Do you know what a cabbage worm is?
It is a common cabbage, kale, cauliflower and other member of the cabbage family pest. If you see a hole in the leaf, don't worry too much. Plants can afford a lot of leaf loss without consequence. It is during the growth or early panicle formation of seedlings that the growth and yield of plants are really impaired.
How to identify cabbage worms
Cabbage worms are velvety green larvae. They have several pale yellow stripes. Cabbage worms lift and lower their bodies as they move because they do not have a middle leg. Cabbage worms turn into cabbage white butterflies, which are mostly white with some black spots. Cabbage white butterflies look like an add-on in the garden, but they are likely to lay their eggs under the leaves.
Where you find cabbage worms and cabbage rings, you can also find eggs and larvae of cabbage moths and caterpillars. These creatures are very well camouflaged, so you'll often see them lying on their stomachs in very inconspicuous places.
Cabbage worms can quickly eat the roots of cabbage, cauliflower, or cauliflower without attracting attention. They feed on the leaves and eventually only the stem and large leaf veins are left behind. If left at their own mercy, the cabbage worm will devour your crops. Their manure also contaminates agricultural products.
How to remove cabbage worms
If possible, remove the eggs manually. Yellow sticky traps will catch adults, but may also catch beneficial insects. The relevant pesticides are sprayed, and the few pests that remain on the vegetables can be washed off after harvest with water and a small amount of detergent or other surfactant.
It is said that if you wet the leaves of the cabbage and sprinkle it with corn flour, the caterpillars will eat those things and eventually swell and die. Because a few years ago, people sprinkled rye flour on cabbage in the early morning. Flour dehydrates cabbage worms, a method you can try.
Control of cabbage worms
Cover your plants with a row lid to stop adult butterflies from laying eggs on the cabbage.
There is also a more beneficial insect, such as the red-eyed wasp, which is very small, they do not sting humans, and this insect generally parasitizes the eggs of cabbage worms. Cabbage worms are attracted to mustard plants, so growing mustard greens near more valuable plants is a great way to trap kale worms. Once they take over the mustard, you can destroy the mustard plant. You can, try growing the red leaf cabbage variety. Cabbage worms can't camouflage, so they're less likely to choose these plants.
Affected plants, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli