Cabbage whites

[Beryl]

I expect you are all experiencing the same but it was like a snow storm on the lottie today. So many Cabbage white butterflies. I've never seen anything like it in my 20 years of allotmenteering.
Even those plants under cover of netting were not completely
safe, they were managing to fold their wings and squeeze through.

I dread to think just how many caterpillars there are going to be.

Beryl.

[Westi]

Ditto Beryl

Today there has been loads about. I found them under netting
and environmesh so spent quite a time re-directing them back
out but I expect they are back under now I am home again.
There are loads at home also - neighbour was well impressed
with the number of the 'pretty white butterflies'!

Must be this sudden onset of summer

Westi

[glallotments]

When reading up on cabbage whites for an article for my website I found out that a second generation emerge from mid July to the end of August and in good years (for the butterfly) the third generation from September to October.

The population of the Large White is increased in August by swarms arriving from the continent.

So maybe some of yours are migrants.

[Beryl]

Thanks for that glallotments.
Does that mean we can ship them back on the next ferry then?

if only.

Beryl.

[glallotments]

You'd have to catch them first

[Parsons Jack]

You'd have to catch them first

It's never easy getting rid of immigrants once they've got in to the country

[Elaine]

Hi Beryl. There were lots of large whites around here too, on Sunday but not so many small whites. They were everywhere, not just on our allotment...we had one stuck to the car windscreen at one point as we drove along! It managed to un-glue itself when we stopped.
Cheers.

[MrsL]

Lots of whites of both kinds here thsi year, mainly on the buddleias; brassicas unscathed in the main, so far, must prefer the buddleias.

[retropants]

lots and lots of large whites this year. Especially in the garden, where my seedlings live before they get transplanted to the plot. My brassicas in the cold frame (early purple sprouting and romanesco amongst them) are completely decimated. I hope they will recover, but I've already picked them over several times for eggs and caterpillars, but due to foot surgery a few weeks ago, I have not really been to the bottom of the garden as much as usual, and DH to be isn't keen on squishing the blighters, he'd rather transplant them somewhere else!! I shall now be able to plant them out at the weekend, as my foot has recovered sufficiently for a little light planting!

[glallotments]

The insect netting seems to be working - one or two find a way in but so far we haven't had much damage.

No spraying or squishing!

[Elaine]

Hi Everyone. Probably as a result of the influx of White butterflies a couple of weeks ago, we spent ages last night squishing hundreds (no exaggeration unfortunately!) of minute caterpillars on our brassicas. This is in spite of going around rubbing eggs off them too! Some young plants were reduced to the mid-ribs by the newly hatched little blighters which were so tiny we must have missed them first time around
Grrr!
Cheers!

[JohnN]

I don't know if what I've done is clever or stupid, but when my sprouts (inside a fruit cage!) were attacked by CWs I put up some short bamboo stakes among them and carefully transferred a couple of spiders from the greenhouse to the stakes. I now have a "net" of webs among the sprouts - and no sign of CWs!. Do spiders harm sprouts is my only worry?

Question on potato scab. Some of my spuds grown on an old compost heap have scab on. We don't fancy eating them, but are they OK to feed to the chickens?

[Zena]

Caterpillars have officially taken over slugs as my pest of the year! I've lost most of my brassicas to them - probabaly because I took no preventative action. Other posts on here refer to netting, and physically removing eggs and caterpillars from the plants. Is there anything else I should try next year?

[FelixLeiter]

You could always spray them, of course. There's a very effective biological control, Bacillus thuringensis, which quickly turns them to brown mush. It's not generally available from your gardening centre, but Green Gardener may send you some in the post. Organic treatments, though, will only rid you of a pest that has already taken hold. As a preventative measure, systemic insecticides are most effective.

[glallotments]

The insect netting seems to have worked well - hardly any caterpillar damage in spite of hundreds of whites flying around. The odd one or two have found their way under the net but maybe they were male as no caterpillars.

Will definitely use it again next year as it also doubled up to keep the wood pigeons off too!