Inchworm and Fall Army Worm Management in Brassica
Jun 27, 2023 7:48:43 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra and woodeye like this
Post by FrostyTurnip on Jun 27, 2023 7:48:43 GMT -6
Little Miss and I have successfully kept the cabbage heads free from damage. They should be ready in a week or so. There are only 4 plus one Brussels Sprouts plant. Our little trial run has given me an idea how hard it will be to maintain a rather large crop of the same. On this trial run, I haven’t use row covers to help exclude the moths. It would seem a lot of the moths will come in late afternoon, a time where row covers are not likely to be present.
That being said, our best tool for egg removal is using a cheap 4” paint brush to sweep the eggs off the leaves.
We start at the top of the plant, sweeping the eggs from the underside of the plant. These eggs can fall on top of the leaves below. Once we have done a thorough sweep, we use the hose to wash off any remaining eggs that have fallen onto the plant and we also give a good soak to the soil below the plant where eggs might have fallen.
tiny inch worms are hard for me to see. The short haired paint brush is sufficient to squash these tiny inch worms along the way.
After all this, we spray with Bt, reapplying Bt after rains. I’m not certain how Bt works because it doesn’t adhere to the plant, but we have noticed a decrease in pests when we use it.
When we check the plants after a couple days, we can find thousands of eggs on just one leaf of the plant. We remove the lowest leaves as they turn yellow or look severely damage because those are the most likely to be targeted by the pest. *Pill bugs are often a culprit to damaged lower leaves*
A mono crop of these will certain require the use of row covers to reduce the numbers but hand removal will still be necessary.
Leave the spiders and spider nests as much as possible. Helpful dudes.
That being said, our best tool for egg removal is using a cheap 4” paint brush to sweep the eggs off the leaves.
We start at the top of the plant, sweeping the eggs from the underside of the plant. These eggs can fall on top of the leaves below. Once we have done a thorough sweep, we use the hose to wash off any remaining eggs that have fallen onto the plant and we also give a good soak to the soil below the plant where eggs might have fallen.
tiny inch worms are hard for me to see. The short haired paint brush is sufficient to squash these tiny inch worms along the way.
After all this, we spray with Bt, reapplying Bt after rains. I’m not certain how Bt works because it doesn’t adhere to the plant, but we have noticed a decrease in pests when we use it.
When we check the plants after a couple days, we can find thousands of eggs on just one leaf of the plant. We remove the lowest leaves as they turn yellow or look severely damage because those are the most likely to be targeted by the pest. *Pill bugs are often a culprit to damaged lower leaves*
A mono crop of these will certain require the use of row covers to reduce the numbers but hand removal will still be necessary.
Leave the spiders and spider nests as much as possible. Helpful dudes.
