Hit the Dirt; Pests!

Beautiful white butterflies dancing around the garden. Just another of the joys of gardening. I thought to myself when I first noticed them like last summer when my fall brassica crop was hit hard with an infestation of like green leaf munching worms. I didn't immediately make the connection. After all weren't we all taught as kids that butterflies were good bugs. Well I quickly learned that for gardeners at least some of those wing it beauties can be beasts as well. So it is with the imported cabbage one which is returned this year to plague my fall brassicas again. Here is what I have learned about them by observation readings and talking to other gardeners and entomologists. They don't cabbage worm is a white butterfly with two or three black spots and a 1 to 2 inch wingspan. It lays yellowish bullet shaped ridged eggs singly on the leaves of post plants. The eggs hatch out into tiny velvety pale green caterpillars with the yellow stripes which grow to about one and a quarter inches long before pupate. They chew large holes in leaves and if left unchecked will completely defo leave the plant leaving only the stem and main veins in the leaves.

There can be two to three generations per year and they hibernate in the people stage. While I've only seen them beginning in late summer they are supposedly one of the first butterflies out in the spring. There are ranges throughout all of North America and they feed on members of the cabbage family. In my garden their preference has been broccoli cauliflower brussel sprouts cabbage and kale in that order. They seem to greatly prefer younger plants to older ones. They can be readily distinguished from a similar garden past the cabbage Looper by the way they move blooper arches along like an inchworm and the cabbage worm does not. Well their color blends in amazingly well with the plant foliage and so make take some careful looking to see if they do leave behind dark green pellets of excrement which is another sign of their presence on a plant. Undoubtedly many of you are quite familiar with this description as the cabbage worm is probably the most common passed on coal crops in Maine and can incur in large numbers at once.

So once you have identified it what do you do. Well I've come across a number of suggested suggested controls and have tried out a few with mixed success hand-picking while labor intensive and time consuming is an old tried and true method which can work quite well if you keep up on it. This control does have the added advantage of getting the gardener out closely observing the plants and insects frequently. This familiarity forms a basic foundation of knowledge and understanding of the garden ecology. The second control is to time your planting so as to avoid the part of the pests lifecycle which is most damaging. Saying last year that the cabbage worm did not touch my spring plantings of broccoli and cauliflower. I made larger spring plantings this year for fresh eating as well as freezing. I still made a fall planting but did not rely on it for my main crop. Sure enough this year my spring crop was untouched again on my fall crop barraged. Choose less acceptable crops and

varieties this year. I'm trying to link eight different broccoli varieties and a dozen or so or so Cali flower varieties. I'll be interested to see if any of these seem more or less prone to cabbage worm damage. One can also just plant a larger garden and count on having some losses due to pests row covers can also be effective against highly mobile insects such as the adult butterfly. The covers prevent them from landing on the plants and laying eggs. Companion planting might also offer some degree of control. I've heard Rosemary time Sage tomato mint and hot peppers all recommended into planting the prosectors the peppers and tomatoes did not seem to have much effect in my garden this year but I did not try the others new biological controls in particular strains of the back Silis there in gents as bacteria are heralded as holding great promise for controlling outbreaks of Caterpillar pests such as the worm stage of the cat a cabbage worm BT under the trade name Di pal

is available from many garden supply centers. Species of trickle grama wasps also prey on the cabbage worm. Non-biological natural insecticides may also work on the cabbage worm garlic and hot pepper infusions sour milk lime and a salt and flour mix. Our options which have worked for some people. Just be sure to spray or dust the undersides of the leaves as well. Proper sanitation in the garden can be an effective preventive measure which will break the pests lifecycle and reduce its impact the following year. Killing under composting the plant debris at the end of the season will reduce the number of overwintering pupa. Lastly and perhaps the most important and effective means of control is just plain good horticulture. Keep your soil and plants healthy and they will be less prone to incest insect attacks. The more spindly and sickly looking individual plants with the first and hardest hit in my garden. So I guess next

year I will try out some new controls and continue to keep my eyes open to find out what else I can learn about these voracious green worms which turn into such innocent looking butterflies. I'd be very interested to hear what experiences any of you gardeners out there have had with a cabbage worm. Have they been a major problem. Has anyone had them bother his or her spring crops. What controls have you found effective. Please write to me. Keith go for care of your you had House Blue Hill Falls Maine 0 4 6 1 5. Also let me know of any other favorite pests you've had trouble with which you might want profiled on a future edition of hit the dirt. Well so long for now and see you next week on the radio.