brassicas mystery

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rowlandwells

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brassicas mystery
« on: October 09, 2019, 17:59 »
I know we have talked about caterpillars slugs and aphid damage but I've got a brassica problem that I don't know what the hell's causing it

I've put small mesh netting on the brassicas bed sprayed the plants with caterpillar spray put slug pellets round the plants but still the leaves have been striped bare and no sight of slugs or  caterpillars on the leaves every day you come back and there's another couple of plants stripped and whatever it is has started on the swede leaves but there's  still some blue pellets left on the ground

as I said its a mystery never had this happen before always been able to put the finger on it be it caterpillars slugs or aphid and what makes me so mad if I knew what it was I could possible rectify the problem and to add insult to injury two plots away there are perfect cabbage no holes good size not netted not sprayed  :mad:

the only thing that comes to mind is flee beetle ? because I know it attacks and decimates fields of rape as that is a brassica? so all I can do is watch the plants being decimated don't know perhaps  I should pull up the plants and spray the ground with Jayes fluid has anyone got any thoughts or advise on this topic that would help solve the brassicas mystery

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andyww2013

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Re: brassicas mystery
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2019, 18:36 »
Me to, they are all under enviromesh but are slowly being decimated.

It took me ages but I still find the odd caterpillars.  Most noticably I see quite allot of dark green balls on the leaves which I dont know whether its caterpillars waste or eggs...

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mumofstig

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Re: brassicas mystery
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2019, 08:09 »
Rolandwells, I'd be inclined to blame slugs, with all the rain we've been having. Have the pellets that are still there been out in the rain? If so I doubt they'd still be attractive to slugs. Try putting the bait in something like this to keep it dry -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlo0WW1CU-8
If it was caterpillar damage you'd see the frass (caterpillar poo) like andyww.

Yes, andy the green balls are caterpillar poo - are there any gaps at the bottom that the butterflies can crawl through? Another thing is planting out seedlings that already have eggs on them - I've done that before  ::)
Last but not least, have you got leaves touching the netting? The butterflies can squeeze eggs directly onto the leaves where they touch  :ohmy:

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rowlandwells

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Re: brassicas mystery
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2019, 09:09 »
caterpillars  did seem to be the problem but there is no evidence of caterpillar poo [dark green balls] on any leaves that have been attacked but not completely eaten

and I take your comments regarding the nets but they are netted securely no holes so having said all that I'm going to give the plants that's left a strong garlic spray today to see what happens

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rowlandwells

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Re: brassicas mystery
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2019, 17:01 »
as I said previously couldn't find any caterpillar poo but after spraying the plants yesterday I found one solitary caterpillar very small I must admit but nevertheless its caterpillars or a caterpillar causing the damage a little green one probably why I hadn't noticed it until I actually pulled up a couple of plants

also found some dark green caterpillars with yellow stripe om my spring cabbage plants in the tunnel yesterday so I quickly sprayed plants and having checked the plants today it appears to have sorted them

so the brassicas mystery solved and looking back my wife said the caterpillar eggs must have been on the plants when I planted them out the tunnel  although I  sprayed them before planting obviously the spray I used wasn't strong enough but I've rectified that with a new spray mixture they don't like that old red pepper powder mix so its hand up I've learnt my lesson  :(



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