Cabbage is one of the most popular garden crops. Growing it in a suburban area is not too difficult. Plants need to be watered and fertilized only on time. As for pests, until recently there were not so many of them. Only the slugs and butterflies-cabbage were annoying summer residents. However, not so long ago, this garden garden appeared another very serious enemy.
In recent years, it sometimes happens that summer residents leave for the city, leaving healthy cabbage in the garden, and arriving after a few days, they find only stems and streaks of leaves. Fabrics, flowers, ovaries of heads of cabbage - all this turns out to be eaten clean. Such a colossal harm to plants causes a new type of pest - cabbage moth. The focus of its distribution is presumably the warm countries of the Mediterranean.
What does a butterfly look like?
It is rather difficult to detect this pest on plants. The fact is that in the adult state, and at the stage of the larva, the cabbage moth has very small sizes. Outwardly, it is very similar to ordinary home moth. In adult butterflies, both front and hind wings are narrow, have a complex pattern in gray-white colors. The body of the insect is dark brown with yellow stripes, and the antennae are quite long. Hind wings on the edge have a fringe. When folded, their tips are slightly raised. The body length of an adult cabbage moth is 5-7 mm, and the wingspan reaches 15 mm.
Pest larvae
The life cycle of adult cabbage moths is very small - only about 2 weeks. At the same time, the butterflies themselves do not do any harm to the plants of the cruciferous family . But, of course, the fight against cabbage moth should be directed, including at such adults. Indeed, almost all butterflies devote their free time to laying eggs, from which then voracious larvae emerge. The latter at the initial stage of development are absolutely colorless and at the same time have tiny sizes (about 4-5 mm). That is why most summer residents do not notice them, as a result of which huge damage is inflicted on plants in a short time. On one bush (mainly on the underside of the leaves) a butterfly can lay a huge number of elongated yellowish eggs.
The hatched caterpillars first gnaw through numerous passages in the cabbage tissues. After a while, they go outside from the top of the sheet. About the fourth day, the caterpillar enters the next stage of development. Its dimensions increase slightly, and the color of the body changes to bright green.
The larval stage of the cabbage moth lasts about a month. Then the caterpillar weaves a thick cobweb and arranges in it a yellowish-green translucent cocoon. After about a week and a half, an adult butterfly comes out of it.
Behavior features
Butterflies of this species fly very poorly. Cabbage moth can rise no more than 2 meters above the ground. But, since the size of this insect is not too large, it is easily tolerated by the wind. This is how the pest usually migrates over long distances.
The caterpillar of the cabbage moth from the larvae of other garden insects, among other things, can be distinguished by behavior. If you touch her, for example, with a wand, she begins to behave very actively - she creeps out energetically, wriggling at the same time, or even quickly descends from the sheet on a silk thread.
Not only cabbage or cauliflower, but also other plants of the cruciferous family can damage cabbage moths. Very often, for example, salad, turnip, radish, etc., suffer from it.
In winter, the moth usually leaves at the stage of an adult butterfly. Fortunately, this insect does not tolerate too strong cold weather. Therefore, after frosty winters, pest can be met quite rarely on cabbage beds (unless, of course, it is brought by southerly winds from warmer regions).
Garden cabbage moth: control measures
To destroy this gluttonous insect is very difficult. Most of the means used by summer residents against other cruciferous pests, in this case does not help. It is completely useless, for example, to use table vinegar, tobacco dust, ash or tobacco infusion against moths. It is absolutely stable to all these means. Most chemicals do not help against it.
Judging by the responses of summer residents, only such means as Senpai, Colorado Forte and Bio Kill give more or less good results in the fight against this pest.
However, after a few years, these preparations may also be powerless before the cabbage moth. The fact is that this pest, like indoor cockroaches, very quickly adapts to any insecticides. In any case, the above funds should be used carefully. After all, the tissues of cabbage are very delicate, and they can be easily burned. It is also highly discouraged to use these drugs a couple of weeks before the harvest. Otherwise, cabbage can simply be poisoned.
What other insecticides can be used
If the moth showed resistance to the means described above, it is worth trying to destroy it also with such drugs:
- "Karbofos".
- Talcord.
- Sodium silicofluoride.
- Nurell.
Without exception, all insecticides have a detrimental effect only on butterflies and larvae of the cabbage moth. The embryos in the eggs, as well as the pupae in the cocoons, remain alive. Therefore, after a couple of weeks, the plants should be treated with the same tool for the second time. By this time, the larvae and butterflies will come out of their "shelters".
Popular measures
Various kinds of chemicals are often used to kill pests such as cabbage moths. Popular measures against it can also be used. Indeed, the majority of summer residents would not particularly like to use chemistry, and even such lethal as, for example, the same "Colorado".
Some gardeners advise using a mixture of flour with soda (in equal quantities) against this pest. With this powder you just need to sprinkle the leaves of cabbage and scatter it on the ground near the stems. Once in the body of an insect with plant tissues, flour sticks together in a lump and forms plugs in its digestive system. Completes the destructive influence of soda.
There are other ways to kill such a dangerous pest as cabbage moth. Control measures by folk remedies can also consist, for example, in spilling the leaves of plants with crushed bay leaves. It is believed that ordinary dog flea shampoo can help with moths. It must be diluted with water (2 tbsp. L. Per bucket) and sprinkled with cabbage obtained solution.
Bacterial agents
What other measures can be taken against such a pest as cabbage moth? In some cases, bacterial agents also help against voracious caterpillars of this variety. Their advantage is that they do not have any harmful effects on the plants themselves and on the human body. Being applied to the leaves, they are absorbed by the tissues. Further, the drugs enter the body of the larva and begin their harmful work, causing paralysis and death.
Most often, bacterial agents are used to combat cabbage moth:
- "Dendrobacillin."
- "Gomelin."
- Dipel.
- "Bactoseptin."
It is advisable to use preparations of this group at the peak of activity of caterpillars in the evening. The best outdoor temperature is +16 degrees.
How to get rid of cabbage moths: preventative measures
This insect overwinters usually in cruciferous tops. Therefore, in the autumn, for prevention, all leaves and stems of such plants should be carefully collected with a rake and burned. You can also stack them in a compost pile. This concerns not only the leaves of white, Brussels sprouts or cauliflower, but also watercress, radish, turnip. It is also necessary to remove from the site the dead tops of various weeds of the cruciferous family.