The lovley looking things have or are eating everything in my little veg garden :( I've tried spraying with water and washing up liquid but that hasnt helped. Whats the best way to kill them??
Pick them off and squash them. Trouble is, the tricky ones move into the heart of the plant to conceal themselves from natural predators and so they're hard to find. You'll see their droppings, though, if they're still "in residence". It's also worth going out at night with a torch to see if you can find them.
Hmm, never seen any caterpillars on my nasturtiums. Black fly, now that's another matter. I have sometimes wondered whether having nasturtiums as a sacrificial plant to attract black fly away from other plants is any use, or whether instead all that it does is attract more black fly to the garden, most of which end up on the nasturtiums but with a goodly colony or so migrating to the beans etc. Any views on that? Anyway, back to the caterpillars, £25 for a 3 week treatment seems a bit steep. Especially since 3 weeks is most certainly not the end of vulnerability. I go with Flinty: Squish Squish Squish. And perhaps netting to start out with, to keep the pesky butterflies away from laying there in the first place. Just got a set of Build-A-Balls from Dobies. Bit late in the season, but will keep me happy this weekend. By the way, my brassicas have two distinct types of caterpillar on them. One (the most numerous) is the good old cabbage white. The other is a pure green, smooth caterpillar. Any ideas what that would be? PS. Squish, Squish, Squish. And if you are squ(eam)ish, wear a pair of marigolds.
My caterpillars are smooth and bright green. There are a few that are brown with yellow on them but not as many as the green ones. Keep us updates about your balls 1eyedjack and let us know if they're worth investing in :D
Hi folks. I too have had real problems with these blighters. My autumn and winter cabbages have pretty much had it. I DID cover my late spring/early summer cabbages using 'enviromesh' which works very well, but is rather expensive at around £3 a metre. What I SHOULD have done was to cover the lot (swede too). A lesson learned, I think, and with that in mind I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy more 'enviromesh' for next year. Cheers...freddy.
I heard on the radio a few days ago that butterflies have had a bad summer this year - except large and small cabbage whites! Adam I'm convinced the best defence against caterpillars is small mesh (<10mm) netting, backed up by daily inspection and manual removal of any that get past the outer defences. If you really want to spray, I've noticed that Provado's Ulitimate Bug Killer claims it can "reduce feeding damage by caterpillars". But ask yourself this - where will some of the caterpillars die if sprayed with a systemic insecticide? That's right, tucked away in the nooks and crannies of your cabbage leaves.....
Strangely I've seen none at all... I really like them except for when they're eating the veg :D Maybe your veg is better than mine? :D
Lol could be but we ain't gonna get to taste ours :thumb:. I found a caterpillar on my apple tree today that was black with red and yellow markings and a big spike about a third from it head. Never seen one like that before. My hubby chucked it next door :D
Well it is now 27 December and I am still squishing caterpillars (small white variety mainly) from my broccoli at a rate of about half a dozen to a dozen every weekend (too dark to see mid-week when I am not at work). How long does this go on? I have not seen any butterflies around to lay eggs for months.
Jack any chance of a picture,most moths and butterflies have finished their lifecycle by october and any frosts usually kill off any pillars that have not changed into a pupae,unless you are growing indoors we could be looking at something else.
