[MickyB]

Hello All, 
After an 18 month wait I finally got allocated an allotment this year 
I am a total newbie when it comes to growing but I have made a start with potatoes, onions, carrots, cauliflower, brussel's, strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, peas, sweetcorn and cucumber.
Being new to growing I purchased a couple of books to read and have found that the other allotment holders are always good for giving lots of advice although quite often I am given conflicting advice and don't know the best course of action 

I have a question regarding one current dilemma......
I have my cabbages and cauliflower under fleece grow tunnels one of the other allotment holders said that I should remove them soon as they might be forced and not form correctly, I am not sure if this is good or bad advice as I thought uncovering them would leave them open to cabbage fly, thoughts?

Any help would be appreciated.

I added a early and current photo of my plot to the post.

Cheers Mick.

[New shoot]

Hi Micky

Your plot is looking really good 

I grow brassicas under tunnels, but use net rather than fleece.  Fleece may be too warm and may cut the light down too much, but I haven't used them so don't take this as gospel.  Uncovering your plants will leave them open to attack.  I find cabbage white butterflies the worst pests, but net keeps them off 

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Hey Mick,

You've done an amazing job of your plot...nice work! It's certainly a lot tidier than my plot!!

Seeing as brassicas don't really like to be warm, I'd take the fleece off and go with netting.

[seaside]

I agree. In the heat of mid-summer I use netting, not fleece, for brassicas. Try and buy netting that is fine enough to also keep off cabbage white as well as the birds, about 8mm. Some people use the very fine scaffold netting or the far more expensive enviromesh, that is guaranteed ( sort of ) to keep off most pests. It also helps to protect some of the brassicas from wind rock that can have a bad effect on the eventual crop, especially Brussels.

[J_B]

plot looks lovely well done

[MickyB]

Thanks for the kind comments and the advice  I am pleased I asked as I would of left it on.

I will remove and replace the fleece ASAP.

I could leave the hoops in place, remove the fleece and replace it netting/mesh, does the netting just need to be fine enough to prevent butterfly's getting onto the crops? Would the type of mesh photographed below be any good?  If not could someone point me in the direction of something suitable and readily available.

Garlic spray was mentioned to me as solution to keeping pests at bay, sounds good but I am not sure I want garlic flavoured cabbages!

Cheers Mick.

[Jon Gale]

Haxnicks do some ready made with netting on similar to the fleece ones in your photo. Our ironmongers in town has them at £11.99 each, but you could probably find them cheaper on Amazon or e-bay. Probbalyu not too much different to the cost of the netting you have pictured, and a darn site easier. Also, you would still have your fleece tunnels for another time.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

A lot of people use plastic tubing from a local DIY centre and put debris netting over the top. You can pick up a 20m x 3m wide roll of debris netting from eBay for £20...not sure how much the plastic tube is!

[GrannieAnnie]

I use debris netting now, but I used to use the black pond netting from Wilko.  That is quite small, but I still found white butterflies folding up their wings to sneak through it! 

[seaside]

Online scaffold netting is definitely the way forward if one has a use for so many metres. I am using enviromesh this year but then I had a mad moment when I could afford it... and it was a reasonable price at our allotment site shop... 2m wide @£1.95 per metre. Very reasonable. We have a great shop.
As for the widely available green nets, they tend to get ripped far too easily, and there are two sizes. As others have said, the larger size will not keep out the butterflies.

[MickyB]

I replaced the fleece with netting from Wilkinson's, I thought it looked OK however the holes are 10mm so I now think that it is probably not going to be as effective as I was hoping keeping the butterflies out, although it does look to be the same as everyone else around me is using.

The debris netting looks the way to go, it would take a few days to arrive if I ordered now, would it be worthwhile replacing the Wilkinson's netting, or should I just leave it for this season?

[DD.]

I'd replace it before the cabbage white season peaks!

[MickyB]

I ordered some debris netting hopefully it on arrive Tuesday, thanks for all the help and advice. Just one final question; the netting was available in different colours, I opted for black, does the colour make a difference?

[bravemurphy]

I have white but I think black may stop the light getting in.

[seaside]

10mm is just a bit too big, but it does stop hordes of butterflies, as they do have to work at it, and the action of the odd few caterpillars is quickly spotted and dealt with. What I did last year with my "stock" of rather too large netting was double it up. That seemed to stop them in their tracks.

To be honest there are other pests that can decimate brassicas far worse than the odd cabbage white. Mealy aphids can cause havoc with kale, and Brussels, and then there's the whitefly, let alone cabbage root fly that can harm small seedlings. So fine mesh is sadly the way to go... I say sadly, as it doesn't look right somehow.
I wouldn't have thought the colour black would be a concern in this case. The mesh size is the mesh size. I doubt hardly any light penetrates the actual nylon/polywhatsit itself.