so I fixed my rabbit problem simply by putting the appropriate fencing around the garden. My broccoli was doing great until this evening I went out to check on things and noticed the phantom cut worm had struck almost every broccoli plant. Ya, know at least the rabbit eats the plants. The worm just cuts-like out of spite or something! My broccoli were not even close. I have them scattered throughout the entire garden here, there, and every where. It's like the cutworm has a broccoli sniffing snout! It did not touch one other plant except the broccoli which included peas, asparagus, potatoes, lettuce, spinich, onions, and garlic and many unidentified flower seedlings. Why, why, why!
So I am hoping to salvage the broccoli and fitted them with beautiful straw collars-very high tech. And now I am going to search everywhere to find an organic solution to keep my plants safe from this lil nasty.
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Spongegirl
- Cool Member
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 10:56 am
- Location: Kentucky
I'm glad you found a solution to the rabbit problem. 
Back when I gardened in-ground, I would remove the bottoms from paper cup and place a cup over each little seedling when I planted them outside. I pushed the cup into the soil, about an inch deep. Anything similar would work to protect your seedlings, such as the cardboard cores from rolls of toilet paper or paper towels. Just cut the long ones into sections suitable for the height of your seedlings. I have heard that some people just insert popsicle stick or wooden skewers close beside and on opposite sides of the stem of each seedling (2 sticks per plant) when it is set out into the garden. I haven't tried that technique, myself, so I can't speak to its effectiveness.
I have read that sometimes the cutworms will just burrow up from the soil inside the protective barrier, but in all my 50+ years of gardening, I don't recall that ever happening.
I recommend that you learn to recognize the adult moths, the eggs, and the pupae, so you can destroy them when you see them.
Back when I gardened in-ground, I would remove the bottoms from paper cup and place a cup over each little seedling when I planted them outside. I pushed the cup into the soil, about an inch deep. Anything similar would work to protect your seedlings, such as the cardboard cores from rolls of toilet paper or paper towels. Just cut the long ones into sections suitable for the height of your seedlings. I have heard that some people just insert popsicle stick or wooden skewers close beside and on opposite sides of the stem of each seedling (2 sticks per plant) when it is set out into the garden. I haven't tried that technique, myself, so I can't speak to its effectiveness.
I have read that sometimes the cutworms will just burrow up from the soil inside the protective barrier, but in all my 50+ years of gardening, I don't recall that ever happening.
I recommend that you learn to recognize the adult moths, the eggs, and the pupae, so you can destroy them when you see them.