Cabbage worms can wreak havoc on your cabbage plants and other members of the cabbage family. These include cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, kohl rabi, kale and brussel sprouts. That ‘beautiful white butterfly’ will be one of the first you see early in the springtime and is called a cabbage butterfly or moth. They lay tiny white eggs underneath your brassica leaves which become cabbage worms. Within days that tiny cabbage worm will become a large one consuming large amounts of your homegrown produce and leaving huge holes, not to mention yucky green stuff (cabbage worm excrement, gross).
How to Get Rid of Cabbage Worms Organically
You can get rid of cabbage worms organically by using Bt proteins.
From bt.ucsd
Bt proteins has been used in many organic farms for over 50 years as a microbial pest control agent (MCPA). These Bt proteins are allowed in organic farming as a insecticide because Bt is a natural, non-pathogenic bacterium that is found naturally in the soil.Bt has also been found to be safe to all higher animals tested.
How to Get Rid of Cabbage Worms Naturally
Luckily there are some plants that get rid of cabbage worms naturally.
Plants that repel cabbage worms
There are some plants that repel cabbage worms. Onions, leeks and garlic for example repel them, however cabbage white butterflies and their damaging cabbage worms are very early in the season. I recommend overwintering onions or garlic so that there’s some scent deterrence early in the spring. You can also plant strong smelling herbs.
Preventing Cabbage worms
There are a couple of ways for preventing cabbage worms on your brassicas/cole crops. One way is to locate the damaged plants (easily spotted with holes in them) and look over the plant. You can find and squish the caterpillars or give them to your chickens. You can also see clusters of eggs underneath the leaves, but because other bugs lay eggs, I wait until they’ve hatched to squish the tiny caterpillars. They often hide on the very inside part of the plant, so make sure you check it over thoroughly. Do these a couple of times a week in the spring, and again in the fall.
Spot the holes on damaged plants
Seek the tiny green (or large) green cabbage worms eating your plant.
Yuck. Once they get this big I use my garden boots
Preventative Measures
Row covers work great at preventing pests like cabbage worm from getting at your plants. It helps to have a watering system in place like drip irrigation however, because lifting up the tunnel to water might mean they sneak in!
Predatory Wasps for Deterring Cabbage Worms
Wasps get a bad rap but their stings hurt and they can be aggressive, but they also eat a lot of garden bugs. There’s even a predatory wasp that lays eggs inside the caterpillar (yuck right!?). It’s super gross, but they are great natural pest control for caterpillar worms.
If I have a problem with cabbage worms I just dust whatever they are eating with plain flour, a trick Dad showed me 60 years ago , that was what he always used and that is my go to solver
That’s super interesting! Is that before the white butterflies lay the eggs to deter them? I imagine it’s hard to get the flour underneath where the cabbages tend to be, but that sounds like a great way to deter the laying. I’ll try it thanks 🙂
Wow, what a simple and natural method, I am on my way out to try it……with organic flour of course. Thanks. 😊