You have Cabbage Worms. Cabbage Worms

Signs of Cabbage Worm Damage

Have you noticed damage to the leafy greens in your garden, with tiny holes eaten out of the cabbage leaves? I found this in my vegetable garden a few weeks ago. The leaves of my broccoli, cauliflower and kale had the same problem.

These small holes are telltale signs of the cabbage worm. Several insects that cause this type of damage are generally referred to as cabbage worms. This includes the imported cabbage worm, the diamondback caterpillar and cabbage looper.

The cabbage worm will eventually become the cabbage white butterfly, while the diamondback caterpillar and cabbage looper become moths.

The adult butterflies and moths lay their eggs on the leaves of cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and other greens. The eggs quickly hatch and the young caterpillars start feeding. These pests are usually more prevalent in late summer and fall than in the spring.

Read on to learn what you can you do if you see small holes on your leafy greens.

Solutions for Cabbage Worms

The best thing you can do is prevent the problem from happening in the first place. Do this by protecting your leafy greens with a floating cover. Since I already had an infestation, I had to resort to other methods.

Choices include:

• Spraying leaves with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis), an organic solution.
• Planting varieties like red-colored leafy greens, which cabbage worms tend to avoid.
• Introducing natural cabbage worm predators like the larvae of Trichogramma wasps, which devour the eggs before they hatch.
• Planting your leafy greens in spring when the cabbage worm is not as active, rather than in late summer/fall
• Sprinkling diatomaceous earth on and around each plant. It’s a powder made up of the tiny, fossilized remains of aquatic organisms.  These fossils have sharp edges that puncture the outer skin of insects, killing them. This is another organic solution.

So, which solution did I choose for my vegetable garden? The last.

I filled an empty spice jar with wide holes with the diatomaceous earth and sprinkled it over and around my leafy greens. I like to use organic solutions whenever possible. If you try this method, make sure you wash off your greens thoroughly before eating to remove any traces of the diatomaceous earth.

In the future, I plan to use floating row covers to prevent the cabbage worms from laying their eggs.