[Carollan]

After a terrible year with a white butterfly fight,which I lost ,I am looking for answers.

I used black netting ,which kept the birds away in the early days,but not the moles.I was not deterred.

Weeks later,the cabbage whites hovered in clouds above the netting,young cabbage and sprout plants beckoning to them.

I was amazed to watch how the butterflies,who looked way WAY too big to fly through the netting,hung on with their little legs and somehow ,swung their wings and body through the  gap.

They happily laid eggs in joyful abandon,then spent the same amount of time trying to escape away through the netting.They found it a little harder to escape because the netting was at the wrong angle for them to swing through,but ,swing they did.They came back the next day and laid more eggs.

Which brassicas can I grow under FLEECE and from what size seedling?
I worry that the fleece will stunt their growth or make them grow twisted.That wouldn`t matter for swede I guess,but what about all the others?

I haven`t used fleece before.I have bought an expensive amount and would like to cut it up and use it wisely.

How have you used it to it`s best advantage?

Hoping someone has some good news out there   

[goodtogrow]

You raise some interesting points, Carollan.

Sticking to the topic, Fleece, and not referring to smaller-mesh netting, I too have wondered about its light-reducing properties, but use it on carrots.

Brassicas might just need higher levels of light than carrots, to make all that leaf, so I'm led to suggest that you plant out when light levels are highest, June- end August, and daylength longest.

I also recommend big transplants, 20cms tall.

Alternatively, plant out towards the end of the butterflies' cycle, but still under fleece, until end Sept (?), then remove the fleece and replace with your pigeon-denying net.

All of which is just my opinion.

Best wishes

[bazial]

HI
   You want butterfly netting which as a mesh size of 7mm x 7mm , fleece won't last more  than 1 yr

[marcofez]

I use Debris netting for all my brassica's. Everything seems to grow ok, so light levels are good.

[mumofstig]

HI
   You want butterfly netting which as a mesh size of 7mm x 7mm , fleece won't last more  than 1 yr

That's exactly the netting size, I've been using - and I've seen them (the smaller ones) get through it  the cabbage moth has

Wingspan 37-45 mm.

so that mesh is obviously too large, and only stops cabbage whites.
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2154

I need to buy more debris netting or enviromesh!

I've never found fleece to last very long, on frames, wind and rain shred it to pieces
It's ok loose laid over things for a bit of frost protection, but that's about all IMO

[Carollan]

Thanks everyone,I shall look at the different size/types nettings.

I did notice that swede,a very important crop for my dogs , carried on growing new leaves late Sept and this month and bulked up fairly well after the caterpillars had reduced them to skeletons.Sadly though,not the cabbages and sprouts.

Ah well,next year,I`ll fight the good fight

[strider84]

Only brassica I have grown is Kale which has grown very well under the fleece.

[3759allen]

i feel your pain. i used debris netting this as it's all i had. i thought all the effort of putting it up would reward me with a healthy crop. i was wrong, found the same as you blooming cabbage whites just flew through it.

next year i'm looking at 2mm x 2mm enviro netting/ mesh. can't comment how it will do until i try it but surely they can't get through that smaller gap, hoping it will give enough light to the crop.

[DD.]

There is no way cabbage whites can fly through debris netting, unless you left a gap somewhere.

[Kristen]

There is no way cabbage whites can fly through debris netting, unless you left a gap somewhere.

I wonder if perhaps there are different types - for building projects where "catching" the debris is less important perhaps?

[DD.]

The whole idea of debris netting is to catch it - and that includes the very small bits.

Elfin safety & all that.

[Kristen]

The whole idea of debris netting is to catch it - and that includes the very small bits.

Elfin safety & all that.

Indeed But I'm thinking there must be a reason why some folk are saying that debris netting isn't working for them.  Mine is a "knit" type weave and very small gaps, and I just can't see how Cabbage White, even with wings folded up like a missile, is getting inside it ...

Perhaps a photo of people's netting where they have got in would confirm if it is the same stuff?