This morning I covered my broccoli and kale seedlings with row cover to protect against the caterpillar of the cabbage white butterfly. Gretta says there are also flea beetles around. Both are a real problem and will eat the seedings down to nothing. So these guys get to be covered all season. Later I'll make taller hoops.
cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae)
4 comments:
I call them flea beetles. They like brassicas (kale, cabbage, many asian greens, etc.). UMass Extension agent Ruth Hazzard did some studies on ways to control them. You'll find more information than you probably want here: http://www.umassvegetable.org/soil_crop_pest_mgt/insect_mgt/eggplant_flea_beetle.html
UMass Extention has a weekly newsletter during the growing season that reports on prevalence of pests and diseases that farms in the northeast are experiencing. Might be of use to you.
Happy growing!
Gretta
Thanks Gretta. I wondered what they looked like. I'll cover my arugula too. I probably have both flea beetles and cabbage worm.
It's great to see Skippy in nearly all your photos! He loves having his photo taken!
I haven't had too much trouble with pests in my garden but this is my first year trying broccoli. I have 6 seedlings I've already transplanted out and now I'm nervous to lose them to these insects I never thought about. I've never covered anything in my garden before-- am I likely to lose my seedlings to the caterpillar, white butterfly or flea beetles?
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