The Garden Muse - What's Eating Your Cabbage/title> <meta name="keywords" content="garden, questions, answers, canada, bc, british columbia, cabbage, looper, cabbageworm, control" />  <META NAME="description" CONTENT="There are two types of green caterpillars that commonly dine on cabbages in BC - the cabbage looper and the so-called cabbageworm (a caterpillar despite its name). ">  </head> <body> <table align="center" width="80%"> <tr><td> <p align="center"><img src="../images/garden_muse2.gif" alt="Garden Muse - Garden Information with a Twist of Lyme"/></p> <hr align="center" color="#333333"></td> </tr> <tr align="center"><td><a href="../lyme.html"><img src="../images/lyme.gif" border="0" alt="Lyme Disease"></a> <img src="../images/flower.gif" alt="flower"> <a href="../articles.html"><img src="../images/articles.gif" border="0" alt="Garden Articles" /></a> <img src="../images/flower.gif" alt="flower"> <a href="../questions.html"><img src="../images/q_a.gif" border="0" alt="Questions & Answers" ></a> <img src="../images/flower.gif" alt="flower"> <a href="../about.html"><img src="../images/about.gif" border="0" alt="About" /></a> <hr align="center" color="#333333"> </td></tr> <tr><td> <img src="../images/answers.gif" alt="The Answers" /> <p><b>My cabbages have big holes in the leaves and I’m finding green caterpillars on the underside of the leaves. What are they and what can I do about them?</b> </p> <p>There are two types of green caterpillars that commonly feast on cabbages in BC: the cabbage looper and the so-called cabbageworm (a caterpillar despite its name). </p> <p>Cabbageworms are the immature form of those white or pale yellow butterflies that flit around gardens on sunny days. Cabbage loopers, on the other hand, are the immature form of a grey moth that also flits around gardens, but at night when you aren't around to notice them.</p> <p>Both pests feed on members of the Brassica family, which includes cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, radishes, turnips and many Chinese vegetables. Both pests leave large, ragged holes in the leaves. </p> <p>Cabbage loopers are pale green with a white stripe down their backs and move in a looping motion similar to an inch worm. Cabbageworms are darker green and lack the racing stripe and cool moves.</p> <p>Getting rid of these pests is as easy as hand-harvesting them on a daily basis. There are a couple of good reasons for doing this. First, these caterpillars rarely do enough damage to warrant the use of chemicals, even organic ones. Second, these caterpillars are a favorite target of predatory wasps and hand-harvesting allows these wasps to go about their business unharmed. Spraying can kill these tiny wasps, creating an imbalance in your garden’s ecosystem that will only make more work for you in the long run. </p> <p>You can also plant a trap crop, such as bok choy, which will distract the moths from your more valuable food crops. Floating row covers placed over your cabbages before the arrival of the first butterflies will prevent them from laying eggs on your cabbages. </p> <p>Lastly, keeping your garden weeded will deprive insects generally, and moths specifically, of a place to hang out as they plot against your garden. </p> <p>If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at <a href="mailto:vanessa@gardenmuse.ca">vanessa@gardenmuse.ca</a>.</p> <p> </p> <hr align="center" color="#333333"> <div align="left"><a href="../index.html"><img src="../images/home.gif" border="0" alt="Home"/> </a> <div align="right" class="copyRight">Copyright 2009 - 2010 Vanessa Farnsworth </div> </p> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>