Input needed on pests eating my broccoli

[mr_gentleman]

I am somewhat new to gardening (on my 3rd year), but this is the first time I am having a big issue with bugs eating my garden. I will admit right off the bat that I have neglected keeping the weeds and piles of crud up in my yard around my garden, which I realize has compounded my problem. I am working on getting a hold of that. At the moment I have 10 broccoli plants about 8 inches tall so they are still young. I have come out to find the leaves on two have been devoured down to the ribs. After clearing away grass and weeds to about 3 feet from my raised bed I have been hunting at night to find out what is the culprit. I have killed around 15 cutworms feasting on the leaves of the grass, about 10 slugs that were putting around begging to be stomped, and squished earwigs that probably number in the billions (ok, probably in the hundreds *that I can see).

The hard part I am having is that I have not found any of stated thieves in the act of munchination!

My question is twofold. One, which of these is the most likely culprit to eat the leaves of my broccoli, and do you have any tips/advice on controlling them. Pesticides are a last resort, and by last resort I mean . However, I do have some DE that I am thinking about putting in a spray bottle with water and coating the boards around my bed to mess up and creepy crawler worms that decide my garden is a place to hang out and chow. I also plan to start using different tactics of trapping the earwigs once I get a handle on their hideouts.

Questions, Comments, Advice, and Scolds are all welcome!

Thanks in advance!
Sincerely,
Chris

[b54red]

In all likelihood you need some Dipel Dust which contains bacillus thuringiensis. It is not poisonous except to caterpillars which are sometimes very hard to spot until they have done a lot of damage. I dust my cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussel sprouts regularly and after each rain.

[fortyonenorth]

I don't have a cutworm problem, but I think they generally work at the soil level - chewing on stems and roots. Earwigs and slugs will cause the damage you've described - they generally feast at night. Cabbage lopers are also common broccoli pests. They're easy to miss if you don't look closely because they're tiny and green and blend in with the foliage.

B54's advice regarding BT is good. In terms of the DE, I've only used it as a powder, which is spread around the plants to deter insects. It's not that effective here in the midwest spring - you have to reapply after significant rain - but in dry California it might be a better bet.

FYIW, growing broccoli without pesticides is an uphill battle. I've read that, commercially, it's one of the most pesticide laden vegetables.

Good luck!

[gssgarden]

Cabbage worms do my damage! Little s***s!

I try to be organic as much as possible but one of the few times I break out the Sevin is in the fall for the critters!

One spray did it this year! Sprayed when young, covered top and bottom, seemed to do the trick!

Greg

[Wi-sunflower]

The damage you describe is exactly what would be seen from cabbage loopers. They are from a white or yellow moth and are small and green and blend in with all the cabbage family crops so they can be overlooked quite easily. Here is a google search of pics that should help tho not all the pics properly belong there. https://www.google.com/search?q=cabb...w=1024&bih=615

I don't think the DE will be effective the way you describe using it. Just dust it around. It needs to be loose and sharp to work. Putting it in water will negate that sharpness.

But better is the suggestion for Dipel. That's a name brand for what is generally called BT or Bacillus Thurigensis tho my spelling may be off. It's a natural bacteria that's organic approved and only hurts "worms", caterpillars. There are dust versions and liquid versions. Either work fine tho need to be reapplied after a rain.

Carol

[mr_gentleman]

thanks for all the input. I will do some reading on BT and decide if it is something I will use. I will keep my eye out for cabbage loopers too! I have killed at least 20 cutworms in the last two nights in the few feet surrounding my raised bed. I suppose I need to take care of them before I transplant out any of my other stuff!

Thanks again for all the info!

[mr_gentleman]

In case these pics help....

they got at this one...

and this one...

but they haven't bothered this one or the other 7 small plants! This one got planted a while before the others though .

[salix]

Mr. G - for what it's worth, I cover all my brassicas with floating row cover until they are quite far along. That keeps the danged cabbage butterflies at bay, also flea beetles.

[matereater]

"The damage you describe is exactly what would be seen from cabbage loopers. They are from a white or yellow moth and are small and green and blend in with all the cabbage family crops so they can be overlooked quite easily"

make sure you check the underside of the leaves, thats where I always find them.

[tjg911]

cut worms would cut the plant down not eat the leaves as you describe. cabbage looper probably the problem and as stated they can be hard to see as the look like the bumps on the leaves and are the same color green. bt is organic and totally safe to use but it kills all caterpillars including butterfly cats so be careful about over spray.

broccoli is hardly bothered at all in my garden other than the cabbage looper. since i put up a pvc cage and covered it with bird netting to keep the house finches from pecking the heads to death the cabbage moths can't get in to lay eggs so now even they are not much of a problem.

tom

[mr_gentleman]

finally got some BT and went out to spray some on the broccoli when I noticed that one of the snow pea plants I had put out over the weekend had been cut off at the soil...dug around and found the bugger and squished him...I wish I had sprayed BT this morning!!!

[rockhound]

If you're going to grow susceptible plants it can be a good idea to apply BT early- before you see any damage. If you don't cover the plants with row cover the cabbage butterflys will come, just a matter of time.

[mr_gentleman]

Thanks for the advice...It is a little warm here for covers (it has been in the high 70s, low 80s) and I would think it would get much warmer under covers. I went ahead and gave everything a spray of BT and there doesn't seem to be any new damage. How often do you guys apply BT? I was thinking perhaps once every 2-3 weeks might be good unless we get rain.

[rockhound]

2 weeks is probably often enough unless you see caterpillars. Put it right around the stems where they come out of the ground, it will kill cutworms but they do have to eat it.

[tjg911]

at 80 degrees your covers will cook the plants, i doubt even ultra light covers are ok in that heat.

bt breaks down in the sun and washes off from rain or water spray. once applied and if it is dry for a day the cats will eat the leaves and you'll be all set. cats eat all the time so you don't need a 2 or 3 day window to have bt be effective. once leaves with bt on them have been eaten the cats will stop eating, the bt forms crystals in their gut and they cut open the intestinal track and they die of poisoning, i think it is called septic shock. now just cuz you nailed them today doesn't mean in a short time more won't be chomping your cabbages and broccoli. as eggs hatch new cats will appear but typically 1 spray seems to pretty much take care of the problem... until the moths lay more eggs.

i had to enclose my broccoli with bird netting over a pvc cage to keep the finches from pecking my broccoli heads into nothing! they never did this then 3 or 4 years ago they started. the bird netting is 3/8" or 1/2" square and the cabbage moths cant get thru it and now my broccoli seldom if ever has to be sprayed with bt. might consider that if you did not want to spray bt but it is safe to use, an organic approved pesticide.

tom