Keeping the Cabbage Moths Away UPDATE 4 JULY

Don't you just hate it when you go out to check on the garden and find your lovely cabbages have huge bits missing and holes everywhere?  The most pesky insects in my garden are cabbage moths and Japanese beetles.  Last year those beetles decimated my Kentucky Wonder patch, and the moths caterpillars nearly did the same to my cabbages.

Last year I found a way to take care of the cabbage issue in time to save my small crop.  I removed every caterpillar I could find and then sprinkled the cabbages with baking soda!  End of problem.

This year I am trying to avoid the problem altogether.  I started seeing those annoying white moths almost as soon as I put the seedlings out into the garden, so I needed to act quickly.

I had been saving one gallon sized plastic water jugs with the intention of using them as mini-greenhouses for started seedlings early.  Instead, I removed the bottoms and set each one over each cabbage plant, mounded a bit of compost around the lower 2-3 inches to help secure them in place and hoped for the best.

Yesterday while I out there weeding, two cabbage moths came exploring looking for a place to create their havoc.  They fluttered around each of the raised beds, and when they reached the cabbage bed they fluttered around the plastic jugs, but never got any closer to the cabbages.  It appears it may work.  Once the plants are too large for the jugs, I will have to find another protector for them, however.

I have pvc hoops for the raised beds, but I am trying to not use them this time around as they get in the way when I am weeding or planting or harvesting.  There are a few ideas developing and I'll let you know if anything works out.

For the Japanese Beetle, which began attacking the yellow beans as soon as they were transplanted, that problem has been resolved, at least for now.  I found a Japanese Beetle Trap at the Dollar Store and I really didn't expect it to work.... but it has been working perfectly, for the three weeks that it has been out in the yard has been steadily attracting and collecting these pests.


So I think I will plant green beans again this year after all.

UPDATE: JULY 4
The Bag-a-Bug is working!  It has been attracting and trapping the Japanese Beetles and the bean plants have remained untouched since the first bug I found during the transplanting of the seedlings into the garden.  Well worth money.

Also, the plastic water jugs covering the cabbages have also done their job and the cabbages are getting almost too large to remain covered much longer.  I am working on making another covering for them since the pesky cabbage moths are still trying to find the cabbages.