Lorna, the moths don't bother me at all but it does make me lose my appetite when I find one of the little green worms in my broccoli just as I'm about to put it into my mouth. I know, I know, some of you will say it's just a little protein with your veggies but I say Uuug! Broccoli I find is one of the hardest veggies to inspect for these little guys, because of their color they're hard to see.

Annette

It depends on whether you're growing cabbages, broccoli and other cole crops. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a few caterpillars if you're squeamish about great big 'worms' that leave frass in your cabbage leaves or worse, or prefer unspeckled veggies and worm-free broccoli.

If you don't see any particular damage, and there isn't a commercial cabbage field next door, then....

Annette, my mother used to say, "He's a clean little worm, never been anywhere but on your broccoli." Ick.
Nell

I'm never bothered with cabbage whites or tomato hornworms. I mean hey, they gotta eat too and once they eclose you have a pollinator. I always plant enough for all of us. Cabbage whites also eat nasturtiums which are easily grown and I keep a plenty in the potager. If I find a cat on a veggie I simply move it to the nasturtium.

I fed five huge hornworms on one small tomato plant. They don't eat too much and so what if they defoliate the plant, I still had picking tomatoes. I have to admit they ate a few cherry tomatoes. It was hilarious as I could see evidence all over there mouths just like a little kid. They are in cocoons right now and should eclose in May or June.

What grosses me out is finding baby slugs in a mescaline mix. They do not wash off....and I've almost ate one...gak!!! I quit growing mescaline and ran copper tape around the potager beds.


Cabbage whites almost looks like fairie folk.
{{gwi:653953}}


Edna

Edna, yours is the kinder approach. Plant enough for everybody.

I know, I know, I'm a sucker...I haven't the heart to kill anything.

Honestly, when I read up on sow bugs (pill bugs or rollie pollies) and found they have pouches which hold developing embryos I had a whole new perception of bugs. I began to study an old college book on entomology and find bugs simply fascinating.

With mosquitos, ticks and fleas I have a zero tolerance policy.

Thanks everybody. I don't grow cruciferous veggies, except for kale. There are always lots of cabbage moths flitting through the garden. They are pretty.

Your stories remind me of the time I bit into a giant strawberry. I felt lucky, indeed, when I saw the green spider inside the center hollow of the halve which remained in my hand! Since then I always break large strawberries in half so I can inspect the center before I eat them.

Edna, I'm with you, growing enough for everybody is the right thing to do. Now don't get ticked-off. There are no snails or slugs on the mesa because conditions are too dry. There are no mosquitoes because of natural conditions. There are no fleas because the altitude is too high. There are no deer in this area, so no deer ticks. But there are other sorts of ticks. There are a lot of grasshoppers and crickets.

I have a sodium light mounted high on the eaves of the second story. It attracts a lot of moths, some of which are very large. Small bats come in around twilight and eat the moths.

What about those large beetles, which some folks call potato bugs and other folks call stink bugs? Do they do damage to plants? I have a few. There are large centipedes. I go after them, but they usually manage to elude me.

Lorna

Well I have to admit they don't bother me any more because I don't grow any of the cole crops so the cabbage moths flit here and there to their hearts content.
I have only seen a tomato horn worm once he/she was an intriguing little devil, wanting to see what it might become I gathered him up with some tomato leaves and into a jar he went. I punctured the lid with holes and proceeded to watch him spin a cocoon then not knowing how long it would take to complete it's metamorphous I thought I had better remove the lid, just in case it got forgotten, it did. When I did remember he/she was long gone. It wasn't until a couple of years later when I had a bed of Nicotina, sphinx moths were working it at dusk, not knowing what they were I looked them up and found out that was probably what my tomato hornworm turned into. At first I thought they were hummingbirds until I got a closer look. I try very hard to grow without pesticides, I think they are highly overused and here in B.C. most have now been removed from the shelves, they are not available to the home gardener anymore, I don't know about commercial growers though.

Annette

Annette, have you tried soaking the broccoli in salt water?
My grandmother taught me to do this. Here is the "recipe" from the Ohio State Extention service:

To remove insects and worms, soak vegetables, head down, for 30 minutes in cold, salted water (add 1 tsp. salt to each quart water).

Patti, been there done that, it didn't always work. Most of my garden has been taken over by shrubs and flowers so I've solved that problem, I get my Broccoli at the supermarket :o).

Annette

And now you know why I don't eat Broccoli!! lol.