[tosca100]

We covered our little patch with a net to keep birds and the destructive dog off, but with larger holes to make sure the insects can get in. Other than not keeping butterflies out, it works a treat and my worry about birds getting tangled seems unfounded. The sparrows can get in and out through a small opening by the fence, they are quite bright. There have been no problems with all the baby birds we have had.

[sunshineband]

I think the black would look better in the garden though , it looks quite unobtrusive in the pics on the link

I always worry that birds will fly into black netting.

Mr Sunny walked into it on the plot next door (which is run by Age Concern so we have permission to go in  ) when he went to tie up some raspberries for them 

[treasure101]

Due to work I was unable to get to my plot for a week, and my cabbages have been destroyed, by the little blighters.  I made the novice mistake of just laying the mesh over them, I won't be doing that again. I have sprayed everything else with a weak solution of washing up liquid.  As with others on here I only noticed them about in the last couple of weeks.

[carlrmj]

Hi
I put netting all over my brassicas,but this didnt stop cabbage whites getting in.In the end i took it off as i could not get to the plants to check for eggs.
During august cabbage whites were everywhere,i thought my brassicas would be decimated with caterpillars.Touch wood and i dont know why ive hardly found any
caterpillars,and they have not done much damage yet!
There has been loads of ladybirds and their larvae,as well as hoverflies and wasps
so i wonder if these have kept caterpillar numbers down?

Carl

[shokkyy]

This year I tried surrounding all the brassicas with climbing nasturtiums growing up the fence around the veggie bed. Fingers crossed, I haven't found a single caterpillar or sign of caterpillar damage on any of those brassicas. I also had some small brassica plants in pots in my coldframe, at the other end of the garden, and those have been devastated by cabbage white caterpillars. Maybe it's coincidence, but until proved otherwise I'll carry on planting nasturtiums around my brassicas

[sunshineband]

Large and small whites both like nasturtiums as food for their larvae, so they would not actually act as a repellent.

[shokkyy]

Large and small whites both like nasturtiums as food for their larvae, so they would not actually act as a repellent.

No, they're not supposed to act as a repellent, they're sacrificial plants. The idea is the cabbage whites love them so much they only lay eggs on them and don't even notice your brassicas