Not many pests like to feast on cabbage, but even a small number of them are very difficult to destroy. Gardeners and truck farmers do not always manage to cope with slugs and snails, with a cruciferous flea, with a cabbage fly and caterpillars. It seems that only strong chemicals can help. But before using them, try to continue the battle using folk methods and recipes.
Fighting cruciferous flea without chemicals
This small jumping insect is very fond of feeding on tender cabbage shoots. Peking cabbage attracts her the most. This pest is able to eat several times more than it weighs during the day. One can only imagine the speed with which the flea absorbs and spoils the leaves. As soon as it appears in the vegetable beds, all the leaves look like a sieve. If you do not take any measures, then in just a few days the cabbage will begin to die.
There are many different ways to deal with the cruciferous flea:
1. Since the pest loves to feed only on young cabbage leaves, it is necessary to prevent it from entering the beds until the leaves are deeper. This can be done using a covering material (non-woven fabric). The planted cabbage seedlings must be completely covered. This will keep the flea away from the beds.
2. You can scare off the cruciferous flea from young cabbage using wood ash and tobacco dust. A mixture of these two components (in equal parts) must be carefully sprinkled on all seedlings. The only disadvantage of this method of pest control is the repeated application of spraying to the plants, since the dry mixture is washed off with water during irrigation and rain.
3. The cruciferous flea cannot stand the smell of garlic. If spring garlic grows next to the cabbage in the garden, then the flea will not come close to the beds. In early spring, it is necessary to plant garlic, and after the emergence of its shoots, cabbage seedlings can be planted.
4. The flea does not like not only the smell of garlic, but also many other pungent odors. Take advantage of this by watering young vegetables with water and fir oil. Just 10-15 drops per 10 liters of water will discourage the pest from approaching these crops.
5. Using this method, you can not only protect plants from fleas, but also feed it with nitrogen-containing fertilizer. Prepare an infusion of bird droppings and spray vegetables.
How to get rid of cabbage and cabbage scoop caterpillars
A beautiful white butterfly - cabbage and a gray butterfly (cabbage scoop) cause equally great harm to cabbage. They are dangerous with their voracious caterpillars, which eat cabbage leaves both outside and inside the cabbage head.
Ways to fight:
1. This method is suitable for those summer residents who have wasps on the site. As you know, they use caterpillars as food for their offspring. Therefore, you need to generously spray the cabbage seedlings with sweet liquid.It can be made from old jam or compote, as well as water and sugar. Wasps won't miss such a sweet treat. And if the caterpillars come into view, they will "guard" the cabbage beds for a long time.
2. Use a special spray solution made from wood ash (about 2 glasses), soap (household or tar) and ten liters of warm water. The solution must be infused before use for twenty-four hours.
3. The shell from chicken eggs, attached to small sticks in height, placed on the beds, looks like such a butterfly for butterflies. This scares them off, as the place is already taken by "another family". It is noticed that they do not even try to lay eggs in this place.
4. Apply sprays with organic infusions based on tomato tops and onion skins. Such infusions have a specific odor that is unpleasant for pests.
To prepare the onion infusion, you need: onion husks (1 liter jar) and 2 liters of boiling water. The infusion must be kept in a warm place for 48 hours. Before use, add another 2 liters of water and 1 tablespoon of soapy water.
To prepare a tomato infusion, you will need about 2 kilograms of tomato tops and 5 liters of boiling water. The solution is infused until it cools completely, and then boil for another 3 hours over low heat. Before use, the infusion must be filtered and then diluted with water - two parts of water are added to one part of the infusion.
5. Prepare a lethal powder with flour and baking soda for the caterpillars. A mixture of the same parts of these two components is used to sprinkle cabbage seedlings. Caterpillars quickly die from such nutrition, and vegetable plants will not suffer from this.
6. Use sprays based on garlic or burdock. The liquid should fall not only on the plants, but also on the ground around them.
Preparation of burdock infusion: plants need to be crushed and filled with water 1 to 3. The solution is kept for three days in a warm place.
Preparation of the infusion of garlic: 9-10 medium heads of garlic should be chopped with a garlic press and filled with cold water (5 liters). The infusion will be ready for use in three days.
Folk remedies for slugs and snails
These pests are nocturnal. As soon as it starts to get dark, they are right there. By the morning, cabbage leaves simply glow from numerous holes. During the day, they sit out in the hidden, damp corners of the summer cottage.
Folk recipes:
1. An old, time-tested method of dealing with such pests is bait. They are placed shortly before nightfall right on cabbage beds and between rows. During the night, slugs in large numbers will crawl there to smell. The main thing is to get up early in the morning and have time to collect the "harvest".
A bait is a container of various sizes filled with a liquid containing yeast. For these purposes, kvass or beer, juice or fermented jam are suitable. Instead of containers, you can take old unnecessary rags, soak them in this liquid, and then spread them near the cabbage.
2. Dry mustard can scare off slugs. This powder must be sprinkled between the plants.
3. Prepare a solution of ten liters of water and eighty milliliters of ammonia. It is necessary to water twice directly on vegetable plants. The first watering will make the pests come out of the cabbage and from the soil, and the second watering will destroy them.
4. Nettles can be of great benefit to soil and pest control. If you spread these plants in cabbage beds, then the slugs will not dare to move along such a piercing carpet. And for the soil, this will be an excellent layer of mulch, since the nettle dries quickly and you will often have to add fresh plants.
5. Do not throw away the eggshells, collect them before the summer season. And then scatter it around each vegetable plant, pre-chopping it. Molluscs will not be able to move along such a path.
6. Use pepper infusion for spraying. You will need: 100 grams of hot pepper and 1 liter of water. First, the infusion is kept for 48 hours, then brought to a boil and kept for another 24 hours. Before use, the contents of the infusion are squeezed out and filtered through a sieve or double gauze.
A bucket of water will require 100-120 grams of pepper infusion and 1 tablespoon of liquid laundry soap. Undiluted infusion can be stored for a long time in a cool, dark room.
7. Slugs will quickly leave the cabbage patch if it is watered with brilliant green solution. Pour 1 bottle of the product into 10 liters of water.
We destroy the larvae of the scoop, May beetle, cabbage fly
Such pests as the winter scoop, the May beetle and the cabbage fly are considered underground harmful insects, since their larvae are in the ground and do their dark business there. The larvae of these pests damage the roots of the cabbage, and it dies in a short time.
Black ants feed on these larvae. It is they who will be able to help summer residents. The main thing is to attract ants to the cabbage beds. They will quickly run to the bait of sweet liquid, which must be buried in a small container next to the damaged plant.
How to deal with cabbage aphids
These small, barely noticeable pests very quickly destroy a strong and healthy plant. At first, cabbage leaves seem to be covered with black dots, and soon they begin to curl up and die.
Ways to fight:
1. It is necessary to carry out spraying with tomato infusion, which is prepared in the same way as for the fight against caterpillars.
2. It is recommended to use soapy sprays. The solution is prepared from 10 liters of water and 2 glasses of liquid soap. Vegetable plants are processed 2 times with an interval of 7 days.
3. An effective complex infusion can be prepared. You will need: 10 liters of boiling water, 250 milliliters of wood ash and the same amount of tobacco dust, about 30-40 grams of liquid soap and mustard. The solution must be infused within 24 hours.
Versatile Cabbage Pest Control Methods
Aromatic herbs such as dill, parsley, mint, basil, cilantro, celery are excellent protection against many pests. They can be planted next to cabbage beds. The scent of these plants, as well as their seeds, attracts other insects that can fight butterflies, aphids and slugs.
Cabbage pests will forget the way to your site if nasturtium flowers appear on the beds. And a small flower bed with marigolds, located nearby, will not even allow aphids, cabbage and scoop to approach.
