Those "cabbage" butterflies

Am I assuming correctly, that the many white "butterflies" with a lavender spot on the wings, lay the eggs that turn into the green cabbage worms? What do other gardeners do about these beautiful but destructive pests?
Thanks

These Butterflies arrive at the same month every year so the best way to go is to keep an note when this butterfly arrival takes place and a few weeks before hand make preparations for this.

I dont use chemicals so the way I get ahead of these pests is, few weeks ahead of them laying eggs, I throw a layer of horticultural fleece over ALL the green veg these pests will visit (BUT it's worse at the cabbages) this way the light gets onto the growing plants, the rain gets through to the soil or self watering, after there is no sign of these little butterflies, you can remove the fleece, (by the way, the fleece is sold either by the meter or by the sheet from garden stores) costs a few dollars, can be washed and stored for the next year.

If by chance I leave it too late to prevent the Butterflies laying their eggs, these hatch and turn into Caterpillars, the green worm type things you see.
You either put gloves on and hand pick them off the undersides of the leaves, in fact every area needs searched for the green Caterpillars, I crush them as they are very soft. or drop them into a bucket of very hot water as this kills them instantly too.

I'm sure there are sprays and powders to spray onto the leaves BUT once you have this invasion you will be spraying all day, every day till you have got rid of all the caterpillars. You must also remember these are food plants, and you need to be very careful when spraying anything close to them as I'm sure you already know.

Here in UK these white butterflies arrive around march/ April onwards, so when I plant out my small plants of the cabbage family, (Cauliflower's, sprouts, Broccoli etc) I throw the horticultural fleece over them at that time, every few days I loosen the fleece to allow the plants to grow, I hold the edges of the fleece down with large stones to prevent birds, wind etc from removing it, it is so light that birds flapping can blow it off.

Hope this helps you out, probably a bit late for this year other than hand removal of the caterpillars,
but maybe give you a head start for next spring.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.


.

These Butterflies arrive at the same month every year so the best way to go is to keep an note when this butterfly arrival takes place and a few weeks before hand make preparations for this.

I dont use chemicals so the way I get ahead of these pests is, few weeks ahead of them laying eggs, I throw a layer of horticultural fleece over ALL the green veg these pests will visit (BUT it's worse at the cabbages) this way the light gets onto the growing plants, the rain gets through to the soil or self watering, after there is no sign of these little butterflies, you can remove the fleece, (by the way, the fleece is sold either by the meter or by the sheet from garden stores) costs a few dollars, can be washed and stored for the next year.

If by chance I leave it too late to prevent the Butterflies laying their eggs, these hatch and turn into Caterpillars, the green worm type things you see.
You either put gloves on and hand pick them off the undersides of the leaves, in fact every area needs searched for the green Caterpillars, I crush them as they are very soft. or drop them into a bucket of very hot water as this kills them instantly too.

I'm sure there are sprays and powders to spray onto the leaves BUT once you have this invasion you will be spraying all day, every day till you have got rid of all the caterpillars. You must also remember these are food plants, and you need to be very careful when spraying anything close to them as I'm sure you already know.

Here in UK these white butterflies arrive around march/ April onwards, so when I plant out my small plants of the cabbage family, (Cauliflower's, sprouts, Broccoli etc) I throw the horticultural fleece over them at that time, every few days I loosen the fleece to allow the plants to grow, I hold the edges of the fleece down with large stones to prevent birds, wind etc from removing it, it is so light that birds flapping can blow it off.

Hope this helps you out, probably a bit late for this year other than hand removal of the caterpillars,
but maybe give you a head start for next spring.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.


.