Cabbage Worms

What is your solution to pesky Cabbage Worms on Brassicas? Is investing in covers worth it?

I am using BT this year and it seems to be working, but they are already holey. I feel like covers are a hassle, but if it actually keeps them out, it would be worth it!

I grow in seasons of the year when the worms are not active, for example during spring, winter, and fall.

I grow varieties that are not susceptible to the worms. At least the edible parts are not bothered.

I grow purple brassicas, so that the green worms are more visible to predators.

I let the worms eat what they want and wash them off before serving them to family.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
I grow in seasons of the year when the worms are not active, for example during spring, winter, and fall.

I grow varieties that are not susceptible to the worms. At least the edible parts are not bothered.

I grow purple brassicas, so that the green worms are more visible to predators.

I let the worms eat what they want and wash them off before serving them to family.

Thanks for the tips Joseph! I do notice the worms don't like the red cabbage as much, I figured it was a camouflage issue. Normally, I would share, too, but they are DECIMATING them. So I had to try something. BT seems to work. I just don't like putting anything on them. Organic, or no.

I was just flipping through my copy of Ruth Stout's No-Work Garden Book and saw something interesting.

Quote: "I sprinkle salt on all young plants of the cabbage family and the result: no worms."

She does not specify what kind of salt.

Karen Donnachaidh wrote:I was just flipping through my copy of Ruth Stout's No-Work Garden Book and saw something interesting.

Quote: "I sprinkle salt on all young plants of the cabbage family and the result: no worms."

She does not specify what kind of salt.

Interesting...Thanks Karen. I will look into it.

I'm not saying that I agree with her, as I have never tried it or heard from anyone else who has. Just "interesting". She also says in the same paragraph that she puts cigarette ashes in her squash hills and claims that's why she's never had squash vine borers. I don't think I will be trying that one, but again interesting.

I use row covers for a number of plants, brassicas being among them. It's what I've had the most success with, as it deters many a pest, not just cabbage worms. I bought a large roll, and probably won't have to buy more for at least a few years, but I do only grow for my family, not commercially. I almost exclusively grow brassicas in the late fall and winter, and cabbage worms are still active here. But I suspect that's because we have a mild climate. I don't like using bt, because I also eat the greens. I don't mind sharing either, but they will not share, they are greedy little buggers. Good luck.

Karen Donnachaidh wrote:I'm not saying that I agree with her, as I have never tried it or heard from anyone else who has. Just "interesting". She also says in the same paragraph that she puts cigarette ashes in her squash hills and claims that's why she's never had squash vine borers. I don't think I will be trying that one, but again interesting.

Sounds plausible. Tobacco has a long history of being used as a natural insecticide. It's only fairly recently that the organic crowd has backed away from that as they came to realize how very toxic these solutions were, even though they were natural. The salt sounds plausible, too. I wouldn't want to use it unless I was sure my climate had enough rainfall to dilute it before it accumulated to 'salt the earth' quantities in the soil. I don't know how much salt that would be, though.

A couple things.

This spring, mid-March, I broadcast about 1/16 acre of oats, and broadcast a bunch of purple top turnip seed into it.  At about the same time I direct sowed kale and collards (two varieties of each).  Four or so weeks later I transplanted more kale and collards.  It has only been recently that the cabbage moths/worms have bothered the greens, though there have been plenty on the turnips.  It seems they're more attracted to turnips than greens.  (I have since read this suggestion elsewhere, as well.)

Another option, in combination, is to plant more than needed to allow for a certain amount of loss.  Bugs have to eat, too.

I've read that wild brassicas are most attractive, so encouraging those might work well.