Here is our purple cabbage. You can see holes in the outer leaves that have been eaten by the dreaded cabbage beetle. This has been our main pest control issue. Normally we have a laissez faire attitude toward pest control. We try to get the soil to the highest quality and let nature do the rest. Some things will get eaten by bugs and birds and some things will be eaten by us. But since we plant a lot of plants from the cabbage family, we decided to look into what could be done. Marigolds are one of the most well known pest deterrents. When I came across the fact that they supposedly deter cabbage beetles, we bought a few 4 inch plants and a packet of seeds.
Here's our entire flat of marigolds waiting to save us from the beetle. I hope they work- but if not- at least I manged to get some more flowers into our backyard farm.
Good luck! You could do worse than having a few extra bright happy marigolds on your side ;) let us know how it goes!
ReplyDeleteWe have cabbage loopers attacking our brussel sprouts. We've been spending time hand picking them off and throwing them to the chickens. Ya think the others would learn, but no....
ReplyDeleteMarigolds help repel flea beetles too! Plant them near eggplants and tomatoes.