[GPatt]

Hello all
I’ve been growing horseradish for about 3 years and I'm plagued with cabbage white butterfly caterpillars eating all the leaves, they love them and can strip a plant in no time.

Question: is there anything I can grow that will deter the little beggars from laying their eggs? Like marigolds with tomatoes deter aphids due to the hover flies they attract.

I’m not opposed to spraying against them but I'm of the age that I appreciate that some of what I spray will inevitably get in to the root that I end up eating.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[maxie]

If you know roughly when they are about you can squash the eggs on the underside of the leaves before they hatch,or if your too late and theyve hatched just squash them,they are easily burst.
Mind they stink when bust i tried feeding hens them once,they wouldnt look at them.

[GPatt]

Thanks Maxie

When I first saw the little blighters I spent half an hour picking them off for the chucks, thought they would love them but like yours they just turned their noses up at them, they must taste as bad as they smell.

I do the squashing on a daily basis but this can take up a lot of time and being basically a lazy gardener I thought there must be an easier way.