Organic Pest Control:Cabbage Moth Decoys

My broccoli and cabbage plants had been growing quite happily in the ground for over a month. Perfect little specimens with not a nibble taken or a hint of disease. Then right on cue spring temperatures started to rise and the bugs made their entrance. One of the first threats to the garden are cabbage moths, dancing through the brassicas, depositing their eggs full of tiny eating machines.on the undersides of the leaves.

As an organic gardener, I'm always looking for ways to minimize the impact of pests in my garden without upsetting the balance of my backyard ecosystem. I'm trying a very low tech method to deter cabbage moths this year - decoys!



I heard about this idea at a permaculture class. Cabbage Moths, apparently, are quite picky about where they lay their eggs. They try to minimize the amount of competition their offspring will have by not laying where another moth has already landed. To capitalize on this you can place decoy moths to give the impression that the plants are already taken.


All I did was cut out butterfly shapes from clean yogurt tubs and add black dots on the wings with a permanent marker. I punched a hole through the middle so I could mount the decoy on a stick. Easy!


I'll be interested to see if I notice a reduced number of moths, caterpillars and eggs. Next I have to deal with the slugs which are a completely different problem!.

Have you tried this method? Did you see results?

See you in the garden,
Sue

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Cabbage Moth decoys