What Eats Cauliflower besides US?

AvaDGardner 3/24/2012, 3:34 pm

Something is munching on my baby cauli.

It's not a green worm. I found one of those a week ago, and destroyed it. I removed the damaged leaves.

But something continues to munch. And it isn't munching on similar sized Brussels sprouts right next to it (these are still in the paks).

I noticed the leaves have a shiny finish where the bites are...about 1/4 toward the center of the leaf.

It must visit and go away or hide somewhere. I've looked all over.

Ideas? What to do get rid of it?

Cuz I'm running out of leaves!

**camprn** 3/24/2012, 4:02 pm

What Eats Cauliflower besides US? 217255

AvaDGardner wrote:Something is munching on my baby cauli.

It's not a green worm. I found one of those a week ago, and destroyed it. I removed the damaged leaves.

But something continues to munch. And it isn't munching on similar sized Brussels sprouts right next to it (these are still in the paks).

I noticed the leaves have a shiny finish where the bites are...about 1/4 toward the center of the leaf.

It must visit and go away or hide somewhere. I've looked all over.

Ideas? What to do get rid of it?

Cuz I'm running out of leaves!

Sounds like slug/snail damage.
What Eats Cauliflower besides US? This_thread_is_worthless_without_pi_

dsfin 3/24/2012, 4:18 pm

My first thought is it is caused by slugs or snails. Are there any slug trails?

Other possibilities might be mealybugs or thrips?

Mealybugs leave a honeydew residue behind.

Thrips feed by rasping the
tissue from the surface of plant tissue and sucking up plant
sap. This results in silver-colored, bleached tissue lacking
in chlorophyll, accompanied by black varnish like spots of excrement.

I did a search on "leaf pests" and found this webpage:
http://www.greenleaf.com/main/r_plan_p.asp

Can you provide a pic?

---Dave

quiltbea 3/24/2012, 5:04 pm

I'm thinking slugs/snails due to the 'shiny finish' on the leaves near the holes.

You need some beer half full in a tuna can buried to the rim near the plants. Check in the morning for floating carcasses.

AvaDGardner 3/28/2012, 7:15 pm

Hmmmm....

I forgot about snails/slugs leaving a shiny trail behind. It's such a tiny start, and was still in it's 6pak (I planted it Saturday). Since I could pick it up, I looked high and low on it and the other 6pak next to it (Brussels sprouts)...no signs of aphids, bugs, or slugs...

I hope I didn't contaminate the garden by planting it. It's having a bit of shock right now.

I just looked the spouts, and one of the leaves is peppered with tiny holes, and I found the tiny worm? caterpillar? that was eating it...barely bigger than a baby red wiggler worm.

How do you protect your plants from them organically?

Ava

**camprn** 3/28/2012, 7:19 pm

tulle

AvaDGardner 3/28/2012, 8:29 pm

Thanks for the pic...I bought tulle last week.

How do you organically take care of the bugs INSIDE the hoop house?

**camprn** 3/28/2012, 9:30 pm

AvaDGardner wrote:Thanks for the pic...I bought tulle last week.

How do you organically take care of the bugs INSIDE the hoop house?

Squish 'em then cover the plants with the tulle so the butterflies and moths cannot lay their eggs on the plants.

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What Eats Cauliflower besides US?

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