collards and broccoli question

kshimpi 9/22/2010, 8:18 pm

My garden has been doing well, even with all the heat we have had. My only area of difficulty is the collards. It looks like something is eating them. I have had the dome netting on all the
time, so I am thinking it is some kind of bug. Here is a pic if that helps.

Also, what is the timeline for broccoli? The leaves of the plant are growing, but when will I get some actual broccoli?

I updated my flickr site for those that are keeping up with my progress :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kshimpi/sets/72157624695599142/

**Furbalsmom** 9/22/2010, 8:49 pm

Did you start your broccoli from seeds? It takes about 16 weeks from seed to harvest. Transplants about 10 weeks to harvest.

Loved your flickr pictures. What a great way to get kids in the garden, right from the beginning.

Sorry I don't know what type of bug is causing the damage to your collards. Do you have a County Extension office of the state university that you can call, or Master Gardeners, who have been trained thru Extension Programs, sometimes show up at local Farmer's Markets.

kshimpi 9/22/2010, 9:36 pm

My broccoli were from transplants (thought it would take too long from seed in our area in the fall). Will check with some local gardeners about the collards...thanks :-)

Megan 9/22/2010, 10:13 pm

Do you happen to have noticed any pretty white butterflies with black dots on their wings?

chocolatepop 9/22/2010, 10:39 pm

Megan wrote:Do you happen to have noticed any pretty white butterflies with black dots on their wings?

this, looks like cabbage worms to me. Take a CLOSE look and see if you see any little green 'pillars hanging around...

Megan 9/22/2010, 10:48 pm

chocolatepop wrote:
Megan wrote:Do you happen to have noticed any pretty white butterflies with black dots on their wings?

this, looks like cabbage worms to me. Take a CLOSE look and see if you see any little green 'pillars hanging around...

That's what I thought, too, but I didn't want to be the first to say it, as I've never seen the damage first hand before. (Except something is eating my cabbage, too!)

ribarr4 9/22/2010, 11:14 pm

chocolatepop wrote:
Megan wrote:Do you happen to have noticed any pretty white butterflies with black dots on their wings?

this, looks like cabbage worms to me. Take a CLOSE look and see if you see any little green 'pillars hanging around...

It does look like it might be cabbage worms. If it is you can find them in the mornings lined up along the top sides of the stems. They are green and sometimes hard to find. If you can't find them look on the underside of the leaves for another caterpillar that is black and white with an orange or yellow stripe down it's sides. I don't know what they are called, but they love to munch on greens and broccoli.

Let me know if you find it is something else.

kshimpi 9/23/2010, 6:39 am

I will give a close inspection once the sun comes up. What can I do to get rid of them?

ander217 9/23/2010, 8:47 am

Bacillus thuringiensis insecticide. I've purchased it as Dipel, but I checked online this morning and it can be purchased under the names of Biobit, Dipel, MVP, Steward, and Thuricide.

It is an organic insecticide and it doesn't harm people, pets, honeybees, or predatory insects. It's pretty much targeted against worms.

It takes a couple of days to kill the worms, but they stop eating once they eat enough of it to make them sick, so even though you may still see them on the plants, if you've gotten good coverage they should disappear in two or three days.

I saw it at Lowe's in the spring, but I'm having trouble finding it in my area this fall. I see a trip to the big garden center in my future which is an hour away.

plb 9/23/2010, 11:04 am

If they're caterpillars, and you don't have a massive number of plants, you can just pick them up and squish them (use thin latex gloves if you're squeamish). Cheaper and as effective. They are often exactly the same color as the plant, so you'll need to keep checking since some will likely escape the first rounds. Also, you might find the little eggs that the cabbage butterflies deposit on the underside of the leaves, and you should remove those too.
Also, you might have snails/slugs, those like to nibble at these plants when they're still small.
I don't know about collards, but broccoli takes a loooong time to start producing heads. You'll probably start thinking that it's never going to happen, and then after a bit it will!

kshimpi 9/24/2010, 9:08 am

evil cabbage worms, you must die!

Got some spray at Southern States yesterday, sprayed the leaves that were not totally swiss cheese this am. Hope this is the solution.

ribarr4 9/24/2010, 10:10 am

They are the caterpillars that I was talking about. I have been gardening for over 15 years and they just started showing up here in TN a few years ago. They make a beautiful little moth. Does anyone know what these are called? Cabbage worms are actually the color of the cabbage plant, which makes them harder to see sometimes.

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