Cabbage Worm Control
If your cabbage, broccoli or kale plants have huge holes in just about every leaf, you probably can blame cabbage worms, which are caterpillars that can bore right through your cabbages and turn them into something reminiscent of Swiss cheese. Although they are caterpillars, not worms, cabbage worms are partially true to their name: They feed on the leaves of plants in the brassica (cabbage) family. Depending on which species of cabbage worm they are, they will turn into butterflies or moths once they mature.
There are three main species of cabbage worms: imported cabbageworms, cabbage loopers and diamondback moths. If you're a budding entomologist, you can identify which of these cabbage worms are devouring your crops based on their markings and behavior.
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Imported cabbageworms are about 1'' long and are green with a yellow stripe down their back. The adult form of this species is a white butterfly that's about 2'' across. Those white butterflies fluttering around your broccoli plants may beautiful to behold, but they are probably laying eggs on you crop.
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Cabbage loopers are pale to dark green caterpillars with thin white stripes that arch into a loop when they crawl. They can be up to 1.5'' long. Adult cabbage loopers are 1.5'' brown moths with silver markings on their wings.
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Diamondback moth caterpillars are up to 0.5'' long, grayish green and have no stripes. Their bodies taper at both ends. Adult diamondback moths are gray, small (0.75'' wing span) and have cream markings on their wings that form a diamond shape along the moth's back when its wings are folded.
If you'd prefer not to get as up close and personal with the cabbage worms, that's okay. There are some organic control strategies that will work on all three species of these worms. However, if you have identified which species have taken up residence in your garden, you will have additional organic control options, including the targeted use of various types of parasitic wasps. Don't cringe--these wasps will be tiny and won't sting you.
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