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Growing red-leaved varieties of cabbage and other brassicas can make it easier to spot them. Small White larvae are well-camouflaged, so make sure to check the ribs of leaves where they often hide. Hand-picking eggs and larvae off the plants can be laborious, but it is effective. Even under netting however, regular inspection of leaves is essential.
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If you're not sure which of your crops are likely to be affected, use the Custom Filter button to show only brassicas in the selection bar, and group these together under your netting.Ĭabbage Whites produce two broods per year (three in a favorable summer), so make sure to install the netting in spring and don't remove it until autumn. You can use the Netting icons in our Garden Planner to mark on your plan where you need it in your garden. Alternatively, burying the edges into the soil will make absolutely sure that there are no gaps. Make sure the barrier is firmly held down at the edges, with no gaps that butterflies could squeeze in through – I prefer to use bricks rather than pegs, which tend to tear netting and shorten its life. I've draped mine over hoops to make it easy to throw it back for weeding and harvesting. So how do we stop them from destroying our crops? Well, prevention is always better than cure, so the first step is to invest in some good, butterfly-proof netting. Small Whites will tunnel into the hearts of cabbages, so even if they're around in fewer numbers, a handful of larvae can still do serious damage to your crop. The butterfly will lay eggs on the undersides of leaves (singly in the case of the Small White, in groups of 40-100 by the Large White) and after a week or two the larvae will emerge, like the Very Hungry Caterpillar in my favorite childrens' book, ready to eat whatever lies in its path. If it's any consolation, the Small White is less of a voracious feeder than the Large White – as I discovered, when half a dozen robust nasturtiums were reduced to skeletons.Īs the name suggests, cabbages and other brassicas are the favored food plants of the Cabbage White larvae. The two are very similar, but the caterpillars, or cabbageworms, are distinct – the Small Whites are an unassuming pale green colour, while the Large White larvae sport a hairy black and yellow jacket.īoth butterflies are widespread throughout Britain and Europe, and the Small White has also been introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand (sorry guys!), where it's often known as the 'imported cabbageworm'. It turns out that the Small Cabbage White butterfly, while undoubtedly a pest, is nothing compared to its big brother, the unimaginatively-named Large Cabbage White.
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I do grow nasturtiums along the vegetable patch fence however, and within a matter of days I went from 'Oh look – that's an interesting caterpillar' to 'Eek! What are those caterpillars and what have they done to my nasturtiums?' Large and Small Cabbage White Butterflies Last year when I spotted large numbers of Cabbage Whites flying around, I didn't pay much attention to them at first, as I had (fortunately, as it turned out) decided not to grow any brassica crops. I considered the damage annoying, but it never reached really troublesome proportions in my garden. A few tattered rutabagas, a holey kale plant – tell-tale signs that Small Cabbage White butterflies had laid their eggs on my plants. Like many gardeners, I've been unfortunate enough to experience some brassica damage in the past.