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Talkback: Cabbage white caterpillars

Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
in Talkback
If you are vigilant you can spot the clusters of yellow eggs on the leaves; squashing them is more humane and less messy!
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  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I have to cast doubt on your method, the cabbage whites are foul tasting to birds both as caterpillars and butterflies. There is a theory that the Brimstone which is the first butterfly to herald spring survives because the birds mistake it for the foul tasting cabbage whites! If there are brassicas or even radishes near the path then the larger caterpillars will crawl back on to them and continue their life cycle.



    I had to resort to 'deris plus' which gave me a break from caterpillar picking and also sorted the whitefly. A fine mesh is the only certain answer however on the allotments many plotholders just leave there crops to be consumed thus exacerbating the problem by allowing the cabbage white populations to increase. The same goes for potato blight if people just leave the haulms to propagate spores. Gardeners should look after their crops or compost them?

  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    We love to see the the caterpillars and get round the problem by having a patch of nasturtiums in the corner which both cabbage whites love and we dislike. All butterflies need a helping hand.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I know exactly how you feel - I've had brassicas stripped to skeletons on numerous occasions. But not this year! - I grew them in a raised bed and fixed a butterfly-proof net around them - just like the bird protection for my straw, and it worked! I've been keeping a close eye on the plants and so far have found just five caterpillars (Heaven knows how they got in!). So this year it's home-grown sprouts for Christmas, for the first time in years.

    The reason I found this blog was that I was Googling for information about when the Cabbage White butterfly stops laying eggs - i.e. when can I remove my netting?! - the plants are trying to burst out! Can anyone advise?

  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Thanks to all the above!! I took on my allotment last year and seem to have only produced broccoli to feed the caterpillars :-( Although I started the season with nets over all the brassicas the broccoli grew too tall and found such a pain every time I wanted to weed. I WILL definitely be keeping netting on next year and am going to try tying canes along the long edge of the nets as a weight and to ease access when i need to open the bed up for weeding. As I am one of the girlies that can not yet pluck up the courage to pick through them, I am Hopeful there is still plenty of other ideas for not spraying.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Hereisabee is right in thinking that large white caterpillars are distasteful to birds. Even though some humans like the taste of cabbage, the uncooked leaves contain glucoseinolate toxins which are poisonous to most animals. The caterpillars of the large white butterfly are not only able to metabolize the toxins, they actively sequester the main one, called sinigrin and store in their bodies making them toxic to predators. This is why they feed brazenly and gregariously, openly advertising (even flaunting) their presence. The caterpillar of the small white, on the other hand, does not use this defence, and is readily eaten by any birds lucky enough to find it. Instead it relies on its subtle green colour to camouflage it against the midribs of the leaves.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I haven't grown cabbage or cauli or brocolli or sprouts. The pesky cw caterpillars have destroyed my onion leaves instead (and radishes).
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    As I can't bring myself to kill the cabbage white caterpillars on my brassicas, I pick them off, put them in a large jar with some leaves and then set them free up the hills, in the woods or in wildlife areas when I'm walking the dog (obviously not near crops/gardens). I do the same with slugs and snails too.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I grow nasturtiums in our back yard, for decoration and addition to salads. This year they were really hammered by Large White caterpillars, which have since pupated - my contribution to wildlife in central Portsmouth! The nasturtiums are now recovering, & still flowering beautifully. One year I tried growing nasturtiums in our 'front garden' - two wall baskets. The butterflies found them there too. Unfortunately, the plants being smaller, they didn't survive.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    i had my swede and cabbage covered with enviromesh and the little wotsits still managed to get in. Just how do they do it? now just picking off caterpillars and squashing eggs daily. at least as its getting cold they should stop soon.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Don't know if it is any consolation, but something to feel smug about.....went to Wisley on Friday morning, glorious sunshine and veritable plagues of whitefly hovering over the brussel sprouts....most satisfactory!
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