Having invested time and effort into growing seedlings, vegetable growers look forward to seeing the young plants turn into lush bushes and begin to bear fruit. Arriving at the dacha and seeing that the cabbage leaves are full of holes is a real blow for the gardener. The appearance of holes of different sizes on seedlings is evidence of a pest attack. Having discovered riddled leaves on cabbage, you will have to act decisively - the crop must be treated with insect repellents.
Causes of holes in cabbage leaves
If holes of different sizes appear on the cabbage, this is a sign of an invasion of leaf-eating or sap-sucking insects. Pests pierce or gnaw through leaf plates, leaving behind such marks. These include:
- Slugs. Relatives of snails eat up quite large areas of leaf blades, because they have a powerful mouthparts.
- Caterpillars. The larvae of butterflies - noctuid moths, white moths and cabbage moths of the first generations feed on the leaves of seedlings, skeletonizing them. Older caterpillars leave holes in the heads of cabbage, making passages in them.
- Cruciferous bugs. These are small bugs up to 1 cm long; on their backs there is a motley pattern consisting of black and red stripes and dots. These insects suck the sap of plants from the Cruciferous family. Using a thin proboscis, the bug pierces the leaf, after which a tiny hole remains in this place, and a yellow border forms around it.
- Cruciferous flea beetles. The bodies of these pests do not exceed 3 mm in length. Their backs are painted black or gray, and their hind legs are equipped with a jumping apparatus. Insects feed on the sap of the leaves. After their attack, the cabbage is literally riddled with holes. Flea beetle larvae are also dangerous - they descend along the stems to the roots and eat the tender lateral shoots.
Attention! Insects attacking cabbage not only spoil its appearance, their activity often leads to contamination of the crop with viruses, fungi and bacterial infections. Seedlings often die due to pest attacks.
How to treat leaky cabbage?
There are several ways to combat insects that leave holes in cabbage. Some help repel pests, others are aimed at destroying them. The vegetable grower must choose the method of influence that seems more convenient to him, having studied the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Folk remedies
Most gardeners prefer safe methods of combating crop-attacking insects. These include folk remedies. They are effective against various types of pests that eat cabbage.
Having discovered large holes in cabbage, gardeners understand that these are the work of slugs or caterpillars. These pests can be controlled manually by picking them off the plants daily. Young butterfly larvae usually live on the underside of leaf blades. Slugs hunt after sunset because they are afraid of the heat. During the day, mollusks hide in shady and damp corners of the garden - under stones, pieces of slate.
Shellfish are attracted to the smell of beer, so vegetable growers install beer traps in the area. Shallow bowls with smooth edges are used as containers. An alcoholic drink is poured inside. Baits are placed in secluded places where the sun's rays do not penetrate. The next day, gardeners inspect the traps and collect pests by hand.
Another way to get rid of shellfish is to create an obstacle course for them by scattering shell rock, wood chips or brick chips around the perimeter of the bed. Soft-bodied pests will not be able to get over such a barrier to the greenery.
Other means will help protect cruciferous crops from attack by uninvited guests:
- Vinegar. 15–20 ml of essence or 1 glass of vinegar are diluted in 10 liters of water. Using a spray bottle, spray the bushes, trying to direct the stream to the lower surface of the leaves.
- Wormwood decoction. Take 500 g of raw materials, pour 5 liters of boiling water, put on low heat. The drug is boiled for 30 minutes, then left under the lid for a day. The concentrate is filtered through cheesecloth and diluted 1:1 with water. Add 100 ml of liquid soap to the finished product and treat the cabbage.
- Soda and flour against caterpillars. Mix 2 components, taken in equal quantities, and dust the seedlings.
- Pepper, ash and tobacco dust. Mix these substances and sprinkle them on cabbage leaves and soil under the bushes.
Insecticides against pests
When folk remedies fail to cope with their task, chemical or biological products are used. The first group of insecticides is highly toxic, so it is used before the formation of ovaries.
Chemicals for processing cabbage:
- Aktara;
- Decis;
- Karate;
- Fox;
It is important to study the instructions for use for the selected drug. It contains information about the dosage and consumption rates of the working solution. Manufacturers also indicate after what period of time the cabbage should be re-processed.
Attention! Spraying of plants with chemicals is carried out using personal protective equipment in dry, windless weather.
Biological insecticides are safe for humans and animals, but are effective against insect pests. Their development is based on living microorganisms. Watering cabbage with them is allowed at any stage of cultivation, even before the start of harvesting.
List of biological insecticides:
- Bitoxibacillin;
- Lepidocide;
- Verticillin;
- Aktofit.
Reference. Biological products are used as part of tank mixtures.
Preventing the appearance of holes in cabbage
Pests appear on sites in early spring. They overwinter in plant debris and topsoil. After waking up, insects feed on weeds, but when gardeners transfer seedlings to the garden bed, they move to young plants. Vegetable growers understand that the best defense against invasion of the garden by uninvited guests is prevention. In the fall, the beds are dug deep, and all plant debris is removed and burned. These measures will help reduce the number of insects wintering in the garden.
Immediately after transplanting the seedlings into the garden bed, it is worth covering the plantings with a fine net. If this is not possible, you need to spray the seedlings with a soap-ash solution and scatter wood ash around the plants. It will protect cabbage from cruciferous flea beetles. Some herbs that emit a spicy aroma have a repellent effect. Planted next to cabbage:
- marigold;
- dill;
- fennel;
- calendula.
Attention! Pests primarily attack plants with weakened immune systems, so it is important to fertilize in a timely manner. With sufficient nutrition, seedlings will be more resistant to negative factors.
Having discovered holes in cabbage leaves, you must not hesitate, otherwise pests will destroy all the plantings. Insect populations are increasing rapidly. At the initial stage of cultural defeat, you can cope with uninvited guests using folk remedies. If they are ineffective, then you should use biological or chemical insecticides.
Cabbage is attractive to many insects. In order not to be left without a harvest, it is important to know what can be used to treat cabbage against pests at each stage of its development.
Common Cabbage Pests
Cabbage is damaged by more than 30 types of pests. They can be divided into two groups:
- soil - damage roots;
- ground-air - damage leaves and stems.
Particularly harmful:
- cruciferous flea beetles - light-legged, black, wavy;
- cabbage aphid;
- whiteflies – cabbage, greenhouse, tobacco;
- cabbage and cabbage caterpillars;
- soil pests – cabbage fly larvae, mole crickets.
The cabbage fly is harmful in spring and summer. The insect lays eggs in the ground next to the stems of young plants. The larvae hatching from the eggs damage the roots of the cabbage.
Butterflies - cabbage moths, cutworms, white moths - make clutches on the lower surface of the leaves. The hatched caterpillars gnaw leaves, crawl inside the heads and heads of cabbage, make passages in them and pollute them with excrement.
Early cabbage and cauliflower are often infested with aphids, a small sucking pest that forms large colonies. The leaves on which the aphids have settled become curled, and the plant lags behind in development. Aphids are especially nasty on broccoli and cauliflower. Insects penetrate into the spaces between the inflorescences, from where they are difficult to remove.
Treatment with folk remedies
Folk remedies are necessary to protect early ripening types of cabbage: early, lettuce and leaf cabbage. Due to the short growing period, early ripening cabbage cannot be sprayed with insecticides. Pest control consists mainly of preventive measures.
Late cabbage can be safely treated with insecticides, since by the time the crop is harvested, the toxic drugs will lose their toxicity.
Kale (plume, pak choi) and Chinese cabbage (petsai) have tender, juicy leaves and attract a large number of leaf-eating and sucking pests. Cruciferous flea beetles and slugs are especially annoying. If these pests get close to a loose head of cabbage, it will be impossible to fight them - they will quickly destroy the plant, from which only perforated leaves will remain.
The plantings are covered with non-woven fabric. This simple technique will help isolate plants from fleas and slugs. Dusting the beds with wood ash immediately after planting the seedlings helps prevent flea beetles.
For aphids and caterpillars, use a soap-ash infusion.
- A tablespoon with a heap of ash is poured with a liter of boiling water.
- Mix well and leave overnight.
- In the morning, filter, add a few drops of liquid soap and spray the plants at 5-6 in the morning, trying to capture the lower part of the leaves.
- Treatment of cabbage against pests is repeated every other day.
If aphids appear on Chinese cabbage, you can prepare a decoction of wood ash:
- sift 300 g of ash;
- to fill with water;
- boil for 20 minutes;
- let it sit;
- strain;
- dilute in 10 liters of water and spray the plants.
This decoction drives away aphids not only from cabbage, but also from any other vegetable and garden crops. Ash will also be useful in the fight against slugs. It is sprinkled on the ground around the plants, creating concentric circles on the surface of the bed. Once wet in the rain, the ash will no longer be a barrier for mollusks, so you need to alternate circles of ash with areas covered with red ground pepper, and at the same time set traps for slugs.
You cannot plant cabbage in beds where any cruciferous plants grew in the previous season - the soil in such a place is in most cases infected with pests.
There are a few more tips for protecting white cabbage, cauliflower and any other cabbage.
- To protect the roots from the cabbage fly, you can simply cover the ground near the stems with non-woven material.
- The heads of cabbage are covered with thin non-woven material to protect them from butterflies. If caterpillars do appear on the leaves, you can fight them only with approved insecticides or the “grandmother’s” method - collecting them by hand.
- It is advisable to clear the cabbage of caterpillars in time - before the heads of cabbage begin to curl. Plants damaged by caterpillars are poorly stored and become vulnerable to bacterial diseases.
- A good solution would be to plant strong-smelling plants next to cabbage: tagetis, wormwood.
- Many pests do not like the strong smell of vinegar. To protect cabbage, a tablespoon of vinegar essence is dissolved in 10 liters of warm water and sprayed on the plants on a clear, warm day.
- The specific smell of ammonia cannot be tolerated by the most malicious cabbage pests: aphids, ants, flies, mole crickets, weevils, and slugs. The drug is used to protect plants and at the same time for nitrogen fertilizing. 50 ml of alcohol (1 bottle) is diluted in 10 liters of water and sprayed on the plants from a spray bottle or doused with a watering can.
- Decoctions made from tomato tops, dandelions, wormwood, onion peels, laundry soap, and garlic will help against aphid infestations.
- Spraying the plantings with an infusion of black henbane, datura vulgaris, creeping bittersweet, and a 0.5% solution of Enterobacterin will save you from caterpillars.
- From the second half of July, slugs flock to the garden, for which cabbage is a tasty treat. To protect plants from slugs, you can use a thin covering material or dust the leaves with ash (a glass per square meter). Ash not only prevents uninvited guests from nibbling on vegetables, but also serves as a potassium fertilizer.
Well-known plant protection experts recommend sprinkling the soil around the plants with a repellent mixture when cabbage flies appear. To make it take:
- 100 g wood ash;
- 100g tobacco dust;
- a teaspoon of ground red pepper.
The mixture is scattered over the bed and the soil is loosened to a depth of 2-3 cm. The procedure is repeated every three to four days.
To combat cabbage whites, plants are watered with a mixture of the following components:
- two tablespoons of mustard;
- two tablespoons of table salt;
- a teaspoon of ground black or red pepper;
- a tablespoon of liquid soap.
The dosage is given for 10 liters of water.
Cruciferous flea beetles are small insects with a metallic sheen that eat soft areas of cabbage leaves. Spraying with a 0.2% solution of trichloromethane at intervals of 10 days helps against fleas.
To prevent cabbage flies, the soil around the root is shed with a 0.2% Karbofos solution. Cabbage is processed three times with an interval of 8-10 days.
Insecticides are chemicals that kill insects, their eggs and larvae. Depending on the way the drug penetrates the body of pests, insecticides are divided into the following groups:
- intestinal;
- contact;
- systemic;
- fumigants, or respiratory.
Most insecticides used to protect cabbage are of the enteric contact type.
When using insecticides, you should follow the rule: if the product does not work, carry out the next treatment
insecticide with another active ingredient.
The table will help you choose the right pesticide.
Table 1. Preparations for cabbage pests recommended for private farms
You can treat cabbage with biological preparations against caterpillars when the larvae are still small. Older caterpillars do not respond to biological products.
System of measures to protect cabbage from pests
In open ground, cabbage is mainly grown as seedlings. At a young age, plants that have just been planted in the ground can be severely damaged by cruciferous flea beetle. The ideal way to protect against pests would be to plant seedlings in peat-humus pots at a time when the critical phase for flea beetles has passed.
Flea beetles appear en masse at the end of April and are active throughout May, so there is no need to rush into planting seedlings. Seedlings of white cabbage planted in peat-humus pots planted in the garden at the beginning of June soon outstrip in growth earlier plantings that were damaged by cruciferous flea beetles.
During the period of growth of biomass and heads of cabbage, cabbage is damaged by many insects. Each pest has its own entomophages - insect predators that can destroy up to 90% of the pest population. To attract entomophages to the site, nectar-bearing plants are sown next to the beds. The gardener’s task is to create a flowering carpet around the cabbage plantings. Ladybugs, ichneumon wasps, lacewings, predatory gall midges, ground beetles and phytoseiulus bugs will settle on odorous plants.
Predatory insects are attracted to:
- dill;
- anise;
- coriander;
- phacelia;
- fennel;
- beans.
Nectar plants are sown along cabbage beds in strips 5 m long. The coverage area of most entomophages is 50 m. Fast-flowering plants - dill, phacelia, coriander - are sown twice a season: when planting seedlings and 2 weeks after. Double sowing helps to create a real odorous conveyor. One flowering dill plant provides additional food for such a number of entomophages that is enough to destroy all the cabbage aphids in the area.
Deep cultivation of row spacing destroys cocoons of armyworms and white moths. Tillage activities should be carried out during the period of mass emergence of caterpillars from eggs or in early July, when they go to pupate in the top layer of soil.
The use of pesticides can be classified as operational measures necessary during an outbreak of pests.
In properly managed household farming, environmentally friendly methods of protecting cabbage provide up to 70% of the effect. The remaining 30% comes from biological agents and pesticides. Moreover, insecticides are used only locally - on individual plants.
Insects and slugs make growing cabbage very difficult. Knowing how to combat pests, you can significantly reduce the harm from their presence, or even get rid of them altogether.
- — spunbond;
- - ash, tobacco or road dust, ground red pepper;
- — tops of tomatoes or potatoes;
- - garlic;
- - laundry soap;
- - vinegar.
In most cases, the formation of holes in cabbage indicates a pest attack on the crop. Carefully examine the leaves of the plant - if you see tiny dark blue, black or striped bugs, then urgently take measures to destroy them, because these insects are cruciferous flea beetles.
It’s worth noting right away that fighting pests is much more difficult than preventing their occurrence, so if you have cabbage beds that have not yet been attacked by these insects, then cover them with spunbond during the period of control.
Since cabbage leaves have good absorbent properties, it is best to carry out processing using folk recipes as a basis. For example, you can dust the plants with ash, dust or ground pepper. To do this, you need to add 30 grams of liquid soap to a bucket of water and spray the cabbage with this solution. After wetting the crop, it must be powdered with any of the above products. Take a small sieve, place the selected product in it and shake the container over each plant.
The procedure must be repeated every 3-5 days for two to three weeks.
An infusion of tops and garlic has proven itself to be effective against cabbage flea beetles. You need to chop two or three heads of garlic, pass an armful of potato or tomato tops through a meat grinder and fill everything with a bucket of water. Leave the product to infuse for two to three days, then strain, add a little laundry soap (up to 50 g), mix and spray the cabbage, trying to wet each leaf well.
The procedure must be repeated twice a week until the insects completely disappear.
A cheap and simple folk remedy for cruciferous flea flea is a weak solution of vinegar (50 ml of 70% essence per bucket of water). Treating cabbage with this composition repels many pests, which is why many gardeners use it to this day.
Here we will look at cabbage diseases and find out answers to such common questions as, for example, why cabbage turns yellow (usually the lower leaves turn yellow) and disappears in the garden (or in open ground and in a greenhouse). Let's consider the reasons why a head of cabbage on white and cauliflower does not set, or, as they usually say, does not curl (i.e., does not form), because when there is no ovary, then what is there to eat? The article below lists many diseases of this type of garden crop. Let's answer the following questions: why do cabbage leaves wither, dry out, curl and twist inwards, and the roots dry out, which leads to the fact that pale cabbage grows poorly or does not grow at all and dies. Let's look at why the middle (core) of cabbage rots and why it rots at the root, the leaves turn black and fall off. Let's consider what to do if holes appear on the leaves and the cabbage becomes full of holes, usually this is due to the presence of insect pests in your area; from the photos listed below, you can identify them.
From this article you will learn:
- Cabbage leaves wither
- Heads of cabbage are not tied
- There are lumps and growths on the roots
Read below, signs, 25 photos and how to treat. (Drugs)
Downy mildew
- Grayish-yellow spots
- The cabbage is withering
- Dies
Read below, symptoms, 25 photos and prevention and how to fight. (Drugs)
Fusarium
- Rapid decline!
- Spots between veins
- Leaves dry out and die entirely
- Spreads from lower leaves
- Small head of cabbage
See below what it looks like (25 photos) and how to treat it. (Drugs)
Insect pests
- Peak activity in August
- Located on the bottom of the leaves
- Cabbage growth has slowed down
- Leaves take on a pinkish tint
- Cabbage leaves curl and wilt
Study below 25 photos of aphids and how to treat them. (Drugs)
Cabbage fly
- The roots are rotting
- The bushes are withering
- Leaves turn gray
Read below how to treat. (Drugs)
Cruciferous flea beetles
- Adults eat the top of the leaf
- Larvae eat roots
- Holes in the leaves
- Young cabbage dies
- Mature cabbage produces a poor harvest
See below 20 photos and how to treat. (Drugs)
Mosaic on cauliflower
- Yellow spots between veins
- Then dark green “mosaic” spots
- Stripes along the veins
- Cauliflower wilts
Read below: signs, 25 photos and how to treat. (Drugs)
Cabbage is the most important crop that has been on the table of many people since ancient times. All its types contain many vitamins; it is used both fresh for salads and for winter preparations. Here we will consider only the most common diseases and frequently encountered pests and talk about ways to combat them.
Cabbage diseases caused by fungi
Such diseases can affect both certain types of cabbage and all types of cruciferous vegetables. They can reduce plant productivity and even destroy the entire crop, so gardeners need to take a whole range of measures, from the use of modern chemicals to time-tested traditional means.
Clubroot: 25 photos, description and control measures
25 photos of what clubroot looks like on cabbage:
Note:
Unfortunately, it is impossible to cure clubroot. The fight against this fungus involves taking preventive measures to avoid infecting other plants. First of all, you should not plant infected seedlings. It is necessary to remove all wilted sprouts with a lump of earth. Before planting, you need to treat the soil with lime and colloidal sulfur. The fungus is only dangerous for cruciferous crops.
Downy mildew of cabbage (Peronosporosis): signs, control methods and preparations.
The causative agent of this disease, popularly called downy mildew, is the fungus Peronospora brassicae Guum. The disease can begin at the seedling stage; small shapeless, single or multiple, grayish-yellow chlorotic spots appear on the leaves, which merge into one large brown spot as the disease progresses. On the back of the leaf there is a white powdery coating consisting of fungal spores. Affected leaves quickly wither and die. The disease usually appears on the lower leaves of cabbage. The disease develops when crops are too dense in conditions of high humidity and, if urgent measures are not taken, it can destroy the crop.
25 photos of what Downy mildew on cabbage looks like:
How to cure (control methods):
The chemicals Phytophtorin and the fungicide Ridomil Gold are effective in the fight against flexible fungus. However, not everyone wants to use strong chemicals. Such gardeners are recommended to treat the seedlings with Bordeaux mixture.
Prevention:
As a preventive measure against peronosporosis, it is necessary to disinfect the soil and planting material, select seeds of only healthy plants, carry out hydrothermal treatment of seeds, avoid excessive moisture, and also do not replant seedlings in the same place.
Cabbage fusarium: 25 photos, description and treatment (preparations)
(fusarium wilt or cabbage yellowness)
Fusarium is another fungal disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum. The fungus affects all cruciferous plants. A favorable condition for the development of the pathogen is hot and dry weather. The pathogen penetrates the plant's vascular system through the roots and clogs it, causing rapid wilting. The signs of the disease are as follows: spots appear between the veins, then the leaf turns yellow, dries out and dies entirely, the head of cabbage is underdeveloped and small in size. Fusarium spreads from the lower leaves to the upper ones. If timely measures are not taken, the plant will completely die. The fungus persists in the soil for a long time (up to several years).
25 photos of what fusarium looks like on cabbage:
How to cure (control measures):
With fusarium, drugs such as Benomil, Tecto, Topsin-M, Immunocytofit will help you cope. It is also necessary to immediately remove wilted plants along with the soil, disinfect the soil before planting seedlings and observe crop rotation. It is also possible to grow fungus-resistant hybrid cabbage varieties in previously infected soils.
Viral diseases of cabbage
Although viral diseases are not as common as fungal diseases, they are practically untreatable and, most often, cause crop failure. The mosaic virus is widely known to gardeners and has many types that are still poorly understood. Such viruses infect plant tissue at the cellular level, damaging chloroplasts and destroying chlorophyll, which causes necrosis. The virus is also dangerous because it affects not only the cruciferous family, but also other plants. The virus is transmitted through dirty tools, through insects and through the sap of already infected plants; it easily and quickly mutates, getting into the tissues of leaves or roots.
Cauliflower mosaic (25 photos): description and control measures
The causative agent of this disease is Mosaic caulivirus. Despite the fact that this virus is less common than fungal diseases, it is the most dangerous for all types of cabbage. The virus is transmitted by cruciferous weeds, as well as peach, cabbage and cabbage aphids and turnip aphids. The aphid itself becomes infected after eating infected leaves. Cool weather also aggravates the disease. The most unpleasant thing is that the disease can be detected only after planting the seedlings in the soil: after a month, yellow spots are found on the leaves between the veins, spreading from the base of the leaf. Next, dark green “mosaic” spots and stripes appear along the veins. The plant may wither. If the virus infects young cauliflower, then heads of cabbage do not form at all.
25 photos of what a mosaic on cabbage looks like:
How to cure (control measures):(see below)
Turnip mosaic
The causative agent of this disease is Turnip mosaic virus. This virus is found everywhere. Like cauliflower mosaic virus, it is transmitted through various species of aphids and weeds. It is possible to be infected by these two viruses at the same time. Coolness also negatively affects the progression of disease symptoms. At the first stage, light green spots 2-5 cm in size form on leaves infected with the virus. They are especially noticeable at the bottom of the leaf. Subsequently, the spots grow, merging and forming areas of necrosis of the mosaic structure. In Chinese cabbage, leaf veins are affected and dark spots appear. This leads to wilting and premature leaf fall.
How to protect cabbage from mosaic viruses?
Unfortunately, mosaic cannot be removed with insecticides. The main method of control is prevention!!!
- It is necessary to disinfect seeds
- fight weeds
- sucking insects such as aphids, mites and bedbugs, which are often carriers of infection,
- immediately remove and destroy infected plants, and plow their remains into the soil in which they grew.
- It is also necessary to disinfect working tools and avoid getting the juice of infected plants on healthy ones.
Insect pests
Cabbage aphids: 30 photos, how to treat them (control measures)
25 photos of what aphids look like on cabbage:
Control measures and drugs.
25 photos of what a fly on cabbage looks like:
Control measures and drugs.
Cabbage is called the “third bread”. This is one of the most popular vegetables in Russia, but not all gardeners grow it. One of the reasons is that pests also love this plant. I don’t want to fight them with chemicals; collecting them by hand is an unpleasant task. But if you spend a little time studying this issue, understand: when and how to process cabbage, then the chemicals will not cause harm, and folk remedies will be effective.
What insects harm cabbage, principles of combating them
Every gardener who grows cabbage knows: cruciferous flea beetles are terrible for newly planted seedlings and young bushes. The cabbage fly also greatly harms them. As soon as the cabbage grows, white butterflies begin to circle over the beds. But this is during the day, and at night cabbage cutworms look for places to lay eggs.
Beautiful moths or butterflies that fly to the light seem harmless, but for the most part they are pests
To process cabbage you will need: a sprayer and good preparations, but there are many ways to do without them
At the very beginning of the fight against any pests, you need to understand that there are systemic and contact drugs. Systemic ones are absorbed by the plant and carried with its juices to all parts, including even the root. The pests will die as soon as they start feeding on the treated cabbage. Contact ones kill by contacting the insect directly; the plant itself does not become poisonous. This group includes folk remedies. To many they seem ineffective, which is logical, because it is impossible to spray literally every flea, caterpillar or egg.
The recipes that gardeners share among themselves are best used as prevention. Namely, this is where you should start, without waiting for a problem to arise. If it didn’t work out, the deadlines were missed, insects have already settled on the cabbage and are actively eating it, then proceed to extreme measures - treatment with systemic insecticides.
Cruciferous flea beetles: how dangerous the pest is, prevention and control
Small (3–5 mm) black bugs are so named for their love of cruciferous plants and their ability to jump. They begin their active activity when the air temperature rises to +15 ⁰C and above. The larvae live in the ground and feed on roots! Adults actively eat succulent leaves. First, they settle on wild plants or green manure: rapeseed, mustard, shepherd's purse. When radishes appear in the beds, a whole colony switches to them and can be destroyed already at the cotyledon stage. The next treat we plant for cruciferous flea beetles is cabbage. The seedlings do not have time to take root, and all its leaves already look like a sieve. The worst thing is that pests can destroy it entirely.
Cruciferous flea beetles destroy plants already at the cotyledon stage
Cruciferous flea beetles are very annoying insects; they appear in my garden every year. But it’s easy to fight them, even if there are already a lot of them. Therefore, I will not recommend many folk remedies against this pest. I’ll only tell you about my proven and very simple method:
- As soon as my cabbage is on the plot, I water it with clean water and dust the wet leaves and soil with ash, tobacco dust, or a mixture of both.
- When this protection is washed away by rain or blown away by the wind, I renew it.
- At the same time, I give the young plants good care so that they grow faster. Flea beetles are no longer scary for mature cabbage. I water, loosen, feed.
Only fresh ash or stored for no more than one year in a closed container and in a dry room helps against fleas, aphids, and slugs. If you have collected ash from a fire or barbecue that has been exposed to rain, then you can only use it as a loosening material. Such ash no longer contains microelements useful for plants and does not have an alkaline reaction dangerous for insects.
I think that every garden plot can have wood or plant ash. You don’t need anything else to fight fleas. The product works well even without tobacco dust.
I only used chemicals against these pests once, but then I had real armageddon. I became interested in green manure and sowed the plot with rapeseed. He was completely covered with hordes of cruciferous flea beetles. When I cut down this green manure and planted cultivated plants, insects, of course, moved on to them. They ate everything: even dill and tomatoes! That’s when we had to spray literally all the crops with Karbofos (60 g per 10 liters of water), and a week later the treatment was repeated. I have been familiar with this drug for many years, and it has never let me down. This was in early June, so by harvest the insecticide had already completely decomposed. But I won’t conduct such experiments anymore. It’s better not to invite pests from all over the area into your garden, but to fight the small local detachment with the help of ash.
Video: prevention of cruciferous flea beetles - planting seedlings under bottles
Cabbage fly: how to detect and fight
Depending on the period of activity, spring and summer cabbage flies are distinguished. The spring one flies out of cover during the flowering period of birch and dandelion, and lays eggs en masse when the lilac blooms. The second wave begins at the end of June, but now the pest is terrible only for late cabbage, since, like flea beetles, it can greatly harm only young and still weak plants.
The cabbage fly is similar to the regular fly, but has a slightly different color
The insect looks like an ordinary fly, but is slightly smaller in size - 6–8 mm. If you look closely, you can find stripes on the abdomen and back. Cabbage is damaged by larvae. The female lays eggs on a stem close to the ground. The born larvae begin to feed on the roots, gnaw through the stem, and penetrate inside it. Unfortunately, pests are more often found on infected cabbage. Newly planted seedlings lie down as if they were broken or look lethargic, but watering does not help.
The whole fight comes down to prevention, and this is very good. After all, the less chemicals we use when growing cabbage, the healthier this vegetable is. There are some tips:
- Maintain crop rotation. The larvae overwinter in cabbage beds; as the weather warms up, they need to feed. By planting cabbage seedlings again in the same place, you will provide this nutrition.
- In autumn, after the temperature drops to +5... +10 ⁰C, dig up the ground. This will destroy wintering sites. The pests are already sleeping, cannot hide and are freezing out. There is a negative side - along with harmful insects, beneficial ones, for example, earthworms, appear on the surface and die.
- Before planting cabbage, add Zemlin, Pochin, Grom or another preparation against soil pests to the soil. They need to be distributed evenly over the surface of the bed and mixed with the top layer of soil.
- Immediately after planting the seedlings, place a sheet of thick paper on each plant, cutting a hole in it the diameter of the stem. The leaf should fit snugly to the ground and plant. The cabbage fly will not be able to get to the egg laying site.
A simple and effective remedy for cabbage flies - a sheet of paper with a slot for the stem
Cabbage whites: repellents and methods of combating caterpillars
Even people far from gardening know white butterflies. The first generation flies out in the south - in April - early May, in other regions of Russia - in late May - early June. The second wave, more numerous, occurs at the end of July - August. In the southern regions, the third generation also appears - immediately after the second and continues its life activity until October. Females lay eggs on the underside of the lower leaves. Newly born caterpillars stick together, feed on the juicy pulp, scraping it from the leaf, then crawl throughout the entire head of cabbage and gnaw through literally all the leaves.
White butterfly caterpillars are easy to spot; they are quite large and brightly colored.
This pest can also be controlled with simple and harmless means. Butterflies fly to the smell of cabbage, but it is so subtle that it is easily overwhelmed by brighter aromas. Why not take advantage of this and mislead the pests.
Butterflies love to perch on beautiful and fragrant flowers, but they choose other places to lay eggs
Folk remedies for repelling cabbages:
- Plant marigolds or calendula in dense rows around the perimeter of the cabbage bed. But they will have time to bloom only by the second flight of the butterflies; prepare differently for the first spring.
- At the very beginning of the butterflies' flight, sprinkle the ground under the cabbage with chopped fragrant plants. Suitable: wormwood, tansy, mustard, garlic arrows, mint, oregano, lemon balm, etc. They can be picked and cut with scissors. We dry many herbs for tea in the winter. The remains are perfect for scaring away the first generation of butterflies in the spring.
- If you haven’t dried the herbs and the fresh ones haven’t grown yet, buy tobacco, tobacco dust or shag. These agents also have a deterrent effect.
- Chop any of the above aromatic herbs or a mixture of them, fill liter glass jars or other similar containers with the green mass, fill them with water and place them in the cabbage bed. First, the smell of herbs will rise above the containers, overpowering the cabbage. Then the contents will begin to ferment, and an even stronger smell will appear, like manure. After a week, dilute the slurry from the cans with water (1:5) and use it as a top dressing for any crop. Refill the jars with odorous raw materials and water.
- Dilute a solution of valerian from a pharmacy (50 ml) in 3 liters of water, spray on the leaves at the beginning of each butterfly flight period. The method is very effective; cutworms, cabbage flies, and cabbage flies do not fly up to the cabbage, but it is only suitable for areas that are not visited by cats. These valerian lovers will dig up the entire cultivated bed and break the cabbage.
Video: processing cabbage with valerian solution
Also, at the beginning of butterfly flight, you can use a biological product - Fitoverm (5 ml per 1.25 liters of water). The solution is absorbed into the leaves and remains there for three weeks. Manufacturers call the drug harmless to humans; cabbage can be used for food within 3 days after treatment.
If none of the above helped, or you missed the right moment, the whites have reached your cabbage, caterpillars have appeared, then first try to collect the pests manually yourself or call your household members (husband, father, son, brother) for help. If caterpillars are found on 1-2 heads of cabbage, this can be limited. In case of severe damage, when there are eggs and larvae of different ages, they have spread throughout the entire bed, after manual collection or instead, treat the cabbage with an insecticide (Karbofos, Decis, Komandor, etc.). Be sure to observe the waiting period during which you cannot eat cabbage.
Cabbage leaves are very smooth; when sprayed, drops of the solution roll off them to the ground without having time to be absorbed. Until now, soap was added for better adhesion. Today, modern adhesive products are produced (Tandem, Liposam, etc.). They not only hold drops on the leaves, but also prevent the drug from being washed off by rain.
This butterfly flies only at night and looks like a large moth. The size with spread wings is about 5 cm. It is painted in nondescript shades of gray and brown. Over the summer, two generations are born: eggs are laid for the first from mid-May to the end of June, for the second - from mid-July to early September. These dates almost coincide with the periods of flight of white butterflies, which means that you can fight both butterflies at the same time. Eggs are laid according to a similar principle - on the back of the lower leaves.
Cabbage cutworm looks like a large moth
Slugs overwinter in the egg stage. As soon as the ground thaws, mollusks, barely visible to the eye, begin to feed on plant debris in the ground. After just 2 weeks, they can cause significant damage to seedlings or germinating seeds of grain and legumes. Peak activity in mucus occurs at the age of 1.5–2 months, when they begin to reproduce. Having reached their normal size (3–5 cm), individuals feed on juicy fruits lying on the ground: cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, etc. Of course, they like cabbage, under the leaves of which they can also hide from the sun.
A naked slug is not protected in any way from aggressive drugs; even dry air is harmful to it
I fight slugs without any chemicals. The pest has a delicate body, unprotected by any coating. He loves dampness, cannot move on dry soil and thorny obstacles, and dies from contact with any burning or caustic agent. Here you have room for imagination. I sprinkle fallen pine needles around the heads of cabbage. But not everyone has the opportunity to get them, so here is a small list of effective remedies against slugs:
- Water your cabbage in the morning, not the evening. Slugs come out of hiding when the heat subsides and quickly move along the wet ground. By watering cabbage at night, you unwittingly attract pests to it.
- Powder the soil in the garden bed with dry mustard. It will effectively burn shellfish both when dry and when wet.
- Buy special slug baits. You can make them yourself from plastic bottles. This is a cylinder with the top edge curved outward. The slug crawls along such protection, at the very top it finds itself hanging upside down, falls and, if desired, resumes its path or looks for another object to feed on.
- Dig grooves 10–15 cm wide around the cabbage bed. Fill them with material that makes it difficult for slugs to move: sawdust, pine litter, sand, ash, charcoal.
However, in an area located in a lowland or near a river, where there is often fog, heavy dew, and rainwater stagnation, simple means of protection may be ineffective. Use chemical baits Thunderstorm, Predator, etc. When buying a drug, pay attention to the composition. Metaldehyde or products containing it are considered the most effective against slugs.
Video: superphosphate and lime against slugs
I found a remedy for slugs and midges in our gardening store - ExtraFlor. In addition to pest control, it also has other beneficial effects: it protects plants from diseases, stimulates their growth, and increases productivity. I already wanted to buy it, but the composition cooled me off - white mustard extract. That is, in fact, this is the well-known mustard. The package contains only 1 g, it is diluted with 1 liter of warm water, the price is 33 rubles. You can use regular powder from the grocery store or mustard grown in your own garden and dried with no less success. And if you’ve already sprinkled it with dry mustard or sprayed it with infusion, but it didn’t help, then you shouldn’t buy such a drug.
Pests settle in colonies and are easily detected on the surface of the leaf, but can also hide on its reverse side. In the middle zone they are active from May to September. During this period, up to 20 generations develop. Insects can completely destroy young cabbage by sucking all the juices out of it. Aphids have a small body (3–5 mm) and green color. There is no chitinous cover, which means that you can fight, like with slugs, by means of contact action.
Aphids settle on the leaf surface in large colonies
Many gardeners use against aphids:
- vinegar solution: 200 ml (9%) per 10 liters of water;
- infusion of ash: 200 g per 10 liters of water;
- soap solution: 100 g of laundry soap and 50 g of tar soap.
You can use plants or their fruits that can cause burns to insects (pepper, garlic, mustard). When making your own recipes, first make a small amount of the solution and test it on one leaf with aphids. If the insects are killed and there are no burns left on the cabbage, apply to the entire bed.
Video: preparing ash-soap solution
There is a very simple way to combat aphids in amateur areas. If there are few insects, found only on a few heads of cabbage, then collect them with a sponge and soapy water. Try to do this so that the pests do not fall to the ground, but all end up in a container with a soap solution. Aphids are inactive, sit in groups, and cabbage leaves are large and smooth, so the procedure will not cause any difficulties. There is no need to wash away insects with water from a watering can or hose. They will climb the cabbages again.
For minor infestations, soapy water and a sponge will help deal with aphids.
Be aware of the extreme fertility of aphids and their rapid development. The larva grows from an egg to an adult in 2 weeks. You can destroy the first generation, and a week later see representatives of the second and decide that the remedy did not help. Therefore, any treatment must be repeated several times with an interval of 7–10 days.
If no folk remedies really helped, try treating it with the biological product Actofit (8 ml per 1 liter of water). It has contact and intestinal effects. Borey (100 ml per 10 liters of water) gets good reviews, but this is already an insecticide of contact, intestinal and systemic action. It circulates throughout the plant with its juices for 2–3 weeks, poisoning newly hatching larvae, as well as individuals that you did not see and did not spray or remove using simple folk remedies.
My opinion: if you’re really sick of pests, you don’t have time to fight them, you go to the dacha once a week, you don’t use chemicals, then the best way to protect your cabbage from all troubles at once is to cover the garden bed with spunbond or agrofibre. You can buy the thinnest and cheapest one. Immediately after planting the seedlings, you need to install arches and cover the plantings. The fabric allows light, air and water to pass through well. At the same time, the cabbage will be inaccessible to butterflies, flies, fleas and aphids. Even slugs will stop at the border and get stuck in the folds of the material. Therefore, for weeding and fertilizing, you will have to carefully remove the shelter, checking to see if there are any uninvited guests.
Cabbage has many enemies; some can destroy it at the very beginning of growth and leave the grower without a harvest. However, it is not difficult to fight them. In most cases, simple folk remedies help. The main thing is not to wait for a massive invasion, but to prevent it: scare it away, destroy the first single nests, etc. Then no chemicals will be needed, the cabbage will grow tasty and healthy.