I can't ever find the culprit. I think it hides in the very new leaves in the middle that are very delicate, so I'm afraid to try and look in them - I don't want to damage the new growth.
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7516001720/][img]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8027/7516001720_d0a2b13560.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/75814345@N05/7516001720/]Cabbage being eaten :-/[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/75814345@N05/]ScottMBolt[/url], on Flickr
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DownriverGardener
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The two culprits that positively spring to my mind are 1) snails and 2) slugs. Way back at 3) we find cabbage loopers.
The way to make a positive ID on snails/slugs is to go out with a flashlight about an hour or so after dark and look on the ground and underneath the leaves. When you find these culprits, smash them with your trowel, a handy stick, or what-have-you. 100% organic and 100% effective: that snail/slug won't eat your cabbage again!
I've been fortunate in that loopers have been only a minor problem on my cabbage, so hand-picking has been effective for me. But I'm pretty sure I've read on this forum that BT (Bacillus thuriengensis, sorry for the spelling today--migraine) will kill them without affecting the edibility or safety of your food crop.
Best wishes for success in saving your cabbage!
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
The way to make a positive ID on snails/slugs is to go out with a flashlight about an hour or so after dark and look on the ground and underneath the leaves. When you find these culprits, smash them with your trowel, a handy stick, or what-have-you. 100% organic and 100% effective: that snail/slug won't eat your cabbage again!
I've been fortunate in that loopers have been only a minor problem on my cabbage, so hand-picking has been effective for me. But I'm pretty sure I've read on this forum that BT (Bacillus thuriengensis, sorry for the spelling today--migraine) will kill them without affecting the edibility or safety of your food crop.
Best wishes for success in saving your cabbage!
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
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Ohio Tiller
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DownriverGardener
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!potatoes!
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DownriverGardener
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I have no idea what BT stands for. Hah - sorry!Marlingardener wrote:Those nasty little green worms you found are cabbage loopers. They also attack broccoli and cauliflower. BT is the best preventive/cure. Make sure you get the BT for cabbage loopers, since there are several types of BT for different applications. Read and apply according to the directions and it is a safe, non-toxic way of ridding yourself of those nasties.
(You will notice I didn't even try to spell out BT--and I have no excuse except I don't know how to spell it correctly!).
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DoubleDogFarm
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mattie g
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I took a shot at growing one cabbage plant this year (an extra a friend gave me), and it was attacked relentlessly by those cabbage butterfly worms. I thought I'd gotten rid of all of them at one point, but checked a few days after my initial squashing and saw more bugs on it. Got rid of those, but they showed up again - and bigger - a few days later. I did this a couple more times then gave up and scrapped the plant.
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DownriverGardener
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mattie g wrote:I took a shot at growing one cabbage plant this year (an extra a friend gave me), and it was attacked relentlessly by those cabbage butterfly worms. I thought I'd gotten rid of all of them at one point, but checked a few days after my initial squashing and saw more bugs on it. Got rid of those, but they showed up again - and bigger - a few days later. I did this a couple more times then gave up and scrapped the plant.
I know, isn't is ridiculous!?! I'm very disappointed - I was looking forward to growing those cabbage plants. Once those worms started eating them, they've seriously done some major damage. They're the only plants in my garden that are getting eaten
I may have to scrap them soon.
If you're trying to grow them *right now,* then you're working uphill and against the wind.
Cabbage is a cool-season vegetable. Plant it by counting back from average day of last frost, but even so, cabbage can survive light frosts. What it can't do very well is thrive in the heat of summer.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Cabbage is a cool-season vegetable. Plant it by counting back from average day of last frost, but even so, cabbage can survive light frosts. What it can't do very well is thrive in the heat of summer.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
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applestar
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Two major pests I get are white cabbage butterfly and cabbage moth.
Cabbage butterflies are one of the earliest butterflies out in spring. They nectar on wild mustard flowers, that's how early they start coming out.
You notice the white butterflies more because you'll see them flitting around your garden during the day. The butterfly deposits creamy white eggs under the leaves that are very easy to find. But into summer they get desperate and start laying literally hundreds of eggs per plant -- a dozen or more per leaf. They hatch into those fuzzy green caterpillars that often think they are hiding by stretching straight along the leaf rib. And, in fact, they are well camouflaged until your eyes adjust.
Cabbage moth start getting active after the summer heat sets in. Cabbage moth lay their eggs at night, and what you find are little patches of yellow waxy stuff. After they hatch, these guys make individual little silken nests and initially kind of look like leaf hoppers inside the silk. If you start seeing the waxy patches all under the leaves, you are in for trouble.
In both cases, I find it's impossible to keep up with them by squishing and picking off the eggs. I have had some success using screened row tunnels. (In fact yesterday, I realized there is a good sized young praying mantis trapped inside one of the row tunnels -- the fact the it's so big means it's finding plenty to eat
)
This year, one of my experiments is rutabagas. They are growing very nicely -- about baseball size right now -- but I noticed the cabbage whites had infested them earlier in the spring. I managed to pick off their cabbageworms, but when I harvested a rutabaga yesterday to thin, I realized that the leaves are covered in the waxy cabbage moth egg deposits.
I don't have the rutabagas under screened row tunnel since I didn't realize they are so favored by these butterflies and moths. So I'm resorting to Bt. Fortunately the rutabagas are on the other side of the house from my butterfly garden so I'm feeling a little bit safer in using the product.
Cabbage butterflies are one of the earliest butterflies out in spring. They nectar on wild mustard flowers, that's how early they start coming out.
You notice the white butterflies more because you'll see them flitting around your garden during the day. The butterfly deposits creamy white eggs under the leaves that are very easy to find. But into summer they get desperate and start laying literally hundreds of eggs per plant -- a dozen or more per leaf. They hatch into those fuzzy green caterpillars that often think they are hiding by stretching straight along the leaf rib. And, in fact, they are well camouflaged until your eyes adjust.
Cabbage moth start getting active after the summer heat sets in. Cabbage moth lay their eggs at night, and what you find are little patches of yellow waxy stuff. After they hatch, these guys make individual little silken nests and initially kind of look like leaf hoppers inside the silk. If you start seeing the waxy patches all under the leaves, you are in for trouble.
In both cases, I find it's impossible to keep up with them by squishing and picking off the eggs. I have had some success using screened row tunnels. (In fact yesterday, I realized there is a good sized young praying mantis trapped inside one of the row tunnels -- the fact the it's so big means it's finding plenty to eat
)This year, one of my experiments is rutabagas. They are growing very nicely -- about baseball size right now -- but I noticed the cabbage whites had infested them earlier in the spring. I managed to pick off their cabbageworms, but when I harvested a rutabaga yesterday to thin, I realized that the leaves are covered in the waxy cabbage moth egg deposits.
I don't have the rutabagas under screened row tunnel since I didn't realize they are so favored by these butterflies and moths. So I'm resorting to Bt. Fortunately the rutabagas are on the other side of the house from my butterfly garden so I'm feeling a little bit safer in using the product.
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DoubleDogFarm
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