn't think could take the that big of leaves down in a night.

I have the fence that Apple was talking about. You can find it at Lowe's maybe Home Depot but not the one by me.

I have to have it because I have seen what happened to you too many times there are a ton of rabbits in my area and they love to live in my yard for some reason.

[applestar]

Yeah, this weekend's Lowe's ad has it on sale here. I don't really need it right now, but I might get another 50' roll JIK...

[Gary350]

You don't have enough bird houses. Birds are a gardeners best friend they eat all the bugs.

Sprinkle corn meal around the stems of all your plants it will keep the cut worms away.

Dust your plants with Sevin 5 dust to kill bugs and worms if your not afraid to use this stuff.

[BrianSkilton]

I will have to check out what lowes or home depot have for fences. I will have to get a metal one. Garden5 maybe right about them chewing through the plastic, it wouldn't surprise me. I will be keeping an eye out in the mean time to see if I can catch whats doing it. When do rabbits usually feed?

Gary your right about the bird houses, I have plenty of birds but nothing for them to eat. I need to get some, you know of any decent ones...

[Ozark Lady]

My first thought is rabbits.

But, I have mine in cages, and sometimes have leaves that look like that. I think Vole, or a mouse? These can get through my cages.

And just every once in a while I find it even inside a cloche over a plant, really odd.

Then last year, I got to looking, followed the plant stem straight down into the dirt, and golly, right about the soil surface, a fat cutworm wrapped around the stem, and hiding quite nicely.

Normally snails or slugs and some cutworms would chew from the outer edge inward, not just gone.

[tedln]

I put up a 48" hog wire (rectangular holes about 1 1/2" X 3") fence around my garden to keep my biggest predator out. My chocolate Labrador named Charlie. At the bottom of that fence I put up 24" tall chicken coop wire to keep the rabbits out. Where I live, I don't have to worry about obtaining protein if we have a world wide food shortage. I've seen rabbits run through the hog wire fencing at full speed and then turn and look back at me as if to say "bet you can't do that". The chicken or poultry wire keeps them out.

Ted