How and how to treat cabbage against caterpillars - folk remedies and preparations


Getting rid of slugs on cabbage is easy. Look for recipes in the article.

When growing vegetables, gardeners face many problems, including pests.

  • Caterpillars and slugs on cabbage can not only damage the green leaves of this vegetable, but also completely destroy the crop.
  • These insects can be detected thanks to the mucous trail on cabbage leaves.
  • If you notice the first signs of the appearance of such pests, you must immediately save the crop.
  • There are several proven methods for this. Read about them in the article below.

How to get rid of caterpillars and slugs on cabbage using folk remedies: tips, recipes


Slugs on cabbage
Gardeners are increasingly using traditional methods to control pests. They are safe for green crops and human health. Today, there are many folk ways to combat cabbage caterpillars and slugs. Here are some tips before starting work:

  • Treat crops in the morning or evening, but not during the scorching sun, as this can harm the plants.
  • If it rains after treatment, the procedure will have to be repeated, otherwise the caterpillars will attack the beds again.
  • Do not make the solution for future use. Prepare it for one time immediately before use.

Tip: Be sure to constantly inspect the cabbage weeds in order to promptly notice the appearance of clutches of eggs or slugs and begin to immediately combat them.

Here are some effective ways to combat cabbage slugs:

  • Beer. It doesn’t matter what kind of beer you use: stale or fresh, the caterpillars are attracted to the smell of this drink. Prepare several small plastic containers or regular glass jars. Bury them near the cabbage bushes and pour beer into the containers. Mollusks have a delicate sense of smell; they will immediately sense an alluring aroma and crawl towards it. After they fall into beer containers, you need to collect the slugs and burn them outside the garden.
  • Instant coffee. You need to brew double instant coffee and sprinkle the cabbage leaves with this drink. It helps not only against slugs, but also against cabbage flies.
  • Traps. You can make them from old rags that need to be wetted. Burlap or even old boards will also work. Wet the surface of the board or cloth well with water and place it near the beds. When the slugs crawl onto the wet traps, collect them and burn them outside the area.
  • Close access to the beds. It is known that caterpillars and slugs crawl, moving with the help of a sole on their abdomen on flat surfaces. To prevent them from sneaking into the beds, you can sprinkle crushed egg shells, nuts, shell rock or coarse sand around the perimeter of the cabbage planting. Such a rough surface is an obstacle for slugs, as wounds may appear on their thin bodies.

These are some of the simplest and most effective ways to combat cabbage pests. There are other methods of struggle. Read below.

How to prevent caterpillars from coming back

To get a good harvest, caterpillars need to be fought in advance. It is recommended to take preventive measures:

  • Use covering material over planted vegetables. A metal mesh with small cells or the finest spunbond is suitable. This method prevents butterflies from approaching plants and laying eggs.
  • Regularly control weeds in your summer cottage. It is especially important to remove grass from the Cruciferous family (shepherd's purse, rapeseed) - they most attract flocks of butterflies.
  • Plant plants with a strong smell along the perimeter or between rows (mint, marigolds, tansy, sage).
  • If the volume of cabbage is small, then the physical method is the most effective. Once a week you need to inspect the underside of the cabbage leaf and remove egg clutches.

It’s not easy to get strong cabbage rosettes at your dacha. Like any other vegetable, this plant needs timely care. By carrying out preventive work on time, you will be able to save time, money and your own health.

8 best ways to get rid of whiteflies at home

How to treat cabbage from caterpillars and slugs with baking soda: folk recipes


Healthy cabbage leaves without slugs
Baking soda solution is one of the most effective ways to control pests in the garden. Baking soda is used in different forms, but most often as a solution. Experienced gardeners use this antiseptic at the seed soaking stage as a preventive measure, but this will be discussed below.

What to do if slugs have already appeared on cabbage leaves, how to treat them with baking soda? Here is the prescription:

  • Dilute 10 grams of baking soda in 5 liters of warm, settled water.
  • Mix well and sprinkle on the leaves.

You can even water the beds with this solution, since baking soda also fertilizes the soil, replenishing the lack of nutrients.

You can also mix soda with ash (2 tablespoons of soda per liter jar of ash) and sprinkle cabbage leaves with this powder. After rain, this technique will have to be repeated.

Another recipe for fighting slugs:

  • Dissolve 10 grams of soda in 5 liters of water.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of regular white flour and stir well.
  • Then collect flower pollen (as much as you can - you won’t collect much of it) and also put it in the solution.
  • Stir the mixture well and spray the cabbage leaves.

Slugs and caterpillars that fall off should not lie or crawl between the beds. They need to be collected and burned outside the garden. This recipe is used by older, experienced gardeners as the best recipe for controlling cabbage pests.

Basic information about the culture

The Cabbage family consists of many varieties. Cabbage happens:

  1. Headed. This subgroup includes white cabbage, red cabbage, and cabbage;
  2. Colored. The subgroup consists of cauliflower, broccoli, romanesco;
  3. Kohlrabi. A plant that produces a very turnip-like fruit on its surface. "Cabbage turnip" is used to make salads;
  4. Savoy. A distinctive feature of this species is the terry structure of the leaves. Salads and hot dishes are prepared from the vegetable;
  5. Beijing is an annual plant that has a rosette of leaves. Early ripening varieties are used for preparing salads, late ripening varieties are used for pickling and long-term storage;
  6. Chinese is a fast-ripening culture. Depending on the characteristics of the variety, it may have the shape of a head of cabbage or a loose rosette. The use of the vegetable is universal;
  7. Leafy is a biennial plant that forms a stem 1.5-2.5 cm high in the first half of the growing season, and a peduncle 1-1.5 m high in the second half. It is divided into flat-leaved and curly-leaved. Mainly used to decorate various dishes.

Cabbage is divided not only into types, but also into varieties, which, depending on the ripening period, are early, mid-ripening, and late-ripening. There are both regular varieties and varieties obtained by crossing two varieties. You should choose a type based on the characteristics of the type and your own needs.

How to poison caterpillars and slugs on cabbage with vinegar: folk recipes


Cabbage leaves eaten by slugs or caterpillars
To combat cabbage pests, 9% table vinegar is used. Here are effective recipes that you can prepare in a few seconds:

  • Add 2 cups (400 ml) vinegar to a 10 liter bucket of water . Mix well and spray the cabbage leaves. Perfectly helps to cope with pests on seedlings or already mature heads of cabbage.
  • Dissolve 1 glass of 9% vinegar and 50 grams of ammonia in 10 liters. Mix the solution well and spray the leaves. Helps against slugs and caterpillars of the Repnitsa and Belyanka butterflies.
  • Dissolve 1 glass of 9% vinegar and 2 tablespoons of coarse table salt in 10 liters of water. Generously wet the leaves with the solution. Helps against butterflies, cabbage moths and slugs.

There is always vinegar in the house, so you can prepare such a solution without difficulty. Spray the leaves with it every 10 days and after rain.

Treating cabbage against caterpillars with toothpaste: folk recipes


Toothpaste
Experienced gardeners have long been using toothpaste to combat garden pests. You don't have to buy new tubes for this.

  • You can collect used tubes during the winter, and then, when it’s time to fight insects, cut them and soak them in a bucket of water for a day, and in the evening, stir the solution and spray the cabbage.
  • If you have thrown away your used tubes and need to fight pests now, then buy the cheapest toothpaste. Then dissolve 2 tablespoons of this dental cleaner in a bucket of water and spray the cabbage in the evening - at sunset.

In the morning you will not find a single insect in the beds. Where they go is unknown. Most likely, the insects will crawl to another place. But you don’t even have to remove fallen bodies of slugs or caterpillars from the beds - it’s convenient.

What to do if there are earthworms in white cabbage

To prevent earthworms from crawling into white cabbage, experienced gardeners recommend mulching the soil in the beds. The procedure is carried out in the fall with a thick layer of hay or straw.

Over the winter, the mulch is compressed and becomes moisture-absorbing. It does not dry out for a long time, and the moisture underneath also remains for a long time. In such conditions, earthworms feel comfortable, so they do not have to crawl into a young emerging head of cabbage and hide in damp leaves from the scorching rays of the sun.

If you suspect that there are earthworms in the cabbage head, perform the following steps:

  1. Wash the head of cabbage thoroughly.
  2. Each leaf is separated and carefully inspected for pests.
  3. Place the leaves in a container, pour a weak saline solution and leave for 10-15 minutes.
  4. Then rinse and use to prepare any dish.

Do earthworms eat cabbage?

Since earthworms do not have a gnawing mouthpart, they are unable to eat either the roots or leaves of cabbage. They feed on semi-decomposed plant matter.

Ammonia for caterpillars on cabbage: folk recipes


Ammonia
If you do not have the necessary ingredients and you were unable to prepare a solution according to the above recipes, then you can use ammonia. Prepare this mixture from it:

  • Dissolve fifty milliliters of ammonia in 10 liters of water.
  • Add 1 cup of ash.
  • Stir and spray the plants in the evening, before sunset. Two such treatments per season are enough.

Instead of ash, you can add 2 tablespoons of laundry soap shavings to the solution. Thanks to the soap, the solution will stay on the leaves for a long time and repel slugs and caterpillars. This mixture of drugs and water will definitely drive away harmful insects from the garden.

Bay leaf against caterpillars on cabbage: folk recipes


Bay leaf
The easiest way to combat caterpillars and slugs on cabbage is to spread a bay leaf on the bed next to the crop seedlings. The smell of laurel will repel insects. You can also make a solution that will effectively help fight not only these crawling insects, but also the cabbage fly.

  • Pour ten grams of bay leaf into one liter of boiling water.
  • Leave the solution for half an hour until it cools completely.
  • Then thoroughly wet the leaves with this solution, repeat after five days and after rain.

Remember: If you want to remove cabbage fly using a bay leaf, then this method is effective until the fly lays larvae. If this has already happened, then you need to resort to chemical treatment.

Wavy flea beetles

A distinctive feature of this pest is the presence of lemon stripes on each wing. A beetle with a black shell and black legs measuring about 3-4 mm is called a wavy flea beetle. In appearance, this insect looks like a black flea. The only difference is living in more humid conditions and the color of the insect.

With the onset of warm spring days, the female parasites rise from the soil to the surface and lay eggs. After 10 days, the emerging larvae begin to intensively eat roots, leaves and stems of plants.

After 3 weeks, the larvae transform into pupae, and after 2 weeks new offspring of insects appear.

The fight against these parasites is carried out with the help of tansy infusion. It is prepared as follows: 700 g of dry grass or 1.8 kg of fresh leaves are poured into a bucket of warm water. Next, this mixture is boiled for 40 minutes, left under the lid for 3 hours, and filtered.

Treatment regimen: spraying of seedlings is carried out in the evening every 2 days. The number of treatments per week is no more than 3.

2 weeks before cutting the heads of cabbage, folk preparations are not used for spraying plants.

Garlic against caterpillars on cabbage: folk recipes


Garlic
Garlic is known to everyone as the best antiseptic in the fight against germs and bacteria of various origins. Gardeners also use it if they need to remove slugs and caterpillars from cabbage. Here is the prescription:

  • Make an infusion of tomato leaves, onion stems and garlic (you can use both stems and heads).
  • The solution should be saturated and fragrant . You will need about 3 kilograms of tomato tops, 1 kilogram of onion and garlic feathers or 10 heads of garlic. Instead of onion feathers, you can use onion peels (as much as will fit in a half-liter jar).
  • Pour boiling water (10 liters) over it all and leave for 24 hours. Then spray the cabbage.

If you don’t want to collect tomato tops and onion peels, you can chop 10 heads of garlic and pour 8 liters of boiling water. Let the solution sit until it cools down, and then moisten the cabbage leaves generously with it.

Herbal Ingredients

What folk remedies can be used to treat cabbage against caterpillars? There are many proven and effective means used by experienced gardeners. You can scare away butterflies with a decoction based on hot pepper. Pepper, in the amount of 1 kg, is crushed and poured with boiling water (10 liters). After two days of infusion, the broth must be strained. The solution is diluted with water before use. Add 150 ml of decoction to 10 liters of water. “Once we fought caterpillars with a bitter decoction of peppers. The recipe worked quickly. To increase efficiency, I add 40 g of crushed soap.” This will allow the solution to remain on the cabbage leaves for a longer period.

You can protect cabbage beds with a decoction prepared from hot peppers. The recipe requires 100 g of dry peppers per liter of water. The pods are boiled in water for two hours. The resulting solution is diluted with water. The fight may be accompanied by decoctions based on burdock, nettle, onion peel or chamomile. They water the beds. In addition to repelling insects, herbal infusions will help replenish the lack of microelements.

If caterpillars appear, you can use burdock leaves. They are finely chopped, filled with water and left to infuse for three days. Before watering, dilute with water. Plants should be sprayed against butterflies during their flight and when caterpillars emerge from eggs. Folk remedies cannot do without onion peels. It is poured with boiling water. After a couple of hours of infusion, soap shavings are added. Water or spray the plants with the resulting solution.

You can pour in the onion peel along with the onion itself, previously finely chopped. It is enough to insist for a day. Before spraying the plants, the infusion must be filtered. You can destroy the caterpillar with another infusion. Take tomato leaves and tops, wormwood and finely chop. The resulting green mixture is poured with water, and after a day the infusion will be ready for use.

You can water the cabbage with an infusion based on tomato tops and leaves without wormwood. Chopped greens are poured with boiling water for 4 hours. Then bring to a boil again and cook for 3 hours. The resulting infusion is filtered and diluted in a 1:2 ratio before watering. Cabbage should be processed during the period when the caterpillars appear.

You can treat cabbage with an infusion based on garlic. Chopped garlic cloves are poured with water and left for a week. To spray, you need to take 25 ml of infusion and dilute it in 10 liters of water. All these recipes will help protect against insect infestations, get rid of caterpillars and stop their further spread.

The best chemical preparations for slugs and caterpillars on cabbage: instructions for use

Chemicals are also actively used by gardeners in pest control. Such modern means will help you quickly and mercilessly deal with caterpillars and slugs. The most popular such chemicals are:


The best chemicals for slugs

Remember: You need to spray the solution in dry, windless weather. Be sure to protect your face with a mask, your eyes with goggles, and your body with thick clothing.

Who eats cabbage

Experienced vegetable growers are able to determine by appearance what pests have infested cabbage beds and choose methods to combat them. This common vegetable has a lot of varieties and varieties, with their own characteristics and characteristics.

Pests of white cabbage

During the growing season, areas with white cabbage have to be processed several times. There are several main pests, they appear at different times and cause damage in varying degrees and forms.

  • Aphid. It feeds on cabbage juice, sucking it from the leaves. In large quantities it can destroy a head of cabbage in a short period of time. The presence of aphids can be determined visually. Leaves lose color, acquire pinkish tints, and curl. Colonies are located at the bottom of the foliage, almost merging with the color of the plants. In the initial stage of the lesion, it is possible to use traditional methods; in advanced cases, chemicals are used. For prevention, plantings are placed next to carrots, dill, and marigolds.
  • Thrips. The tiny size of sucking pests cannot be seen with the naked eye. Their presence is determined by the local discolored area where the insects are located and feed. These places become discolored, turn brown and die.
  • Cruciferous bugs. These large insects are easy to spot on foliage by their characteristic green color and red spots on the elytra. They can be assembled manually. They move from nearby weeds, so it is necessary to regularly weed the areas adjacent to the plantings.
  • Slugs. Appears in high humidity and rainy weather. They do not tolerate high temperatures. During the daytime they hide among the leaves, feeding only at night. They carry pathogens: downy and powdery mildew, gray rot. To combat them, improvised traps made of wet rags are laid out, and jars of sour jam are placed around the perimeter. As a preventative measure, the soil is limed. But this method is not suitable for soil with high acidity.
  • Butterfly caterpillars. Caterpillars of the cabbage white moth, cutworm and cabbage moth cause harm. They chew holes, leaving traces of feces on the foliage. It is difficult to collect them manually; special tools and industrial chemicals are usually used.


Aphid

Advice! Experienced vegetable growers recommend dusting areas with cabbage with tobacco dust.

At any stage of growth, cabbage can be damaged or completely destroyed by insects living in the soil.

Pests of cabbage roots

By damaging the root system, pests can cause damage to the future harvest: plants stop growing or die altogether. Cabbage has several dangerous pests that feed on the roots.

  1. Medvedka. One of the worst pests for all vegetable crops, including cabbage. Large insects with powerful jaws, feeding on roots, are capable of destroying young plantings in a short period of time. To combat them, pesticides are placed in the holes during planting. Repeat the procedure several times a season. For the mole cricket (in common parlance – “kapustyanka”) they lay out traps: bottles of beer, burying them in the ground in a reclining position. In the fall, fresh manure is applied. Pests climb there for the winter. With the onset of heat, they are taken out of the site with a shovel and destroyed.
  2. May beetle larvae. Feeding exclusively on roots, the large white larvae are very gluttonous. Once in the garden, they destroy the standing crop.


Medvedka

Advice! Before planting, the root system of plants is treated with Aktara, Medvetox and similar chemical compounds.

Pests can be detected by deep digging of the soil. It is carried out twice; in spring and autumn, manually selecting insects and their larvae. It is not recommended to organize compost pits and manure heaps in the immediate vicinity of the garden.

Pests of cabbage seedlings

By damaging cabbage at the seedling stage, pests significantly slow down its growth. The heads of cabbage do not set or stop growing completely. In some cases, young plants die. Plants are damaged by both sucking and gnawing insects and their larvae and butterflies.

  1. Flea. Small insects, from 1 to 3 mm in length. The particularly active phase is the end of spring and the beginning of summer. They gnaw holes in young seedlings, which leads to drying out and death. Cabbage is treated with Actellik.
  2. Bedbugs. Damage is caused by both insects and their larvae. Adults pierce the leaves and suck out the juice. Damage can be noticed by yellowed areas, which subsequently dry out and die. Saliva is poisonous, young seedlings may die, especially in hot, dry weather. Treat the beds with insecticides. For prevention, the area adjacent to them is regularly weeded, and plant debris is removed beyond the perimeter of the site.
  3. Cabbage leaf beetle. Adult large green beetles gnaw off the edges of the leaves. The larvae they lay continue to destroy the plantings, feeding on the pulp of the leaves. They reproduce very quickly, several times per season. To combat the leaf beetle, cabbage is sprayed with chemicals.
  4. Caterpillars. The most voracious of existing pests. Gnawed areas on vegetables are dangerous to human health. They are destroyed using traditional methods and the use of insecticides.


Cabbage leaf beetle

Advice! It is recommended to plant annual flowers along the perimeter of cabbage plantings: arriving large insects and birds destroy the caterpillars. Nettle growing in close proximity helps.

The root system of seedlings is protected before planting by dipping with chemical compounds and placing pesticides in rows and holes. Treatment of plants with already visible signs of damage must be carried out as soon as possible.

Pests of Chinese cabbage

The soft and tender leaves of Chinese cabbage are easily attacked by insects, spoiling the appearance and destroying the plants at the seedling stage. Main pests: fleas and slugs.

To prevent damage, it is recommended to plant at certain times: in early spring or late summer, vegetables grow very quickly. Experienced vegetable growers plant it mixed with tomatoes, onions, and potatoes. Spray with preparations “Aktara”, “Intra-Vira”, “Aktellik”.

Pests of Chinese cabbage

They are able to destroy heads of cabbage in a short period of time. The leaves dry out and die. Plants do not develop fully or die.

Slugs are fought with traditional methods: planks and burdock leaves are laid out in rows. The insects are then collected by hand. Sprinkle the areas with a mixture of salt, dry mustard, wood ash and hot ground pepper.

Pests of broccoli

To control pests on broccoli, folk remedies and aggressive treatments with industrial insecticides are used. There are many pests that prefer this cabbage variety.

  1. Spring cabbage fly. Small insects lay larvae that feed on roots, stems and heads of cabbage.
  2. Summer cabbage fly. Large adults begin to fly starting in mid-summer. The larvae feed on all parts of vegetable crops.
  3. Cabbage (turnip) white. Butterflies lay eggs on the inside of leaves. They feed preferably on leaves.


Summer cabbage fly

The drugs “Fitoven”, “Bitoxibacillin”, “Lepidotsid” and other similar insecticides are popular and effective.

Brussels sprouts

Affected by most common pests of this type of vegetables. Due to the small size of the heads of cabbage, plants die especially quickly when attacked by aphids. Sparrows and pigeons cause damage. To prevent damage, a protective net stretched over stakes is used.

Fighting caterpillars and slugs biologically: recommendations, preparations, instructions


Lepidocide
A biological method of controlling pests in the garden is the use of special fungi and bacteria. They naturally kill insects without harming people or plants. Organic farming has long reached a new level of development, and many gardeners are taking advantage of it.

Nowadays such drugs as Entobacterin, Lepidocid, Bitoxibacillin and Fitoverm are popular. The drug must be diluted in water (50 grams per bucket of water) and sprinkled on cabbage. The solution will enter the insect's body during a meal and lead to death.

The action of this method is as follows:

  • Microbes, bacteria and fungi infect insects , which then get sick and die.
  • When pests disappear, microbiological creatures also disappear . Treatment with the drug is carried out twice a season with an interval of one week.
  • Treatment stops a week before harvest.
  • The effect of the drug depends on the air temperature . If it is below 18 degrees Celsius, then bacteria will not multiply and the drug will not work. If the air temperature is above 30 degrees, then the bacteria may die without starting to act.

Remember: Be sure to choose a time of day to use the drug so that the air temperature is between 18-30 degrees.

What to do if cabbage roots are eaten by white worms

Cabbage roots can be affected by white root worms (root-knot nematodes). They are extremely tenacious and voracious, resistant to traditional pesticides.

If the cabbage is slightly damaged, it is recommended to completely replace the old soil with new soil to a depth of 0.5 m, after which this area is treated with an insecticidal solution.

Attention! The first signs of the presence of nematodes in cabbage beds are wilting and discoloration of the leaves, and their curling. If the plant is dug up, swellings may be found on the roots.

The fight against nematodes consists of timely implementation of preventive measures.

What to do if a cabbage root is eaten by a worm:

  1. Water the soil with boiling water before planting. To obtain the effect of the procedure, it is necessary to saturate the soil to a depth of at least 15-20 cm with water at a temperature of +50...+55°C.
  2. Maintain crop rotation. Many worms prefer to feed on certain plants. By planting another crop in a specific area, you can get rid of the nematode.
  3. Choose varieties and hybrids that are relatively resistant to nematode damage.
  4. Plant plants that repel pests, such as marigolds or calendula, between rows.
  5. Renew the soil by adding mustard powder or tobacco dust.
  6. Use specific drugs aimed at combating nematodes: “Aktofit”, “Fitoverm”.

What to do to prevent slugs and caterpillars on cabbage: necessary measures


Prevention - planting calendula and other fragrant herbs
Everyone knows that prevention is better than cure. This popular saying also applies to gardeners. In order not to lose the harvest from the invasion of slugs, caterpillars and other pests, you need to take care of this in advance. Important preventative measures are as follows:

  • Planting fragrant herbs and flowers . Their smell will repel pests. You can use calendula, coriander, lovage and celery. These plants also attract beneficial insects to the garden, such as ladybugs and other bugs. They feed on aphids and caterpillars.
  • Attract birds to your garden . They feed on insects and help clear the garden of pests.
  • You can use thin spunbond or fine mesh to cover the beds to block the path for butterflies to lay larvae.
  • Remove weeds carefully . They attract butterflies.
  • Inspect the cabbage leaves from below and remove egg clutches.
  • Monitor the growth of the plant during the entire growing season , feed it, treat it, as a strong plant will be able to resist pest invasion.
  • Treat seeds before germination . For example, in a baking soda solution: 5 grams of soda per 1 liter of water. Stir and soak the seeds for a day.

When choosing a pest control method, remember that preference should be given to traditional methods and microbiological preparations. They are safe for both humans and plants, and the use of chemicals can lead to the accumulation of carcinogens - substances hazardous to human health. Remember that well-kept land is no place for pests. Clear the garden of weeds, attract birds, and process the crops in a timely manner, if necessary. Have a good harvest!

You need to know the enemy by sight: caterpillars that pose a threat to cabbage

At first glance, the easiest way would be to collect pests manually. However, mechanical collection of caterpillars is ineffective, and their toxic secretions can cause an allergic reaction upon contact with the skin.

In mid-latitudes, 4 species of butterflies most often lay larvae on cabbage leaves. To develop the right pest control tactics and take effective measures, you need to get to know the enemy better and find his vulnerabilities.

Cabbage moth

The insect lives for 30 days, it is thermophilic, migrates with the wind, and is nocturnal. The butterfly flight begins in April, when the night temperature does not fall below +10 ℃. The moth lays up to 400 eggs during its life on the underside of cabbage leaves.


The cabbage moth is inconspicuous in appearance - a small grayish moth

Small yellow larvae can exist inside leaves, chewing through tunnels. Adult caterpillars emerge - dark brown in color, 12 mm long. Pests pose a particular threat to plants in the leaf rosette phase - as a result of damage, the head of cabbage may not set.

Cabbage cutworm

Moths are gray-brown butterflies with a wingspan of up to 5 cm. They especially love river floodplains and wet areas. In 3 weeks of life it manages to hatch up to 2700 larvae. Moth caterpillars are dangerous primarily for early cabbage. Young green larvae change color with age to brown with a yellow stripe. Can grow up to 5 cm.

The larvae eat the leaves, leaving only large veins, and gnaw out passages in the head of cabbage. Their excrement causes the plant to rot. Insects feed at night and hide in the cabbage during the day.


The cabbage cutworm got its name because of its nocturnal lifestyle and colors that resemble those of owls.

Cabbage moth

A small moth. Lays up to 60 eggs. Young larvae are light green. With age, the color changes: individuals become greenish-yellow, they have two rows of warts with hairs along their back, and their head is green. The caterpillars are most active in July and August. They cause the same damage to the plant as the cabbage cutworm.


The cabbage moth got its name because of its dirty yellow or orange color, as well as because of the gluttony of its larvae, which “burn” plants without fire.

Cabbage and turnip whites

Cabbage white, or cabbage butterfly, is a diurnal butterfly with white wings with dark spots.


White butterflies, unlike their larvae, feed only on nectar and pollen of flowers

Particularly active in hot weather. The female cabbage plant lays eggs on the lower leaves of the plant in groups of up to 200 pieces each; the turnip white first lays an egg in one part of the leaf, then several eggs in other parts of the same leaf.

It is easy to identify white butterfly caterpillars: their length is up to 5-6 cm, the body is green, has longitudinal stripes, covered with sparse hairs, the gland on the neck secretes a poisonous liquid.

The larvae are voracious (especially in mid-summer), eat cabbage leaves from the edges, leaving excrement, due to which the vegetable begins to rot.

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