Stay away from my broccoli!
Some of you might remember the troubles I had last year with grubs on my broccoli and the quick remedy I concocted with some chilli flakes from my kitchen. Further education and reading since then has concluded two things – what kind of pest it was and how to prevent it from laying eggs in the first.
The culprit was cabbage moth; a common garden pest to most brassica’s including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages and bok choy. The moth happily lays its eggs on the broad leaves of these vegetables and days later, tiny caterpillar grubs emerge and eat the leaf they were born on only to eventually turn into moths to start the life cycle again. Most of us have seen these moths before. They are the large white ones that appear in great numbers throughout spring. I think I used to try to catch them with my hands when I was a kid.
Organic options of dealing with the issue when it is already present include picking the caterpillars off when they emerge and using organic sprays such as BT (insert scientific name here) and my home made chilli spray invention. Note – I did not actually invent the chilli spray, I merely stumbled across it on my own, after it was already being commonly used by organic gardeners.
I prefer prevention methods myself. They seem like less work and can actually provide options which are harmless to the bugs causing the issue. I know they are only caterpillars, but there is something about burning their flesh with chilli spray that just doesn’t sit so well with me….
Here are some great prevention tricks to assist the cabbage moth in choosing another spot to lay its spawn.
- Dill – Planting dill near susceptible crops like broccoli, supposedly deters the cabbage moth. I’m not sure if the plant needs to be in flower or not though.
- Netting – Netting used to keep out birds can also be used to keep large flying insects from harassing your vegetables. As long as the holes are smaller enough to prevent them from flying through, then this should work in theory
- Yellow Marigolds – Apparently cabbage moth are attracted to yellow marigolds (a small annual flower) when choosing a site to lay their eggs. Planting these amongst your brassica’s could divert their attention.
I’ve initially gone with options 1 and 2 to protect the crop of broccoli. I planted four dill plants, one in each corner of the square plot, in an attempt to create a dill barrier. The dill is not currently in flower but is growing rapidly. The downside to this is that I will have to transplant the dill when I change garden plots next year. Hopefully this will work.
The netting is already in place to stop the chooks from chomping the life out of the plant. It also has a roof which is connected to the sides by bag ties. Although it is not fully enclosed, it does provide about 90% coverage and protection,
4 weeks after the first broccoli planting and so far so good. There have been plenty of moths passing by, but no signs of destroyed crops. Something must be working. Depending on how things progress, I may or may not decide to include some yellow marigolds for good measure.
2010 Score? Marty 1. Cabbage moths and evil caterpillars 0.
**Below – Broccoli plants at 4 weeks (front) and 8 weeks (back). Dill plants in the top and bottom corners. Lettuce seedlings in the background. White netting protection around the sides which also covers top.
