You don’t have to garden long before you will come up against garden pests that can quickly destroy a garden crop. With the good comes the bad.
Years ago a gardener may have been inclined to have a cupboard of various insecticides for each type of pest. I remember watching my grandmother and my mother apply a dust to the cabbage. This was to keep the white cabbage butterfly away or kill the caterpillars already hatched, as they ingested the powder while snacking on the brassicas.
Growing a beautiful brassica crop can be disheartening when the pests come in. When the plants are small seedlings they can fall prey to flee beetles.
If you are lucky to avoid the flee beetles your seedlings will grow into beautiful plants only to be ravished by the pesky cabbage butterfly. Cabbage butterflies like cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and mustard. Today most gardeners are moving towards organic gardening and encouraging birds and beneficial insects into the garden.
The cabbage butterfly in the caterpillar stage has its own survival tactic. They accumulate mustard oil in their bodies from a mustard plant, making themselves unpalatable to most predators. This means if you have cabbage butterflies in your yard you are likely waging the war on your own.
I have tried many “sure” ways to combat these pests. Making our own garlic spray, which didn’t work. Dusting with diatomaceous earth, which did not work.
I’ve found the very best method is to cover the plants with a very fine mesh. We use a fine tulle material over garden hoops. This can be picked up at any fabric store. Inexpensive hoops can be found in the garden section of most dollar stores. Alternatively a cheap hula hoop cut in half will work. Clips will hold the fabric in place on the hoops and use boards or landscape ties to ensure the butterflies cannot enter at the soil level.
Your plants are protected and water and sunlight easily penetrate the material. This will ensure a good harvest of cabbage or other brassicas these pests find delicious.
