It is so chewed and munched that almost no leaf has survived. The other day I was peering at it, looking for whatever could be eating so much when suddenly into view came a little green slug-thing. As soon as I saw it, five more popped into view on the leaves. It was an astounding moment - like they had zapped into existence in a second. I pulled them all off and squashed them (they exploded satisfiyingly into a mess of little green balls of poo). The next day three more were there, the next three more and this morning another one. My poor broccoli!
I finally looked up some of my books to find out what this little slug was - it is the larvae of the white cabbage moth "particularly pesky in warm weather". Hmmm, it has been over 30 for days now. There is something I can spray on it (an organic pest control thing) or I can pick them off by hand and cover the plant with netting so the moth can't lay its eggs. I will have to do something because when the broccoli goes into the plot I won't be able to keep such a close eye on it.
For now, however, I check the leaves every time I think of it - even brushing away a white cabbage moth itself earlier - and hope that it recovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment