July 11, 2019
We’ve had an infestation of caterpillars and they have destroyed our kale in the edible garden. Here’s the before picture:
Dinosaur Kale in June at Raincatcher’s Edible Garden
And after:
Same Kale Bed in early July after the cabbage worm attack
We are not happy to see cabbage white butterflies. They lay eggs which become destructive caterpillars on the underside of cole crop leaves.
Maybe we should have known and expected hungry caterpillars to invade. After all, on our own blog Carolyn Bush wrote about cabbage white butterflies(the adult stage of the imported cabbage worm) in a very stern manner. Here’s her story.
We also have the cross-striped cabbage worm feeding on our kale.
Cross-striped cabbage worm
Some preventive methods to try to stop the attack:
Fall sanitation. Clean up and remove infested plant material after harvest to eliminate overwintering sites of the pupae. (we will do this now)
Use row covers. Position row covers or netting over plants to prevent egg laying by the butterflies. Start controls before the white cabbage butterflies are seen fluttering around the yard.
Handpick the cabbage worms off of the underside of the leaves while plants are young and then squish them!
Companion Planting. Cabbage worms don’t like thyme-we may try this or other herbs to deter them.
What will we do with that now empty garden space?
The Edible Garden Team says let’s plant pumpkins so we are ready for our October 22nd Grow and Graze event: Seasonal Splendor, Pumpkins and Sweet Potatoes
Starla Willis and Ann Lamb
Class today: Thursday July 11, 2019, 10:00am-11:00am
Year Round Perennials, Janet D. Smith
All welcome! Please come!
Inside with air conditioning! Fellowship Hall, 11001 Midway Road, Dallas, Texas
DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ 