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| Scarlet Kale |
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Caterpillar Squishing
There hasn't been as much Cabbage White caterpillar damage on the Brassicas this year, I think the weather may have something to do with it, but the last few evenings, I have been squishing caterpillars that have taken a liking to my scarlet kale. The lay on the central rib mainly, but don't seem to do much damage, possibly because kale has such a tough leaf. I like to grow this coloured kale, exactly because it is coloured and very ornamental, I have underplanted it with a frilly red-tipped lettuce which the slugs don't seem to touch. So the whole patch is very colourful, I just wish I didn't have to spend any spare time I have in getting rid of those destructive little blighters.
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I don't see many caterpillars on the plot, but I don't grow any brassicas! Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do for winter veg then Flighty. Brassicas are my mainstay.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting my blog, Elaine, and leaving comments. Urghhh, I can't squish anything, it makes me cringe even thinking about it. I have all my brassicas netted to prevent the Cabbage Whites getting to them, though I haven't seen that many around this year, certainly fewer than normal. It's a lovely coloured kale that you're growing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. There have been very few butterflies in my garden (though most of those have been Cabbage Whites), so thankfully not much caterpillar damage. Love the kale. Is it "Red Russian"?
ReplyDeleteI have many cabbage whites visiting the garden but luckily not the caterpillars. I would not want to be out squishing them. But I do have the slugs and I suspect they will be numerous next year with the wet spring we had. I have seen many tiny ones that will be full size very soon. Oh, BTW, and I love the name of your blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments - I had a 'light bulb' moment regarding the name of the blog.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Elaine. I'm working up to being able to squish tiny caterpillars. I took a very offputting macro photo of some last year; it's not a subject that needs to be seen close up.
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