Those with a vegetable patch at home may know the pain of having visits from cabbage butterfly. Making cabbage butterfly decoys may assist in deterring them from your garden. They love brassicas, but will also lay their eggs on other plants. Then before you know it, you have a garden riddled with little green caterpillars eating holes on all of your leaves.
Using a netting will be helpful in avoiding them reaching your garden, but depending on your set up may not always be possible. These decoys may help to deter the cabbage butterflies from coming onto your beloved brassicas. They can also be a cute decoration for your garden, but more importantly, a resourceful way to repurpose what would usually go into waste, and a great activity for the kids to get involved.
Making cabbage butterfly decoys
What you will need:
– Old cream or milk container, washed and cut open
– Scissors
– Black marker pen
– Some bamboo skewers, or something else you have around the home thats safe to stick into the veggie patch
– Tape
What to do:
– Draw little outlines of cabbage butterflies. There are some images on this page to help you.
– Use the marker to draw some little details, such as the body, and the characteristic black dots on the wings.
– Cut them out, and then stick them onto the top of your skewer with some tape.
– Place them in your garden near your cabbages, broccoli, or other plants you want to try protect from cabbage butterfly. Or place them all over the garden for a fun afternoon activity outside with the kids!
Other tips cabbage butterfly:
- Observe your garden and spend a few minutes each day checking the underside of the leaves.
- Wipe away any eggs you find using a damp cloth to prevent them from hatching. If the eggs are on very small seedlings you may want to do it by hand to ensure you don’t break off any delicate leaves.
- Peak breeding time is summer, so you can put your nets up in spring and keep them up until autumn.
If our readers have any success with other measures that they have had success with, please feel free to send in your tips and tricks.
Happy gardening!
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