Cabbage is a favorite treat of caterpillars that can destroy most of any crop if you do not pay attention to their appearance and take no measures. The butterfly lays eggs in the depths of the forming cabbage, and the small green worms that were born a week later destroy the plant from the inside in a short time, leaving no room for further development. So how to get rid of the tracks on the cabbage? You will find answers and tips below.
How to deal with caterpillars
There are several ways to deal with caterpillars:
- Folk methods.
- Biological means.
- Warning measures.
Of course, you can still use chemical solutions, but this can harm both the plant itself and human health, so we will not touch on this topic. Let's return to safe methods that have been tested over the years.
So, how to treat cabbage from caterpillars (folk remedies)? Cabbage scoops and whites do not tolerate the smell of solutions prepared from tops, tomato stepsons, husks from onions, ash and soda.
Effective Caterpillar Recipes
- Soap solution. You need to take 10 milliliters of liquid soap or tar shampoo and dissolve it in 10 liters of water into which a glass of ash has been added. Abundantly process cabbage leaves with this composition, the smell will scare away butterflies and caterpillars.
- You do not know how to treat cabbage from caterpillars with folk remedies? You can prepare an infusion of onion husks. This tool will scare away butterflies with its pronounced unpleasant odor. It is necessary to take a liter jar of husk, pour it with two liters of boiling water and leave for two days. After that, you need to add two more liters of pure water and a tablespoon of liquid soap.
- Tomato Tops. To prepare tomato tincture, you will need about two kilograms of tops or stepsons, which should be poured with 5 liters of boiling water and left to infuse for 4 hours. After this, the mixture must be boiled for 3 hours, filtered and diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 2. In order to better “stick” the solution to the cabbage leaves, it is recommended to add 20-30 grams of shavings of laundry or tar soap (add immediately before spraying).
Folk remedies
- Un chopped pepper. Not sure how to get rid of the green caterpillar tracks? To prepare the tincture, you need to take 25 grams of black pepper with peas, pour it with a couple of glasses of water and boil. After the solution has cooled, it must be covered with a lid and left for three days in a dark place. Before you start processing, in the tincture you need to add 5 liters of clean water and 20 grams of shavings of laundry soap.
- If you do not know how to get rid of caterpillar tracks on cauliflower, in this case the infusion of valerian, which is sold in a pharmacy, will help. In a 10-liter container, put a tablespoon of valerian powder and fill it with water - the solution is ready! If you process cabbage leaves this way several times a season, you can forget about any pests, including caterpillars.
other methods
- When do caterpillars eat cabbage and how to get rid of them? If for some reason you do not want or cannot process the plant by the methods listed above, then as an alternative, you can use ordinary baking soda and flour in equal proportions (you can also add a small amount of pollen from any plant of the cruciferous family). The resulting mixture you just need to sprinkle the leaves through a strainer. Caterpillars on such a "diet" die, and the plants do not do any harm.
- The next way to protect cabbage from caterpillars is to plant fragrant plants next to it, such as celery, calendula, thyme, marigolds or nasturtium. They all smell very strong, so they scare away the cabbage scoop and the whitewash.
Track Control Methods
- Soapy ash solution. In order to prevent the appearance of caterpillars, it is necessary to process the beds with tincture of ash and soap, and it also works very effectively if insects have already appeared. To prepare, take a half-liter jar filled with vegetable or baking ash, add 40 grams of tar soap shavings or 40 ml of the same shampoo. A natural insecticide is infused for a day, after which the solution needs to be filtered and treated with plants. The procedure is recommended to be repeated at the beginning of the growing season, after 14 days from the moment of cabbage planting in open ground and then every 2 weeks.
- You think how to get rid of cabbage caterpillars? An excellent tool to combat these insects is an infusion or decoction of tobacco dust. You need to take 40 grams of tobacco or shaggy dust, pour a liter of clean water and leave for 2 days. After the solution has been infused, it must be filtered and 2 liters of water added. Just before spraying, 4 grams of mashed soap is added to the infusion. A decoction of tobacco dust is prepared in the same proportions, only it needs to be insisted for a day, and then boiled for two hours. Before applying, the broth should be diluted with water and add soap.
Plant compounds
You can fight insects with components that grow on your own site:
- Delphinium broth helps well in the fight against caterpillars. For cooking, you will need the aboveground part of the plant or rhizome and autumn shoots. For 10 liters of water, a kilogram of dried plant or 100 grams of roots is taken and aged for 2 days. Next, the solution should be boiled for 1.5 hours.
- Do not know what method to get rid of the tracks on the cabbage? The tincture of burdock is very effective, because the foliage of this plant contains substances that are lethal to the caterpillars. For cooking, it is necessary to grind and tamp the leaves of burdock in a bucket, so that the third part of the container is closed. Next, fill the bucket with warm water and leave it warm for 72 hours. Before processing, the solution must be filtered. The finished tincture is abundantly watered under the bushes, and also each leaf of seedlings is sprayed from the spray gun. The procedure should be performed 3-4 times per season, with an interval of 12-14 days.
- Looking for the answer to the question of how to get rid of the tracks on the roots of cabbage? To protect the roots, it is necessary to spray the heads of cabbage and the ground under them with a tincture of burdock or garlic. To prepare the first solution, it is necessary to finely chop the leaves of burdock, add water in a ratio of 1: 3 and leave for three days. The garlic composition is prepared in the same way: knead 10 heads of garlic, pour the gruel with five liters of water and leave for three days.
Tansy as a means of combating caterpillars
The next answer to the question of how to get rid of caterpillars on cabbage will be a composition based on bright red and cinerariel tansy. Popularly, these plants are popular under other names - feverfew or Dalmatian / Caucasian chamomile. In industrial production, this component is a natural raw material for the production of pyrethrum insecticide, and is grown as a decorative culture in garden plots. From the dried flowers of this plant, it is possible in the domestic environment to make a solution or powder to combat cabbage pests. This will require partially opened inflorescences or tubular yellow flowers. They need to be dried, crushed and mixed with road dust in a ratio of 1: 1. The resulting powder must be sprinkled with cabbages.
To make an infusion, you need to take 125 grams of crushed inflorescences and 5 liters of water, pour in a moderate amount and mix until thick sour cream, and only then add the remaining water.
Biological methods and methods
- Not sure how to get rid of the tracks on the cabbage? If wasps live on the site, then you can attract them to a useful cause. To do this, you need to dilute the jam, take compote or just sweet water and sprinkle it on the cabbage. A sweet smell will certainly attract wasps to the beds, which only hunt for sweet. And they, in turn, will save you from caterpillars, because wasps feed their offspring with caterpillars. So we get mutually beneficial cooperation.
- Eggshell. As soon as you notice that butterflies began to fly around the cabbage beds, sticks with egg shells suspended on them should be placed around the perimeter. They say that butterflies take the shell for their own kind and do not invade where it is already occupied.
Preparations
They resort to the use of these drugs when alternative methods do not help or there simply is no time for manual collection, frequent treatment with tinctures, decoctions and other things, but you don’t want to use chemical agents. Then how to get rid of the tracks on the cabbage? The use of such biological preparations as Bitoxibacillin or Lepidolite is considered an effective method, they are not harmful to people, animals and bees in moderate proportions. Active substances do not enter plant tissues and, accordingly, do not accumulate in them. The drugs act in such a way that after eating the processed leaves, the caterpillars lose their appetite and they die. Processing plants should be carried out 1-3 times per season with an interval of a week. An insecticide is effective only in the first stage of the appearance of insects, with a strong defeat it will not help. There is also a biological preparation Fitoverm, it can be used no more than two times with an interval of 20 days.
Preventive measures
In order not to wonder in the future: "How to get rid of the tracks on the cabbage?" - and do not waste time fighting them, preventive measures should be taken in advance.
In order to avoid the appearance of pests, it is necessary:
- Cover the beds with cabbage with a thin spanbond or fine mesh, which will block the way for butterflies to lay larvae.
- Carefully remove weeds and other plants, especially those belonging to the Cruciferous family, as they attract butterflies very much.
- To plant odorous plants (mint, marigolds, tansy, sage, etc.) near or between rows of cabbage whose smell will frighten off insects.
- Inspect the cabbage leaves at the bottom of the plant and remove the egg clutches.
- Follow the rules of growing cabbage so that a strong plant can withstand the invasion of pests.
- Keep the garden in harmony with wildlife, where for the caterpillars there are many natural enemies (birds, insects).
Conclusion
In contrast to the toxic substances that are abundant on the market, natural and biological agents for removing caterpillars from cabbage leaves are completely safe for people, plants and pets. Do not forget that the use of chemicals to control pests leads to the accumulation of carcinogens in the plant that are hazardous to health.