Large Cabbage White Caterpillar

[skinny_bum]

Can any one help me, just come home form holiday to find that all of my purple sprouting, and others are being eaten or should I say HAVE been eaten by thousands of the caterpillars, there are some many that if you are still you can hear them munching away , can my plants be saved or should I just dig them up, what do I do with all the caterpillars, some are even making their way from the plants up my house to move on to the next stage ready for next year.
What I have learnt even if it is the hard way is that I am going to use fleece next year or net.
A very sad SB

[oldherbaceous]

Dear SB, we too have a lots of caterpillars on our allotments this year as well.

As for your plants, i would leave them for a couple of weeks, as it is surprising what Brassica plants will get over as long as the growing tip has not been eaten.

I would check the plants carefully for any that might still be lurking.

[PLUMPUDDING]

The warmer weather has brought out masses of cabbage whites hasn't it?

I've been trying to rub off the eggs as soon as I see them, but you being away gave them the chance they needed to hatch.

My father used to make up a weak salt solution and blast them off the plants with a spray gun. It cleans the plants up and seems to deter them from laying more.

[Pollie Tunnel]

We too have been plagued by the hungry hungry caterpillars. I've tried to pick them off, but there are just too many of them.

I'm going to try to leave the plants in and see what happens. We'll just have to be a bit more proactive next year and spot them earlier, or keep them covered over. It's a pity as a love sprouting brocolli!

[Colin Miles]

I am seriously considering a vegetable cage - the 4ft high ones that Harrod Horticultural sell - with the Antibutterfly netting. This is despite my bad experience previously covering plants with netting and losing most to ring spot. Maybe the extra height and control of a cage would allow more air circulation. Anyone any experience of these?

Incidentally, the latest KG issue has Steve with his Fruit cage - wonder how much that cost?

[Monika]

We don't have a bought cage with anti-butterfly netting but we always surround our brassica bed with three foot high 1/2 inch netting (against rabbits more than anything) and then cover the entire bed with fairly close netting (from LBS, any size cut or sown to order) which is held up by bamboo canes, topped with empty plastic bottles, 8 foot canes in the middle, going down to 6 or 5 foot at the edges. That means we can walk, hoe and harvest upright under most of the netting but have to crouch towards the edges. It's not ideal but can of course be easily moved and is cheaper than a proper cage.

[Johnboy]

Hi Pollie T,
With regards to your Broccoli, Cabbage White caterpillars only normally attack the leaves and if the Broccoli is of any size when they are attacked the plants generally survive and give you quite a normal crop next spring so don't rush to pull them out.
JB.

[Malk]

Are cabbage white caterpillars black and green striped? I seem to have an infestation of these caterpillars, luckily only on my nasturtiums. I thought cabbage whites were green, IYSWIM.

[Chantal]

Odd you should say that Malk because I believed the same until I Googled the horrible things this morning. They are the stripy jobs you describe.

[Monika]

The caterpillars of the small white are green, the caterpillars of the large white (both commonly called "cabbage white") are black and yellow. The latter tend to be more obvious, that is, feeding on outer leaves whereas the little green ones of the small white creep right into the cauliflowers and calabrese and can be found on the plate of the most important guest at your posh dinner party!

[Pollie Tunnel]

Thanks JB - phew! What with all the rain I haven't managed to do anything about my broccoli yet - I'll leave them where they are and see if I get anything next spring.... Thanks again,