QUESTION: I have a few cabbage plants in my garden. I keep noticing holes in the outer leaves. How do I keep bugs from eating my cabbage plants? -Jim L
ANSWER: Cabbage plants are enticing to a vast array of bugs and pests that can harm the plant significantly if left untreated. Identifying the culprit is the first step in eliminating the pest and protecting your crops. For a more cost effective and overall safer method of protecting your harvest, try using a home remedy instead of commercial chemically-based insecticides. Aphids, worms, moths, and slugs are the most common pests that attack the cabbage plant.
Aphids and other mites suck the vital sap from cabbage leaves, leaving the plant weakened and damaged, as well as more susceptible to other infestations and diseases. To suffocate these tiny bugs, make a homemade spray by mixing 1 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 cups of water, and 2 teaspoons of dish soap, then spray on the cabbage plant.
Army worms and cutworms are both known cabbage eaters as well. If there are just a handful of worms present on your cabbage plants, you should be fine just picking them off and crushing them by hand. For a more in-depth infestation, make a repellent spray by mixing one tablespoon of dish soap with one cup of vegetable oil and one cup of water and spray down the entire plant, especially the underside of the leaves, where worms and other pests like to hide out. Another way to solve worm issues with your cabbage plants is to dust the plant with flour. As the worms eat the flour, it expands rapidly in their stomachs and kills them. There are also a lot of very effective commercial insecticidal soaps if you don’t want to make a DIY version.
The worms actually come from moths, who like to lay their larvae on cabbage plants. To preemptively tackle worm issues, simply repel the moths and you won’t have to deal with worms in the future. Moths can be repelled by growing garlic as a companion plant, laying out crushed white eggshells around the base of your cabbage plants, or covering your cabbage plants with garden sun cloth so that the moths can’t access them at all.
Slugs and snails can also be a problem with cabbage, and they often go unnoticed as they like to feed late at night and early in the morning. It’s extra important to catch slugs and snails in the act early too, as they can eat large portions of your cabbage plants in short periods of time. To prevent slugs and snails, you can either pour beer into several shallow saucers or bowls and place them around your cabbage plants to lure the pests in to drown, or surround your plants with a circle of salt, which will dissolve the slugs on contact when they attempt to crawl over it.
Did what you said the whole thing fried and is now dead useless information
I have a beautiful cabbage plant cherry tomato broad bean and sweet corn also pepperment smells so nice bugs also eat at my plant I tried the method suggested so thankyou I sprayed leave back and front
How can I keep I away this cabbage pest,,,,
How soon after dusting can you water?
Please do not try the dish liquid oil and water it killed every cabbage plant, I had 8 🙁 Hopefully it’s not too late to start over 🙁
You would be correct. 1 cup of oil to 1 1/2 cup of water is insane.
It’s way to much oil. It WILL suffocate your plants.
You only need the dish soap actually to do the trick. .
I’m 70 years old I have never used over a teaspoon of oil in this type of spray.
The spray this person is referring to is actually horticulture oil that you spray on fruit trees.
Vegetable oil mixed with other liquids is leathal for the cabbage leaves. It stops the small microscopic pores on the leaves to absorbe CO2. Very bad advise.
Vegetable oil will not kill a cabbage plant, unless you over saturated it or you spray it at the wrong time during the day. Even plain dish soap will kill cabbage or any other plant if sprayed at the wrong time of day . It’s the incorrect spraying that does the damage.. Im 70 years old , I’m speaking from experience .
what time of day should you spray the cabbage
I usually spray early I’m the morning or either just before dark
The original poster here is absolutely correct. I only differ in the amount of oil they put to the spray. I dilute ANY oil with much more water . The recipe they posted in the article is a fantastic horticulture spray for fruit trees but, if you’re gonna use it in the garden with that ratio . I would use it as a soil drench and increase the dish soap to kill grubs, nemotodes,etc. And while you’re at it plant some garlic. Garlic spray will kill and protect. Alternate it with the dish soap through the season and you should stay pest free.