Do tomato plants stop cabbage white on cabbage etc.

maxdp

On my raised bed out in my back garden I have sprouts cabbage and some herbs. On the plot lots of tomato plants have grown from compost I had put on the garden. I left them growing up between the sprouts and cabbage. I have had lots of cabbage white butterfly but no caterpillar and no evidence of eggs. Do the tomato plants confuse the butterflies

Gebo26

I haven't heard of this before. It is possible that the smell of the cabbages etc is masked by that of the tomatoes and therefore the butterflies don't find them.

My brassicas don't get attacked by caterpillars either, but that is because they are taken by wasps to feed their larvae. Could that be the case here?

maxdp

Gebo26 wrote: »

I haven't heard of this before. It is possible that the smell of the cabbages etc is masked by that of the tomatoes and therefore the butterflies don't find them.

My brassicas don't get attacked by caterpillars either, but that is because they are taken by wasps to feed their larvae. Could that be the case here?

Wow I did not think of that one. Have not seen any evidence of wasps in my garden yet this year, but will keep a look out. Will let you know.

Lotus-eater

Gebo26 wrote: »

My brassicas don't get attacked by caterpillars either, but that is because they are taken by wasps to feed their larvae. Could that be the case here?

Wow, brilliant, even when I had a wasp nest in the garden last year, that never happened to me! You must have a nest very close to the brassicas?

To maxdp, I have never heard of this either, I suspect partly because no one grows them together, because they are in completely different rotations. It's an interesting theory and I hope you tell us more later.

maxdp

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Wow, brilliant, even when I had a wasp nest in the garden last year, that never happened to me! You must have a nest very close to the brassicas?

To maxdp, I have never heard of this either, I suspect partly because no one grows them together, because they are in completely different rotations. It's an interesting theory and I hope you tell us more later.

I will do Lotus Eater they just started growing and I thought I would give them a chance Anyway will let you know one way or the other.

Gebo26

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Wow, brilliant, even when I had a wasp nest in the garden last year, that never happened to me! You must have a nest very close to the brassicas?

I don't know where the nest is; I just see wasps patrolling up and down the brassica rows.

This is on the allotment - the same plants get infested with caterpillars in the garden at home.

david39

On Gardener's World a couple of weeks ago they were planting nasturtiums between the rows of brassicas as cabbage white caterpillars prefer those plants to the cabbages and caulis etc.

Nasturtiums are prolific growers once they get going, so I would think you would need to keep cutting them back to give the real crop a chance.