Cabbage White Butterfly.

Planet X

Growing Broccoli and cabbages amongst other stuff,so this afternoon, I take the netting off the Broccoli thinking that it's well on, getting pretty big. Cabbages still netted.
Down the garden having a mooch and spot the butterfly hovering around for a few minutes. He lands on the underside of a Broccoli leaf. Caught. Leave him there for a few minutes. Flys away. Go to investigate and.......







.......lays his eggs.

So it ain't only cabbages!!! Nets back on. I'm new, this year to growing my own. Live and learn!

bmaxi

Planet X wrote: »

.......lays his eggs.

???.
Cabbage whites will attack anything in the brassica family not just cabbages

Dr Galen

great pics!

little feckers ruined a crop of broccoli i had doing nicely on the allotment. went round for hours one day finding and squishing. there was a nice little heap of them for the birds

old boy

steep some rubarb leaves in water for a few weeks (this stinks) spray the brassicas with this, end of probs, do not let this mixture get too strong, because the taste will be on the cooked product, also it can be pisonous.

Dizzyblonde

I'm growing cabbage and broccoli for the first time too and fighting off the butterflies. I have netting in place with no gaps that I could see, and the other day I looked out to see a butterfly had gotten in and was laying eggs. They're crafty little feckers, lol.

Planet X

.....................and about to march, on an empty stomach.

Sleipnir

Are you camped out under that leaf of something?
Great photo!

Planet X

Sleipnir wrote: »

Are you camped out under that leaf of something?
Great photo!

Exactly.
The Slow Movement brigade.

bauderline

Indeed...

Fantastic photos !! Munchity Crunchity...

Planet X

Time to slaughter the critters soon eh?...........

Dr Galen

thats going to be more satisfying than bubble wrap bursting

Planet X

True! :D:D

r3nu4l

Cabbage whites don't just lay on vegetables. We have a variegated maple tree in our back garden and they have laid a huge number of eggs on the tree, both leaves AND bark!

The most annoying thing is that I can't get high enough into the tree to get all the caterpillars so my cabbages are now growing under small enclosed polytunnels!

JuliusCaesar

Thought I might leave the caterpillers - everyone likes butterflies! - but....now it seems there are zillions of them on my nastertiums. Is the only way of getting rid of them by hand? (ugh!)

firesidechat

A good and proven trick to deferr them is to scatter broken eggshellls
around the veggies.This gives them the illusion that the area is already
occupied and they merrily fly on to another patch.