Author Topic: Caterpillars!!!  (Read 10707 times)

Ann and Rob

  • Joined Jan 2012
Caterpillars!!!
« on: August 20, 2012, 07:17:52 pm »
Could anybody tell me a good spray that kills caterpillars as they have devastated my crop of cabbages and sprouts or do I have to pick them off one by one  :(
Ann and Rob

WarescotFarm

  • Joined Jun 2012
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2012, 07:31:05 pm »
a duck? ours eats the caterpillars and leaves the cabbages alone  :yum:
Miniature Falabella, Pygmy Goat, 2 Glouster Old Spots, 1 Long Island Red, 1 Light Sussex, 1 Dark Sussex, 1 Silkie, 1 Magpie Duck and hopefully some more chicks and ducklings due to hatch soon!

Sbom

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Staffordshire
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2012, 08:39:06 pm »
I'm sure my dad told me last year to spray them with fairy liquid water  :thinking:

YorkshireLass

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Just when I thought I'd settled down...!
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2012, 09:04:58 pm »
I've just scattered rosemary clippings around the lacey brassicas.


Either the smell will do something or they'll just be so puzzled they forget to lay eggs!

RUSTYME

  • Joined Oct 2009
.
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2012, 09:21:31 pm »
Hello A+R,
I don't use chemicals full stop , whatever you put on veg you will end up eating . Your veg , your body , it's your choice .
I just pick the buggers off and feed them to the birds or squish them .
Even 100 cabbages doesn't take too long to do , but if you have half an acre or more , you may need some extra hands !

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2012, 11:34:24 pm »
I'm with Rustyme here - squash them.  When the caterpillars are bad I go along the rows every day, picking off and squashing caterpillars and searching out any new egg clutches on the undersides of the leaves before they hatch out.  You can soon get on top of them and the plants recover.  My chickens hate cabbage white caterpillars and won't touch them, although they love the soft green single ones, which are much more difficult to spot.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2012, 11:38:13 pm »
I try to get them at the egg stage but those I miss are given swimming lessons in a bucket of water.  They're not very good at it.   ;D

anderso

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • brokenbrough
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2012, 06:37:56 pm »
We let the ducks loose on them its good to watch!!
when the revolution comes it will be a co-op

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2012, 07:34:04 pm »
Fairy liquid water helps with the eggs and tiny caterpillars, but the big ones you have to pick off

My chooks won't eat the stripy large white caterpillars either but as you say, they love the juicy green small whites  :chook:

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2012, 10:44:14 pm »
Fairy liquid water helps with the eggs and tiny caterpillars, but the big ones you have to pick off

My chooks won't eat the stripy large white caterpillars either but as you say, they love the juicy green small whites  :chook:
You make those velvety green ones sound really tasty Jaykay   ;D
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2012, 08:29:43 pm »
I took pick them off, also have flowers and butterfly friendly plants around my veg plot and this does help. Not sure if I am right on this one but due to being unwell when the chickweed took of the plants almost covered in this have remained untouched. May leave it to grow next year to see if this is a reason my cabbages are surving.

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2012, 09:38:20 pm »
Quote
You make those velvety green ones sound really tasty Jaykay
:D Where do you get those amazing emotiwhatsits  :thumbsup:

Plantoid

  • Joined May 2011
  • Yorkshireman on a hill in wet South Wales
Re: Caterpillars!!!
« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2012, 11:28:47 pm »
I'm not deeply into total organics so used Plant Rescue " from a garden centre .. it certainly saw the little beggars off as well as white fly , redspider mite and black fly ..
I  fine sprayed one  late one dry still evening  ( few and far between ),  there are set withdrawl days to allow decay wash out of the chemicals and they vary from crop to crop.
You have a maximum number of sprayings per crop.
 
I think it cost me £4.60 and to me because of disabilities was worth every single penny .
International playboy & liar .
Man of the world not a country

 

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