i never saw this before!

[tjg911]

one of my 9 cabbage plants showed signs of a cat eating the inner leaves that were forming a head. must be cabbage lopper cats and i forgot to get the bt when i saw it this am. so late in the afternoon when i was spreading leaves i went over and looked in the leaf curls. there was something dark so i stuck my thumb and index finger in, felt a really fat soft thing and pulled out a fat cat. but instead of it being green (cabbage lopper) it was brownish green - a big fat cut worm an inch long! normally they cut down young plants but this one was nestled in the forming head. this was quite a surprise, i have never seen a cut worm in a cabbage plant!

tom

[kath]

Saw the exact same thing this year and couldn't believe it!

kath

[Darren Abbey]

It took me a reading halfway through the first post to realize that 'cat' was meaning 'caterpillar'. I was confused at the image of a cat eating cabbage and then bedding down in the remains of the plant...

[kath]

Tom, I thought of you today when I found another cutworm eating a leaf of a tomato plant at a height of about 2'! I never saw this before either.

kath

[barkeater]

Gross! I was planning on sowing fall cabbage and broccoli this weekend
Maybe I'll skip it now.

[kath]

double post- sorry, see below

[kath]

Originally Posted by barkeater

Gross! I was planning on sowing fall cabbage and broccoli this weekend
Maybe I'll skip it now.

Sorry- it really is gross to find them in there. I was planning to do the same this weekend- glad to know I've got the timing ok- thought it might be a little early. The flat of starts is in the garden and the flea beetles are already giving them a hard time along with the cabbage butterflies. They look a lot sorrier than the spring starts- they're probably going to hate the heat wave that's coming- guess I'll put them in the shade from 10-2.

kath

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by Darren Abbey

It took me a reading halfway through the first post to realize that 'cat' was meaning 'caterpillar'. I was confused at the image of a cat eating cabbage and then bedding down in the remains of the plant...

Me too, and I wasn't sure if BT would work on a cat.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by barkeater

Gross! I was planning on sowing fall cabbage and broccoli this weekend
Maybe I'll skip it now.

why? just get some BT and you're good to go.



kath,

a cut worm 2' up a plant? that is amazing!

tom

[barkeater]

Tom,

Even with bt I've had little green worms in my broccoli in the fall. Granted, it was broccoli planted in the spring that got huge and kept pumping out nice side shoots until October. i'm not as worried about the cabbage as it seems to be easier to get complete spray coverage.

Kath,

I'm not putting in transplants but am direct sowing my fall broccoli and cabbage plus carrots and brussel sprouts this weekend. We are supposed to reach 100 in some areas Wednesday and Thursday so I'm kind of glad I took the lazy way out planning for fall! We are already in drought conditions over by Lake Champlain, but the nice thing is the lawn stopped growing - so no mowing this week, but I am watering the veggies a lot.

[tjg911]

you could cover the top of each broccoli plant with floating row cover material. covering entire plants may be difficult as broccoli, at least all the varieties i have grown, get quite tall and wide using a lot of frc.

i made a pvc cage and cover it with bird netting to stop the finches from pecking my heads to death. the up side is that cabbage moths seldom can get thru the 3/8" netting grid so i seldom spray the broccoli any more.

you could use netting if suspended above the plants, wrap with frc or spray BT and place the broccoli in water for 10 minutes, the cats will fall off. i like broccoli and would not stop growing it cause of this.

tom

[barkeater]

tom,

I've been thinking about setting up something next year like you suggest. It is a pain soaking everything and still seeing so many worms floating up even after spraying bt!

I've been looking at the low tunnel bender in the Johnny's Seed catalog then covering with the lightest weight row cover material. I only need maybe enough for 30-40 feet or so and it would extend the season a bit if I throw my frost covers over top, probably into November. That is also when the first deer are coming into the yard to get to the apple drops and anything they can grab that's still in the garden.

[kath]

Originally Posted by barkeater

Kath,

I'm not putting in transplants but am direct sowing my fall broccoli and cabbage plus carrots and brussel sprouts this weekend. We are supposed to reach 100 in some areas Wednesday and Thursday so I'm kind of glad I took the lazy way out planning for fall! We are already in drought conditions over by Lake Champlain, but the nice thing is the lawn stopped growing - so no mowing this week, but I am watering the veggies a lot.

Well, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll give that a try again if I can find some room. I think the transplants might be going in a bit early. I've been happy about the drier weather, but I spent a lot of time watering today too in anticipation of the extreme temps that are on the way. I hate to see the grass stop growing- DH mows and the grass clippings go in the garden to keep down the weeds.

kath

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by barkeater

I've been looking at the low tunnel bender in the Johnny's Seed catalog then covering with the lightest weight row cover material. I only need maybe enough for 30-40 feet or so and it would extend the season a bit if I throw my frost covers over top, probably into November.

that should work but i think it may be a hassle getting into the plants. broccoli needs to be harvested every few days when they are sending out the side shoots. cabbage is a 1 time harvest so not a big deal. the bird netting won't extend the season but i've been using the same netting for at least 4 seasons, probably 5 or 6. frc won't last too long, maybe just 1 season, 2 at the most, i have used it.

tom

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by Mudman

Me too, and I wasn't sure if BT would work on a cat.

LOL it must be too early on a Monday for me. I read the post almost completely through before realizing it was not a CAT. I was so confused thinking I had no idea Cats eat Cabbage!

Cutworms are so gross. eww.