Sweet looking green caterpillars managed to munch 30% of our broccoli leaves IN ONE NIGHT! I decided tonight that I needed to do something and fast if I wanted to eat any broccoli in a few months time.
Once I had picked off each little blighter and their eggs, The Boy suggested I mix up an organic chilli, garlic and oil mixture to smother over the leaves on all 13 plants.
I am just hoping they are amply disgusted by the concoction. I'll post whether this organic deterrent is a success, and how long it works for, if at all!? What do you do to keep these green loving lovelies at bay in your patch? I would love to hear of your method for future experiments :)
We have found chilli spray works quite well. We chop up 1 or 2 chillies and put them in a spray bottle filled with water. It seems to work. Also crushed up eggshells at the base of your plants works for snails (they get chopped up/deterred as they approach the plants.) Good luck with your broccoli. We don't always have much luck but we had a great season last year when it was colder than normal.
ReplyDeleteWe had the same problem over a month ago. However, we let all the lettuce go to seed and slackened off with the weeding...and guess what? No more bugs and the broccoli (which was a skeleton) is thriving with florets. The theory is that these other plants can distract them.
ReplyDeleteHi! I live on the other side of the Pacific, I am from California,
ReplyDeleteI like your blog, the pictures are amazing!
I am using organic sprays in my garden too, some kind of insect devoured my mint, it didn't grow for over three months, my mom told me to make a chili tea, using the most spicy chili, I also add garlic, so I BOiled water(2 litres) and with the help of a old sock (of course clean) I make a tea with ten of those whole chilis or 5 teaspon of chili powder, I let it cool off and sprayed around the leaves ( if you dare to taste you will find the most spicy tea, and it won't clog you spray bottle), the mint is growing beautifully now not even a bite...I am not sure what ate it but it wasn't snails... I will post about my organic sprays next week..sorry this comment took long :)
I have no idea but have noticed bite holes in my basil plants...I can see no evidence of pests in residence on them so have no idea what is dining on them...any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI keep chickens which do a great job! But they do have a little peck at some of the leaves - but don't do the damage that the insects do
ReplyDeleteDid it work? Sounds like a marinade to me!!
ReplyDeleteWe've been picking the caterpillars off our brocolini plants by hand and feeding them to the chooks. Occasionally we miss a few...like last night... I decided to cook some brocolini in rapidly boiling water and noticed 3 fat grubs rise to the top, well cooked I imagine. I fished them out to show hubby who looked very interested but decided not to try one! Extra protein anyone?
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