What to spray and how to scare away white butterflies from cabbage. Why is the cabbage butterfly dangerous? How to prevent crop destruction?

Hello gardeners, everyone! The conversation will be about “lady” cabbage. My family loves it very much, so we protect early varieties of cabbage from “A” to “Z”. And although there is much in common in caring for different species, some points differ. Cabbage has the largest number of pests. But children especially adore butterflies - caterpillars.

They destroy young cabbage leaves, leaving numerous holes. You can, of course, call on chemistry to help and destroy the voracious horde. But if you grow cabbage in your garden, it will be environmentally friendly! This is especially true for heads of cabbage, which go directly from the garden to the table, and not to storage. Find out how to save cabbage, protect your garden and not harm yourself in the article.

Why do cabbage plants appear, what harm do they cause?

A cabbage butterfly is any representative of the so-called white butterflies with a characteristic wing color.
Butterflies vary in size and often have small black spots on their wings; the caterpillars of this insect cause harm. They are able to survive in cold climates and are common in any region of Russia and other countries. The population of these pests is constantly increasing; in one season, the butterfly produces several generations of caterpillars, distinguished by their gluttony, preferably up to the cruciferous family. What harm does this insect cause to plantings:

The cabbage caterpillar actively devours the leaves and shoots of cabbage, turnips, radishes, radishes, turnips, and rutabaga.
The parasite lays its eggs on the underside of leaves, making it difficult to find and the problem difficult to prevent.
The first clutch of eggs can be expected already in early May, when the seedlings are just being planted in open ground and are still quite weak.
The color of the caterpillars is predominantly green, which also does not make them easy to find.

Even a small colony of caterpillars of this pest can completely destroy cabbage plantings, so the fight against whites continues constantly. Over the summer, butterflies lay several clutches of eggs, which means a constant danger to the crop. When caterpillars appear, you can use suitable folk recipes for control. In case of severe infection, chemical agents will have to be used.

How to spot the cabbage butterfly

The white butterfly usually has a wingspan of up to 6 cm, so it attracts attention in the garden. The insect is not dangerous to plants; it feeds only on nectar. Its lifespan is usually 20 days, during which it manages to lay several clutches. In one clutch there are up to 100 eggs, which can be found on the back of the leaves. The appearance of caterpillars and butterflies is seasonal, the danger increases in areas bordering wastelands, because the insect also lays eggs on cruciferous weeds, although its undisputed favorite is still cultivated plantings.

It is difficult to notice the laying of eggs on a plant. Most often it is located on the lower leaves of plants on the back side. You can recognize them by their intense yellow color and diamond-shaped shape. In a couple of weeks, they will hatch into voracious green caterpillars. Depending on the type of cabbage weed, they can have different shades; there are often black spots and stripes on the body, which creates ideal camouflage from natural enemies.

Pest danger

The first attacks of the white butterfly can be expected in early May, a little later for the northern regions. The second and most massive emergence of pests occurs around mid-summer, and this is what most gardeners fear. The seedlings that have grown by this time are already producing ovaries, so the appearance of caterpillars on them can completely destroy the crop. The last attack of the cabbage butterfly occurs in September-October and only under favorable weather conditions. They overwinter together with plant debris in order to awaken at the beginning of spring and begin their flights with new vigor.

It is quite easy to calculate the possible threat from this beautiful butterfly. Even one individual can leave a clutch of up to a hundred eggs in the garden, which within 20 days will quickly go all the way to the adult stage. After this planting period, already 100 insects will be attacked, the generation of which will already leave from 500 to 1000 eggs. It is easy to calculate the possible damage, so any suitable means are used to combat the butterfly.

Why did the cabbage plant settle in your garden?

In order to protect cabbage and other crops from the invasion of this enemy, it is also necessary to understand the possible reasons for the pest’s ardent love for your garden. Despite the fact that an adult cabbage butterfly can fly up to 30 km in search of food, there is a certain pattern in their appearance.

What attracts cabbage butterflies:

Large plantings of cruciferous plants.
Some plants of the caper family, nasturtium, mignonette.
Violation of crop rotation rules in the beds.

The use of monocultures for cultivation is also fraught with a large invasion of this insect. Knowing how to get rid of the cabbage butterfly, you should not plant crops in one place, because the pests will overwinter well in the remaining roots and plant parts and will reappear in the same place the next season.

The main pests of early cabbage

At the end of spring, early varieties and hybrids of cabbage (for example, Podarok, Ditmarscher, Transfer F1, Dumas F1) can suffer from more than 30 different pests. For convenience, they can be combined into 2 groups:

Soil - parasitize the root system.
Terrestrial-aerial - feed on stems and leaves.

Butterflies and caterpillars belong to the second group. The most common insects are:

Turnip and cabbage whites.

Lovers of cabbage leaves In mid-July, 20-200 eggs are laid on the underside of the leaf.

Cabbage scoop.

Starts laying eggs in June.

Cabbage moth.

It is very difficult to detect larvae at an early stage. It is easier to recognize their presence - the caterpillar gnaws out the leaf without touching the upper tissue. The damage is especially great in hot weather.

The damage from them can be quite serious, and in most cases it is associated with caterpillars. Insects eat young foliage en masse, which is why seedlings can die already at the growth stage. Therefore, crop losses amount to 50-80%.

The main symptom is the appearance of numerous holes of different sizes. Enough about the sad

Smile!

I was interested in job search sites, and the question arose: is a green mower a position or a salary?

I am often reproached for living for my own pleasure. Excuse me, but for whose pleasure should I live?!

Description and appearance

The cabbage butterfly is a butterfly from the white butterfly family and belongs to the class of insects, a type of arthropod. The insect received the specific name “cabbage plant” due to the fact that cabbage is one of the main food plants for caterpillars. This is a fairly large representative of the Lepidoptera order; its wingspan can reach 60 mm.

The description of the cabbage butterfly should begin with its distinctive feature, namely its wings. The cabbage white butterfly has four wings, which are powdery white on the upper side. The corners of the front wings are black; in females, the pattern is supplemented with black spots. The underside of the wings of females is greenish, while that of males is closer to yellow. This is an excellent disguise. When the cabbage butterfly folds its wings, it is difficult to see it against the background of the grass.

Appearance

The body of the white butterfly is dark and covered with hairs. On the head there are large eyes and rather long antennae. Six legs with sharp claws, thanks to which the insect is held on to plants. The legs themselves are weak, so the butterfly practically does not crawl.

Lifestyle and habitat

Cabbage whites are found in Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan and Asia. In Russia, this butterfly can be found in almost all regions, with the exception of the Far North.

Cabbage butterflies are daytime butterflies. They can be seen in parks and gardens, in meadows and forest clearings, in vegetable gardens and roadsides. Cabbage white caterpillars reach a length of 2.5 - 3.5 cm, but due to their green body with dark spots they are not easy to notice in dense foliage. However, the presence of caterpillars on cabbage very soon becomes noticeable, as they gnaw the leaf from the edges to the veins.

Butterflies love open spaces, but do not fly far from a food source. They are mainly active in sunny weather, and when it is cloudy, they sit on low bushes or grass with half-opened wings. The most comfortable temperature for cabbage is from 20 to 25⁰С.

Reproduction and life cycle

The development cycle of the cabbage butterfly includes 4 stages:

egg;
larva (caterpillar);
chrysalis;
adult insect.

After mating, the female lays eggs on the underside of leaves of plants from the cruciferous family. During its life, a butterfly can lay 200 to 300 eggs. Cabbage eggs are light yellow and shaped like a cone. After about 10–20 days, cabbage white larvae hatch from the eggs.

At first the caterpillar is yellow-green, but gradually its color changes to gray-green with dark spots and streaks. The larval stage can last from 14 to 25 days, during which time the caterpillar molts four times. Then the caterpillar crawls from the plant to a stone, fence, tree, attaches itself to it with a silk thread and pupates. The cabbage pupa is angular, greenish-yellow with dark dots. This stage of development of the cabbage white butterfly lasts from 10 to 15 days, depending on weather conditions.

It often happens that the pupa hibernates, overwinters, and the butterfly appears the very next year after the onset of warm weather.

Lifespan

It is quite difficult to accurately answer the question of how long the cabbage butterfly lives. Its lifespan largely depends on weather conditions and the environment. But on average, an adult lives about 30 days.

What does cabbage eat?

The cabbage white butterfly, like most butterflies, feeds on flower nectar. They choose a flower, descend on it and suck out the life-giving moisture with the help of their proboscis. Of the many flowering plants, butterflies prefer:

cornflower;
dandelion;
alfalfa;
thistle;
meadow greenweed;
marjoram.

But cabbage caterpillars are much more harmful to crops than adult butterflies, since they feed on plant leaves. It is the larvae that are the reason why cabbage grass is considered a dangerous pest. Green caterpillars most often occupy the leaves of plants from the cruciferous family, namely:

different varieties of cabbage (white cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi);
radish;
radish;
rape;
turnip;
rutabaga;
mustard.

Cabbage caterpillars eat other plants, for example:

capers;
mignonette;
nasturtium.

The caterpillars stick together, quickly eating the leaves, of which very soon only veins remain. Having finished with one plant, insects crawl to neighboring ones, thus causing serious damage to the plantings.

Natural enemies of the cabbage butterfly

Photo: White cabbage

About 80 percent of the larvae are killed by the Apanteles glomeratus, which injects its eggs into them. This happens while the caterpillars are still small. The predator's larvae hatch inside the host's body and slowly devour it, but the cabbage weed continues to live and consume food. When the wasp larvae grow, they eat the host's vital organs, killing her and burrowing through her skin.

Sometimes you can see the dry remains of a caterpillar shell on a cabbage leaf, surrounded by a cluster of up to 80 tiny yellow fluffy cocoons. The following spring, the riders emerge from their cocoons and fly in search of new cabbage white caterpillars. Having found a potential victim, the female ichneumon ichneumon probes it with her antennae to assess its size.

The size of the larva must be such that the offspring that will develop inside have enough food. An individual that is too old can turn into a pupa before the larvae of the parasitic insect develop there. The riders pierce the victim with their ovipositor and release one egg. The female can make several such injections into one caterpillar.

Many pupae, when they have just formed and their covers are still soft, are attacked by the parasitoid wasp Pteromalus puparum. She lays her eggs there. Up to 200 predatory individuals can develop in one pupa. In three weeks, the larvae develop into the cabbage pupa. If this happens in the summer, then the insects come out of it as adult insects; in the autumn, they remain to winter inside.

The cabbage white does not have a specific group of predators. They are preyed upon by a wide range of different birds. They are eaten by some mammals, rarely by reptiles, and by one insectivorous plant.

They are potential food for some:

Hymenoptera;
Hemiptera;
Coleoptera;
Diptera;
arachnids.

Biological description of the insect, development cycle

A butterfly goes through four stages in its development:
An adult butterfly gives birth to a new life and lays eggs. They come in different shapes: round; oval; cylindrical, etc. Butterfly eggs also vary in color: they are usually white with a greenish tint, but can be red, blue, etc. The egg is covered with a hard shell, under which there is a nutritional reserve for development. The average duration of butterfly development at this stage is 8-15 days.

The butterfly leaves the egg shell in the form of a caterpillar. Externally, the butterfly caterpillar is similar to a tadpole - a small body and a large head. In search of food, the caterpillar is able to travel long distances. The diet of most larvae includes: leaves; flowers; fruits of plants. In their ranks there are also predators that feed on sedentary aphids, scale insects, etc. During its development, the larva changes its outer shell more than once. On average, this happens 4-5 times, but there are species that can molt up to 40 times.

After the final moult, the caterpillar transforms into a pupa. The pupae hang motionless or lie waiting for their transformation. At first glance, it may seem that nothing is happening, but in fact, during such a “stormy calm”, significant changes in the body occur inside the pupa, new organs are formed. During this period, the pupa is helpless; the relative invisibility of predatory insects and birds. Usually the pupal stage lasts 2-3 weeks, but in some species of butterflies this process can take the whole winter. The shell of the pupa cracks. The butterfly crawls out, making a lot of effort. She doesn't know how to fly yet, her wings are still too short for that.

The insect climbs onto an elevated vertical surface, where it remains until it completely spreads its wings.

Important! The life of a butterfly ranges from several hours to several months, but on average a butterfly lives 2-3 weeks.

Cabbage butterfly - harm

It is necessary to distinguish between what cabbage butterflies and their numerous offspring eat. Caterpillars eat all types of cabbage, horseradish, rutabaga and radish, turnips with turnips, and field plants of the cruciferous family. The butterfly itself is harmless and pollinates flowers; it does not pose an immediate danger to garden crops. It is advisable to carry out preventive work to destroy cabbage grass at all stages of its development.

Cabbage butterfly on cabbage

Our insect is a highly specialized creature that exclusively loves cabbage crops. It lays its eggs on the underside of the leaf blade, hiding them from birds and people. The caterpillars are green in color, blending well with the cabbage leaves. Gradually, they devour leaves from the edges to the rough-textured skeletal veins. In large numbers, pests completely eat the entire head of the plant. In the question of how to protect cabbage from the cabbage butterfly, you can use both folk and chemical methods.

Cabbage butterflies on raspberries

Our heroine can be found both in the garden and on various trees or bushes. Cabbage butterflies often land on raspberries; what should a gardener who is worried about his plantings do in this case? You don’t have to worry, this insect does not threaten raspberries with their hard leaves. Sometimes the hawthorn butterfly is mistaken for it, which comes from the common white butterfly family and has similar sizes and wing colors. This pest seriously affects fruit and berry crops located in the vicinity of raspberries.

What plants does he like?

Although this butterfly is called that, it loves to feast on more than just cabbage.
Here are the plants that the whiteweed affects:

horseradish;
rutabaga;
gray hiccup;
shepherd's purse;

radish;
capers;
turnip;
garden and field cabbage;

turnip;
dyeing weed;
some types of flowers.

Plants are pestered by voracious caterpillars, which in a short time can eat most of the leaves. Butterflies are harmful only because they lay numerous offspring. There are also benefits in whites. Fluttering from flower to flower, cabbage carries pollen, thereby pollinating plants.

But it is necessary to implement timely measures to combat this pest. These methods can be:

mechanical;
folk;

attracting beneficial insects;
in the form of life hacks;

chemical.

How to fight the cabbage butterfly?

People have been fighting white cabbages for centuries; many different ways have already been invented to get rid of cabbage weeds, from treating insects with potent drugs to repelling butterflies with folk remedies. If there is little infestation of beds with caterpillars, you can limit yourself to preventive measures - safe infusions and decoctions that are not capable of critically poisoning the human body.

Preventative agents against cabbage butterfly:

From the beginning of the gardening season, constantly destroy weeds in the garden; butterflies lay eggs on them in early spring.
Inspect the cabbage daily from the underside of the leaf, collecting the eggs of the white cabbage.
Autumn digging of the garden helps reduce the cabbage population.
In the fall, inspect the bark of fruit trees, destroying the pupae.
It is advisable to plant cabbage early before the mass emergence of butterflies.
Do not place cabbage next to horseradish, turnips, radishes, or field mustard.
If the bed is small, then it can be covered with a thin plastic mesh, which conducts the sun's rays well, but protects plant leaves from contact with insects.

Wood ash

One of the most effective folk remedies against many garden and garden pests. There are several ways to get rid of caterpillars on cabbage.

A solution of ash and laundry soap will help against cabbage butterfly larvae. A foaming ingredient of natural origin is added to increase the effectiveness of wood ash - it holds particles on the surface of the sheet. Add the ingredients to the water, mix, and pour into a garden spray bottle or spray bottle. Spray cabbage leaves thoroughly from all sides. The procedure should be carried out early in the morning or in the evening. Repeat after 3 days, provided there is no rain.
Ash is added to the water and watered over the cabbage. The active components penetrate into the plant juice in this way, giving it bitterness. The caterpillars stop feeding, crawl to neighboring areas, or die.
In the garden bed around the cabbage there are paths made of wood ash. It is recommended to do this procedure even before the butterflies begin to flutter over the plant.

On a note!
The harm to the cabbage butterfly can be colossal - from the destruction of seedlings to damage to ready-made, formed heads of cabbage.

Plants with a strong smell

Plants that repel cabbage butterflies

The fight against cabbage with folk remedies is not complete without plants. Their goal is to scare away moths, prevent them from laying eggs, and also “spoil the appetite” of the caterpillars.

Plant calendula, marigolds, onions, and garlic around the bed or between the rows. The persistent smell repels butterflies, so you don’t have to fight caterpillars.
An infusion is prepared from tobacco, garlic, wormwood, tansy, and celandine. The ingredients can be mixed together or taken separately. Fill with water and let sit for a day. Strain and add laundry soap. Used for spraying. The procedure is repeated every 3 days.
Effective against cabbage butterflies and caterpillars, valerian, essential oil of lavender, citrus fruits, citronella. Add an aromatic substance to the water - 10 drops per 1 liter. Spray the cabbage.

On a note!
At the height of summer, cabbage butterflies live on strawberries and actively feed on nectar. They live for about 20 days. During this time, each female manages to lay 1,500 eggs. To effectively combat caterpillars, you need to pay attention to neighboring crops and not leave them unattended. And before planting seedlings in early spring, you need to generously wash the trees and outbuildings bordering the garden with a stream of water. This is where pests spend the winter.

Mustard infusion

Mustard will instantly repel butterflies, and already after the second treatment their number will noticeably decrease, and soon will be completely reduced to zero. You need to dissolve 100 grams of mustard powder in a bucket of hot water. The mixture is allowed to cool and then diluted with clean water in a 1:1 ratio. Irrigate the cabbage along its entire height once every 3 days. The procedure must be repeated for 2 weeks.

Vegetables to the rescue

The cabbage plant lays eggs on plants whose smell it knows. Therefore, you need to confuse it so that the aroma of the crops becomes different. Vegetables will help with this.

To prepare one such remedy take:

potato or tomato tops – 2 kg;
water;
liquid soap – 20 g.

Boil 5 liters of water and pour it over the tops. Cover the product and leave overnight. Now you need to strain it, add liquid soap and another 5 liters of water. After this, you can pour the infusion into a spray bottle and spray the plants.

The following remedy is prepared from onion peels. For him they take:

liter jar of onion peels;
water – 4 l;
grated laundry soap - 1 tbsp. l.

First, pour 2 liters of boiling water into the onion skins. After a day, filter the solution, add water to make 4 liters of infusion. All you have to do is add laundry soap, mix and you can use the product.

In the same way, wormwood is infused, which these pests also cannot tolerate. You can simply spread the branches of this plant under the cabbage plantings to save it from pests.

From salt, soda

The following folk remedy consists of:

5 liters of water;
100 g salt.

These two ingredients are mixed. The strained solution is used to treat plants against cabbage butterflies.

In the same way, you can prepare a solution of baking soda or simply sprinkle it on the leaves of plants that need to be saved from a flying pest.

Sagebrush

Wormwood grows everywhere in the garden. It is used to prepare an excellent remedy against pests. Young plants are picked when they are blooming and dried a little in the sun (during the day). The branches of the plant are chopped and thrown into a bucket. Fill the bucket with water to the top and boil for 10-15 minutes.

After boiling, the resulting broth is cooled and diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10. Spray the crop once every 3-4 days for 2 weeks in a row.

On a note!

Instead of wormwood, take tomato or potato tops - they give the same effect.

Vinegar

Some gardeners advise diluting the vinegar mixture:

3 tbsp. any vinegar;
1 tbsp. ground black pepper;
2 tbsp. table salt.

These ingredients are dissolved in a bucket of water and sprayed on the vegetable every other day for 2-3 weeks. Vinegar is also effective against larvae - they die.

Available means

You can get rid of larvae and moths in the beds using baking soda, table vinegar, ammonia, salt, laundry soap, as well as spices - mustard, red pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves. Mix any ingredients, add laundry soap, and spray the plants. Spice powder is used to make paths between the rows and around the beds.

How to fight the cabbage butterfly using folk remedies is very simple. You just need to be patient, as the result may not be noticeable right away. To reduce the number of caterpillars, it is recommended to collect them by hand and destroy them. Catch butterflies using traps made of plastic bottles, where sweet jam, honey, and sugar syrup are placed.

Prevention of caterpillars

It is unrealistic to completely insure against caterpillar attacks, but you can prevent it by minimizing the risks.

What you can do:

Regularly remove weeds (colts);
hill up the soil,
loosen the top layer;
lay mulch;
In the fall, dig up and remove plant debris.

Also, just so you know: there will be fewer parasites if nectar-bearing and insecticidal crops are planted among the cabbage:

Tansy;
marigold;
mint;
sage;
dill; carrot;
onions, anise and others.

They attract many beneficial insects - entomophages.

It is quite possible to completely get rid of caterpillars on early and other varieties of cabbage. Cabbage is easy to grow and stored until spring. This explains its popularity.

How to scare away the cabbage butterfly?

Preventive measures alone cannot cope with the pest; if there are plenty of other vegetable gardens around your site, then there is always the possibility of new generations of butterflies migrating to your garden bed in the summer. In dealing with cabbage grass, preparations based on infusions from plants help a lot. They do not act instantly, have a shorter protective period compared to chemicals, but are practically harmless to people. When processing cabbage, you should always add liquid soap to the water!

Folk remedies for cabbage butterfly:

A bottle of pharmaceutical infusion of valerian is diluted in 3 liters of water, and the garden is sprayed immediately after preparing the solution.
We hang cups or eggshells on the garden bed.
Coniferous infusion - cones, pine needles, spruce or pine branches are used. It is necessary to infuse up to 200 g of collected material in 2 liters of boiling water. After a week, the needles are decanted and the concentrate is applied with water in a ratio of 1:10.
An infusion of 600 g of potato tops, kept for 48 hours in a bucket of warm water, helps against whites.
Spraying with infusion of delphinium leaves (1 kg of dry leaf per bucket of water).
Treat the heads of cabbage with a solution of ammonia - 50 g of the drug per 10 liters of water.
Use a saline solution against whitefish - 2 tablespoons of salt per bucket of water.
You can use tomato tops to prepare a decoction. Up to 1 kg of leaves and shoots are poured with 3 kg of boiling water and boiled for half an hour. The resulting liquid is cooled and used to process the cabbage bed.
Soap-ash solution - half a kilo of sifted ash is poured into a bucket of boiling water, infused, drained, separating the clear liquid from the sediment.

We build homemade repellers from tape

There is an original way to use tape against whites. You need to tie small pieces of it onto pegs, and then place them next to the cabbage seedlings. The sound and vibration produced by the tape in the wind, inaudible to humans, effectively scares butterflies away from plantings.

What caterpillars and butterflies parasitize cabbage?

Caterpillars and butterflies are most often found in cabbage beds. These pests feed on plant leaves, causing the cabbage to begin to wilt.

Whitefly

A whitefly is a butterfly with white wings edged with a black stripe. The lower wing is usually yellowish. You can also notice a black dot on the wings. The butterfly is not very large in size.

The whitefly lays eggs on the underside of cabbage leaves in May. The butterflies themselves do not cause any harm to the cabbage; only the hatched whitefly larvae cause damage. After hatching, the caterpillars crawl to the outside of the leaves and feed on them. The appearance of caterpillars in the beds leads to a delay in the development of cabbage seedlings. The whitefly reproduces very quickly, and three generations of insects can be replaced in one summer.

scoop

The cutworm is a small moth that is predominantly nocturnal. The pest is gray in color; cutworm larvae are green-brown. Moths lay eggs on plants. And after the larvae hatch, they feed on cabbage leaves, thereby causing damage to the entire crop. Cabbage cannot develop normally and begins to wither.

Green caterpillar

Another pest that is often found in cabbage beds is the green caterpillar. The eggs, from which green caterpillars then emerge, are laid by the cabbage moth. The pest appears in the beds at the end of April and lives on cabbage until July. Over time, the green caterpillar can cause serious damage to the crop if you do not start to fight it.

Chemicals

Cabbage should be poisoned in accordance with the instructions, using personal protective equipment. Treatment is carried out early in the morning and in the evening. Do not exceed the dosage; spray the plant twice a month. It is forbidden to process already formed heads of early cabbage.

Effective means:

Aktara;
Aktellik;
Karbofos;
Decis.

On a note!
The drugs have a wide spectrum of action and destroy caterpillars by contact, during feeding. The action lasts up to 25 days. Efficiency is not affected by heavy rains or drought. The average price of the drug is 100 rubles.

In addition to insecticides, biological products are used that kill caterpillars within 5-7 days. The plant should be treated once every 2 weeks. The vegetable can be consumed after thorough rinsing with cold water. The best drugs from this group are Fitoverm, Bitoxibacillin, Iskra bio. The cost of biological products is on average 200 rubles.

Kinmiks

This is a pyrethroid insecticide that has a contact-intestinal effect on the whitefish. They need to spray cabbage plantings against butterflies when the plant is growing and many pests are found on it. The effect occurs after 3 weeks.

The concentration of the solution is not affected by the type of plant. Before use, you need to dilute an ampoule of the product in a bucket of water. The prepared mixture cannot be stored. Kinmiks does not accumulate on cabbage leaves at all; it completely decomposes a week after spraying.

Fitoverm

The drug contains waste products of microorganisms inhabiting the soil. It degrades quickly and is completely safe for the environment.

The product is sold in a liquid state. It should be diluted with water to obtain a solution that should be used to water the plants. For the event, choose a sunny day when no precipitation is expected.

General information about measures to control cabbage pests and prevent their occurrence

There are many insects in the garden that can harm cabbage. Its succulent leaves are to the taste of caterpillars and bugs; slugs can destroy a young head of cabbage in one night. There are many methods to combat them, but it is best to take preventive measures, then you won’t have to destroy the insects.

Phytoprotection

Other plants will help the culture in its struggle for survival. By planting dill, fennel, carrots and celery in a bed with cabbage, we will not only repel pests, but also attract other insects - their natural enemies.

Ornamental cabbage and heads of edible species can be successfully grown in a flower bed. Properly selected plants will not only repel harmful insects, but will also provide shelter for their enemies. For phytoprotection, we plant marigolds, marigolds, mint, and coriander in the flowerbed. To attract insects that destroy pests, you need to leave piles of wood shavings between plantings, and plant umbrella plants in the beds.

Marigolds and marigolds planted between rows of cabbage will repel pests - such plantings are called “phytoprotection”

Chemicals

Unfortunately, phytoprotection is not always effective. Against a large number of insect pests, other preventive and control measures must be used.

Chemicals are used to protect cabbage. There are a large number of highly effective chemical protection products available on the market, but their improper use can adversely affect the environment. Several broad-spectrum drugs are used in household plots:

the low-toxic biological product Fitoverm weakens the insect and it dies after a while. Early varieties of cabbage are treated throughout the entire growing season, treatment is stopped a week before harvesting;
the preparations Inta-Vir, Decis and Iskra-M act on the pest instantly; they can be used to treat late varieties of cabbage and mid-ripening cabbage. Spray plants in dry weather in the morning or evening, stop using a month before eating cabbage.

Mechanical methods of control

One cabbage butterfly is capable of breeding 2-3 generations of caterpillars per season. With the onset of warm spring days, you can already see white moths flying. At the beginning of summer, caterpillars hatch from the laid eggs, which then grow into butterflies. They will give rise to another generation of pests.

The caterpillars that pupate at the end of summer - beginning of autumn overwinter in the cracks of buildings and houses. They may also be located under the bark. To prevent pests from overwintering here, farmers whiten trees at the end of autumn. At the same time you need to inspect the bark. If you notice cabbage butterfly pupae here, you need to remove and destroy them.

The next mechanical method is used at the beginning of summer. It is necessary to periodically inspect the underside of the leaves, and if a clutch of eggs or caterpillars is found, they are destroyed.

Expert opinion Mityuk Stefania Bogdanovna In my garden, I try not to use “chemicals”. Previously, I offered children such entertainment - catching cabbage butterflies with nets. And the kids are happy about this activity, and most of the pests were neutralized using this mechanical method.

Botanical description of the pest

The pest belongs to the white butterfly family. The external features of the small insect are as follows:

Body structure: dark body, white wings with black spots. Size about 2–3 cm.
The wingspan of females reaches 6 cm, while that of males is slightly smaller.
Butterfly caterpillars are blue-greenish in color with three yellow stripes and black dots on the back.
The 2.5 cm pupa is yellow-green in color and has gray-brown spots on it. It is entwined with a silky thread, with which it holds onto the leaf of the plant.
The butterfly has well-developed visual organs, as well as a keen sense of smell. The front legs and club-like thickenings on the antennae serve as organs of touch.

Interesting life hacks

Popular thought is not asleep, and such research is supported by famous farmers of the country.

The famous garden designer and TV presenter Olga Platonova advises sticking sticks with washed egg shells on the tops next to the cabbage. Flying over these devices, the cabbage butterfly will think that another of its fellow tribesmen is laying eggs in this area, and will not touch the planting.

Reputable gardeners also advise covering slightly grown cabbage with low-density white non-woven material or a mesh with small cells. Then not only the whitefish, but also other pests will not be able to penetrate here. In the same way, you can save cabbage from other pests.

Some lay out boards between the rows of plantings, and when caterpillars crawl under them in the heat, they collect and destroy the pests.

Expert opinion Mityuk Stefania Bogdanovna Gardeners also plant next to plants that are annoyed by whites, onions, garlic, and marigolds. The smell of these crops will repel pests, and you will receive additional decorations in the form of flowers, and you will be able to compact the plantings by growing onions and garlic here.

Biological protection

The safest method of destroying cabbage caterpillars is to attract its natural enemies to the garden bed: insects and birds. If the garden exudes the smell of herbs, ladybugs and beetles will fly to it. They are guaranteed to destroy caterpillars and aphids, leaving the plants intact.

Attracting birds to your garden is an effective way to protect your cabbage from pests. Build birdhouses and feed the birds regularly. Wasps and ants are excellent hunters, feasting on caterpillars. These insects feed their larvae with them. To attract them to the beds, water the cabbage with honey or sugar solution.

Advice! It is recommended to use Bitoxibacillin, a biological agent that protects against whites. It contains exotoxin and bacterial spores. Take 100 g of the substance into a bucket of water and mix thoroughly. To increase the stickiness of the solution, it is advisable to add dry milk (a couple of tablespoons is enough). Apply the prepared suspension to the leaves when the weather is dry. After a week, repeat the treatment. The drug is completely non-toxic.

We build homemade repellers from tape

Tips and tricks

The advice of experienced gardeners will definitely be useful to owners of their own plots where the cabbage butterfly has become a frequent guest. To protect your plantings from this pest, it is important to adhere to the following “prevention” rules.

How to prevent pest infestations:

It is better to alternate planting cabbage and other types of cruciferous plants with other garden crops.
Follow the rules of crop rotation to avoid the risk of pests typical for this type of crop.
At the end of each season, be sure to remove plant tops from the garden, dig up the soil and destroy the remains of rhizomes.
Weed control in your area also helps reduce the population of these insects. In early spring, they serve as shelter and food for the first clutch of caterpillars until suitable seedlings of cultivated plants appear in the garden.
Regular inspection of leaves for the presence of egg laying will help prevent the spread of the pest in the area.
Plants with a strong odor will help repel parasites from plantings. These are marigolds, calendula, onions, garlic. In addition to cabbage weeds, most garden pests do not like them, so this method of prevention is considered one of the most successful.

A harmless white butterfly on cabbage can cause the destruction of a crop, because its voracious caterpillars can destroy plantings in just a couple of weeks. It must be combated regularly, using different recipes and, if necessary, chemicals. The information provided will tell you how to save cabbage from this pest, as well as the basic methods of preventing infection in your area.

Advantages and disadvantages of traditional methods

It is recommended to fight cabbage in your summer cottage using folk remedies using cabbage and other plants. To make effective preparations, plants, flower decoctions, spices, substances with a pungent odor, wood ash and much more are used.

The main advantage of the methods is safety for the environment and people. Especially when it comes to early varieties of cabbage. The decay period of the insecticidal substance is from 22 to 60 days. If poison enters the body along with a vegetable, it threatens the accumulation of toxins. It is impossible to feel the effect of the poison immediately, but with the same tactics of treating cabbage with poison, the risk of developing stomach ulcers and cancer increases several times.

The remedy for white cabbage is prepared from “available” ingredients that are always present in the household, medicine cabinet, and kitchen. The process is simple and does not take much time. There is no need to use personal protective equipment in the form of a respirator or suit. It is enough just to protect your hands with rubber gloves.

A significant drawback is that throughout the warm season you will have to repeat the cabbage treatment several times to achieve the desired result. To save cabbage from cabbage worms that have already appeared, spray the vegetable 2-3 times a week, depending on the product chosen. If you need to protect cabbage, once every 14 days is enough.

Preventative work

Experienced gardeners recommend the following preventive measures against whiteweed:

regularly at the very beginning of the season it is necessary to destroy all weeds in the garden, since butterflies lay eggs on them in early spring;
perform a daily inspection of the lower part of the leaves, scrupulously collecting all the laid white eggs;
to reduce the pest population, it is advisable to dig up the garden in the fall;
before winter you need to carefully check the bark of trees, find and destroy caterpillar pupae;
It is advisable to plant cabbage seedlings early, while the butterflies are not yet flying en masse;
You can’t plant cabbage next to mustard, horseradish, and radishes;
when the bed is small, you can cover it with a plastic mesh that allows the sun's rays to pass through, but does not allow the leaves to come into contact with the butterflies.

What do cabbage plants eat?

Only caterpillars cause harm to vegetable plants; they can feed on the green mass of cabbage and damage crops of radishes, turnips, and a number of fruit crops. Due to their gluttony, one brood of caterpillars can completely destroy a cabbage crop.

The caterpillars are active only at night, and during the day they hide at the base of the heads of cabbage.

Why does this work?

Butterfly vision is designed in such a way that insects perceive our world as a mosaic. They do not see a clear and smooth picture like a human. Flying up to a cabbage or other plant, the butterfly already “knows” what spectrum of radiation it will see. But after seeing the “eyes”, the insect loses its orientation, as its perception changes - it receives a signal that this is not exactly what it needs. Plant breeders took this fact into account. Now you can protect your garden without using insecticides.

As for birds, scientists have not yet found an answer to the question of why magpies are afraid of “eyes”. However, the working principle of the layout obviously functions as a bugaboo. But not all scarecrows act against magpies. For example, tinsel, rustling bags, and other bird control items do not work. It is believed that magpies get used to and adapt to the “defenders” of the garden bed. However, they are terribly afraid of white cardboards with drawn eyes, they begin to scream and actively “swear.” Birds sit on the fence and do not risk raiding.