Organic help for cabbage worms needed

[Sfraker]

Hello!

I'm struggling with cabbage worms this year. I rotate where I plant cabbage type plants and ensure they are not near each other in my gardens. This year I am simply overrun with cabbage worms. I have been using DE and Neem oil, but it washes off each time I water so I have to start all over again every day. I have been hand picking them and feeding them to the ducks, but it's not enough.
Any suggestions?
Thanks and Happy Gardening!
Sara

 

[stevethack]

Go to a local garden center... ask for "Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt)"... mix and spray according to instructions... the chick'ns can eat the worms after they quit eating the plants... It's useful for a wide range of worms.. It's a very "organic" approach to keeping the local veggie eating fauna at bay.
I wouldn't recommend eating a tbsp or more of it...but it's one of the far more benign approaches to worm munching reduction...and harmless to humans/cats/dogs/bats/bees....but it WILL kill the larvae stages of butterflys ...moths (the cabbage worms).. so only apply it where needed.. Google it and read up on it...I've used it for years.
It's also the scare problem they found in a lot of Post Offices...it's initial biological footprint they id a bacteria with looks very similar to anthrax ...and BT has been mailed all over the country for decades... NOW y'all know why the ho-rah over anthrax being found in a LOT of post offices died so suddenly..well after the offices around DC were bio-scrubbed well anyway.. lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, BT, but make sure you get the one specifically for caterpillars. They make some for other things so get the right one. Read the label for the target species. I think there is one for beetles and I know the “dunks” you can get for rain barrels or ponds to stop mosquitoes is another form of BT but it is useless against caterpillars.

BT is a disease specifically for insects, in this case caterpillars. It gives them a tummy ache so they stop eating and eventually starve to death. Don’t expect them to die the minute you spray them, it takes time for them to starve. Since it is a disease specifically for caterpillars it will not harm you or your other animals. It is approved by organic agencies.

I use a badminton racket as another organic way to combat cabbage worms. The butterfly that lays those eggs is a white one with two brownish/blackish round spots on each wing. The more of these you kill the fewer there are to lay eggs. It really doesn’t solve the problem but it makes me feel better.

There is also a small brown moth that might be your problem instead of the white butterfly. I’m not out there in the dark trying to get these.

 

[Sfraker]

Thank you both!
I had not seen any moths so I was suprised when I saw all the caterpillars. I was watching for them but must have missed them. I'm only in the garden in the evening due to work so my timing must have been off.
This is my second year gardening in North Carolina. I am running into so many more bugs and pests than I did in Wisconsin! I don't mind sharing and plant extra as I expect to loose some crops to pests or other issues. However these guys are taking everything and not sharing with me.
I'm heading to the local garden center on lunch.
Thanks again!