Cabbage worms on broccoli, what do you do?

[Mudman]

I have tried broccoli the last two years and I love how it tastes fresh out of the garden but have had problems with cabbage caterpillars when the second crop comes around. I have tried picking them and tried the BT powder and some other organic bug spray, but I always end up with them and have had some really gross situations in the kitchen. I would like an organic approach if possible. If I can't find anything that will work, I am just going to give up on it. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Tracydr]

I use dipel ( BT). Totally organic and very effective. Try the spray and make sure it's fresh. I believe it can go bad, especially if not properly stored.

[delltraveller]

To totally keep the them off, you have to keep the yellow or white cabbage butterflies off the plants so they can't lay the eggs that become your nemesis. You can cover your broccoli plants with a lightweight insect barrier fabric to keep the butterflies off.

[Wi-sunflower]

We generally use the BT too.

When we cut it we like to get it cooled down so it will keep better at the market. We put it in a large sink with heavy dose of bleach in the water (2 cups / 40 gal) and put crates on top to keep it under water for at least an hour. IF there are any worms, they usually end up on the bottom of the sink after that. The bleach helps kill them but also keeps any disease that may be unseen on a head from contaminating the whole batch.

Carol

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

We generally use the BT too.

When we cut it we like to get it cooled down so it will keep better at the market. We put it in a large sink with heavy dose of bleach in the water (2 cups / 40 gal) and put crates on top to keep it under water for at least an hour. IF there are any worms, they usually end up on the bottom of the sink after that. The bleach helps kill them but also keeps any disease that may be unseen on a head from contaminating the whole batch.

Carol

Ok, I didn't want to share this but, here goes. Last year I did what you said and soaked them in water, like I have before. Nothing came up, so no bugs, right. Wrong. They were all over, but had died in a frost. Didn't find them till they were done cooking.

[Mudman]

I can never find any BT other than the powder around here. Spray would be much better. Could I just put a fabric over them all year? The white butterflies are relentless here.

[Wi-sunflower]

OK, I think that was the factor -- they were already dead from the frost, but had stuck to the inside of the broccoli. We had 1 picking late in the year here that did the same thing. Fortunately there weren't many of them.

Earlier in the season you shouldn't have that problem.

Carol

[janezee]

Ikea has some net curtains for $5/pair. 105" wide, around 92" long. That's 2 to a package. Unless you have a 50% or more coupon at JoAnn's Fabric, you won't find netting cheaper.

[RebelRidin]

You know what they say... "An ounce of prevention..". The lightest row cover you can find to use as a barrier. What Janezee suggested sounds like it may be even better. I will have to check that out myself. I can only use the row cover a short while then I spray BT.

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by janezee

Ikea has some net curtains for $5/pair. 105" wide, around 92" long. That's 2 to a package. Unless you have a 50% or more coupon at JoAnn's Fabric, you won't find netting cheaper.

Thanks for the tip. I am checking into that tonight.

[tjg911]

it is not easy to cover broccoli plants with frc, at least mine as they get large. the cabbage moths are already around and will be all summer into fall so this is a season long problem.

call garden centers, home depot, feed and grain stores like blue seal or agway, bt in liquid concentrate is common. if home depot sells it, and i have seen it there, then almost anyone should! if you can't find it anywhere i would order a 16 oz bottle of liquid concentrate from any online garden supplier. i bought mine in the mid 90's and i have about 4 oz left and it is still effective. i store it in the garage and basement both are cool, i would not store it in a shed or garage that gets hot as that may effect it. it is well worth paying the s&h to get 16 oz if you have several dozen or hundreds of plants then look for 32 oz or a gallon. the powder is not as easy to use.

another method that works for me is bird netting with 1/2" square grid. i built a pvc cage to hang the netting on to keep the purple finches from pecking at the heads and the cabbage moths seldom can get thru it as it is so small a hole so i seldom have to use bt on broccoli now. if you grow cabbage same moth, same problem.

tom

[Ruth_10]

If you use the concentrate to make up a spray, it helps to add a few drops of dish detergent to help the liquid stick to the leaves. Otherwise water just beads up on a broccoli leaf.b

[tjg911]

that's an interesting comment ruth. did you ever do that with a foliar fertilizer spray like neptune's harvest when spraying waxy leaves like garlic and onions? it just rolls off like broccoli and cabbage so i wonder if it would help with alliums too?

i want to add that i have read to NEVER use anti-bacterial soap detergent as it kills beneficial bacteria on plants. i use dish detergent in fish milk spray to combat problems like powdery mildew on curcurbits and i spray tomatoes with it as an anti fungal. tomatoes and curcurbits seem to like milk.

tom

[MJACTIVIST]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

We generally use the BT too.

When we cut it we like to get it cooled down so it will keep better at the market. We put it in a large sink with heavy dose of bleach in the water (2 cups / 40 gal) and put crates on top to keep it under water for at least an hour. IF there are any worms, they usually end up on the bottom of the sink after that. The bleach helps kill them but also keeps any disease that may be unseen on a head from contaminating the whole batch.

Carol

Never heard of using bleach. I know its a small amount(ratio of bleach to water [ml] is 1:320), but i still dont think i would like to use bleach on my edible crops.
I have heard of using white vinegar instead of bleach.
L8
MJ