Pests

janibrown

I have 100's of catterpiller on my Purple sprouting brocoli :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: uggggggggggg:eek::eek::eek:
have just bought some BIOLOGICAL CATERPILLAR KILLER off ebay hope it arrives before they eat my entire crop am picking them off but I dont like to touch insects or bugs they make my skin crawl
Also have whitefly in greenhouse can I use the BIOLOGICAL CATERPILLAR KILLER on the white fly ? am spraying with water and washing up liquid until it arrives from e-bay hope its soon :D:D
With my bugs on plant and a hosepipe ban things have got to get better soon, I just hope I dont get a third problem :mad::mad:
Jani :D:D

Kay_Peel

I put a "butterfly proof" net over my row of broccoli. I get very few caterpillars that way. I remove the netting when I need to put it elsewhere in my garden to protect fruit from birds.

I look for caterpillars on the underside of the leaves regularly and remove the whole leaf from the plant when I find any. I can also see little yellowy orange eggs laid by the butterfly - so I shake them off or rub them off. (It's not so bad if you wear gardening gloves). if I don't deal with them quickly then I find that the blimmin' pigeons start tearing the leaves to shreds to get at them!

You also have to remember to rotate your crops so that there isn't a build up of bugs and pests in the soil. They over-winter in the soil and just wait for a a ready made supply of food from a new season of brassicas. I'll avoid planting brassicas in that spot for at least a couple of years.

I believe that you can get a butterfly 'fleece' - but I'm not that serious about growing broccoli, sprouts, cabbage and calabrese. I just have a good length of netting to keep the butterflies and pigeons off.

ukbill69

Been asked a few times, search and you will see.