Exterminating Cabbage Eating Caterpillars

Caterpillars eat the leaves of cabbage plants. And when a large portion of the leaves are eaten or gone, the plant will have a hard time growing. Photosynthesis, which is the process by which plants produce energy for growth will lessen.

Aside from cabbages, caterpillars also eat vegetables that are part of the same family as cabbages. A number of the other vegetables caterpillars love to eat are broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, kale, collard, rutabagas and other brassica vegetables. Caterpillar attacks should not be taken lightly and actions should be taken immediately.

For starters, let us consider the cabbage loopers as your problem. Loopers are just one of the types of caterpillar that know how to obliterate your cabbage. These little pests may look so harmless at first, but beware because they are not.

What should we look out for and look at? As first mentioned, the leaves should always be inspected, more specifically the edges of cabbage leaves. Cabbage leaves are very vulnerable during their early development stages. After only a day or two, the caterpillars will eventually grow. At this stage of life of the caterpillars, they will start to attack and eat on the center of the leaves and then lastly, the center of the plant itself. Aside from nibbling, the cabbage looper digs through cabbage heads. It can eat several times its own weight.

Now let’s look into how we can control these pests. When it comes to insects and other pests, it is very important to know what you are going to do. There are two common ways that you can deal with this. The cheapest way to get rid of caterpillars is to pick them off of the plants. Get your gloves and begin removing them. The other way is use BT or Baccillus Thuringiensis. You can purchase this from your local gardening center. You can spray this on the plant to kill the cabbage loopers.