[Earthy]

Hi all,

At the risk of sounding totally stupid are cabbage whites a big a problem as made out to be.  Jo from GW, said that pigeons were a problem for brassicas and put down netting to prevent pigeons.  The lady next door uses wide netting too and didnt seem at all bothered about the cabbage whites stuck on the inside of her netting.  Another neighbour didnt have anything preventative.

We have a very fine netting on ours and we still got butterfly eggs on them but so far not that much damage, am I being naive? or is the worst yet to come?

Thank you
Earthy.

[Ice]

The only problem you will have is if you allow the eggs to turn into caterpillars, then your crops will be savaged.  Just rub the eggs off with a fingernail.

[Mitsy]

I'm constantly removing eggs and caterpillers 

[canwickplot]

I haven't had any trouble with caterpillars this year as yet, fingers crossed. I used a rhubarb tonic on the whole brassica bed though, and I can't work out whether it's been an effective deterrent or not. They fly around the plants but I'm still unsure as to whether they deem them a good place to drop off their kids!! I use a netting but there are gaps. The netting was a deterrent against partridges and other pests earlier in the season. Cabbage white caterpillars can have a really damaging effect on greens though. I had to remove loads off of my Japanese Greens last year, and that was quite late in the season.

[Spana]

Yeh, they'll ruin your crop in no time if you leave them.  Nets need to be raised up of the plants .  If the net touches the leaves the butterflies still lay their eggs and you just have caterpillars under netting.  There are two types of caterpillar from cabbage whites, the yellow and black stripey ones which you will find in big groups and you can pick these off but the worst of all is a single green one that get down and hides in the middle and does the damage before you know hes there

[Aunt Sally]

You might find that your friends who are not worried about caterpillars use sprays to eradicate them.

[peapod]

Net net net IMO, its not worth the hassle to leave it to chance. I lost loads last year, and my friend this year too (with large hole netting)
Ive now got debris netting up on all my brassicas (except swede) and they are looking luverly (and crosses fingers now)

[JulieP]

Lost ALL my Brussels last year when we were away on holiday - came home to stalks - wouldn't have minded but it was the beginning of October!! - Netting is a MUST.

[Beetroot queen]

I netted my cabbages and they look lovely I used enviromesh and worked out it cost £20 in net for the bed. LOL they better be good 

[Salmo]

Netting has to have holes of 7mm or less to keep out butterflies. A lot of netting in garden centres is 10 0r 15 mm so red the label

[DD.]

I netted my cabbages and they look lovely I used enviromesh and worked out it cost £20 in net for the bed. LOL they better be good 

It darn well should do - it's kept the carrot fly of my carrots a treat & it'll last years!

[Beetroot queen]

I netted my cabbages and they look lovely I used enviromesh and worked out it cost £20 in net for the bed. LOL they better be good 

It darn well should do - it's kept the carrot fly of my carrots a treat & it'll last years!

I might have to try carrots, I am really worried it will fail so have avoided them so far 

[aelf]

I haven't had any trouble with caterpillars this year as yet, fingers crossed. I used a rhubarb tonic on the whole brassica bed .

Not heard of rhubarb tonic - how do you make it?

[Brixton Crack Squirrel]

I would echo the comments on the size of the mesh needed. I was (rather smugly) happily watching two cabbage whites fluttering around above the 10mm netting on my brassica bed and then less happily watching them fly straight throught the netting without a moments pause  and on to my cabbages.

I'm going to pick off the eggs I can find, but are there any sprays I can use in case I miss some. I mean sprays of the olive, soap and water type concoctions rather than chemicals.

[Jonajo]

I had a problem with caterpillars, even with 7mm netting although to be fair the netting I used initially would have let the butterflies in to lay eggs, and I must have missed a few of the eggs and caterpillars - despite an hour or so on a caterpillar-squashing spree.

Now every few days I go and check them and do some egg-cleansing and a similar squashing spree on those that had still been missed - theraputic, for sure but tedious after a while!!!

But I am sure there will come a time when they will all die off!