Last year we grew big, beautiful cabbages and broccoli that were filled with big, horrendous cabbage worms. It was pretty gross, and we hardly got to eat any of it. Since hand-picking the dumb bugs off did not work, we decided to try a new approach: floating row covers.
We ordered a 7ft x 50ft cover from Fedco, and it showed up in the mail a couple days ago. This stuff is so light! I suppose that's to be expected, but neither of us had any firsthand experience with row covers, so we were surprised. I think it's going to work really well to keep the cabbage moths, and in turn the cabbage worms, away.
A pot of African violets testing out the new row cover
7 comments:
We tried row cloth on the broccoli a couple of years ago. And then one day I saw one of those white moths fluttering around under the cloth :( So I'm not sure if I didn't get all of the edges secured good enough, or if they overwinter right in the soil.
Last year we found that the best way to beat the worms is to buy our broccoli starts and get them in the ground super early. The broccoli was ready to harvest before the worms got going. This year I'm going to see if waiting and planting them as a fall crop works, hoping the worms peter out before the broccoli gets going.
Yes, you will love this stuff. My parents use it on alot of stuff in the vegetable garden including carrots which sometimes get riddled with holes by a little fly that lays its eggs and makes larvae that eat them. They use it on all of their cole crops too. I've always found it a little frustrating to work with, but if you get a system, its worth it.
Do you think it would keep rabbits off early in the morning?
I had trouble with the stuff. The wind made it nearly impossible to keep down and when we got heavy rains it wasn't able to penetrate it quick enough. It puddled on top of the row covers and then collapsed onto my young plants. I guess I just wasn't doing it right. Most folks use some sort of support for it (wire hoops) I did, but it didn't help.
Let us know how it works out and what you did. Obviously the stuff works or folks around the world wouldn't use it. :)
I lost all my broccoli to cabbage worms last year. It was very vexing!
Cabbage worms are nasty critters.
They make you want to not ever eat the veggie they were in. I used to love artichokes and ate them every few days. But one time, I bit into a leaf and there was only a half of a worm in there.....
I can't even look at artichokes now.
All this frustration I read here makes me feel so overwhelmed at possibly starting up our own garden. There are so many variables, so many predators, diseases, and thing that can go wrong.
I'm sitting here cheering you all on, though!
I just discovered your blog and am bookmarking it..it's great! I came back to find out more about the rowcovers since I can't find them anywhere locally. *rolls eyes* Thanks for posting that link!!
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