Dealing with small green worms on the back of your kale leaves? Well, my dears, those are cabbage worms that have to be eliminated immediately! Otherwise, these worms will cause the death of your plants, because the more leaves they manage to eat the less the plant has the ability to photosynthesize.
Just inspect your plants carefully and wash them carefully to remove these nasty green worms.
Focused in protecting my vegetable garden from other pests such as, deer, rabbits, gophers, moles, I totally forgot that there are tiny insects which can ruin my crops completely.
The kale, broccoli radishes and cauliflower in my vegetable garden were attacked this year by this green and yacky worm. As I’m not into chemical pesticides, I decided to get rid of these disgusting and hungry green pests using some natural methods.
I was suggested to handpick them, but you can do half the job in one day and the other day your veggies will be full of worms again. This doesn’t works so well!
However, I found the perfect natural methods in getting rid of these green pests:
Repellant drench: In a blender puree spearmint, green onion, garlic, horseradish, hot peppers, peppercorns and water. Add one tablespoon of liquid soap per quart of puree, spray onto plants.
Flour Powder: Mix 1⁄2 cup of table salt and 1 cup of flour. Sprinkle onto plants while still moist from the morning dew. This mix will bloat and kill the worms.
Netting: Netting is available for covering the plants in the cabbage family. If you can keep the moths from laying eggs you will get no damaging worms. The plant can grow the entire season under the netting without any loss of crops.
Diatomaceous earth: Diatomaceous earth is ground up fossilized sea shells. Diatomaceous earth will puncture soft bodied insects and they will dehydrate and die. Local nurseries should carry diatomaceous earth.
Garlic oil spray: Mince one bulb of garlic and soak in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil for 24 hours. Next, mix 2 cups of water with one tablespoon liquid soap then add garlic mix to water and soap, mix thoroughly. Strain out garlic and place into a jar for storage, this will be your concentrate. Use one to two tablespoons of garlic oil concentrate to two cups water, then spray plants covering all leaf surfaces. Use for control over aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leaf hoppers, squash bugs, and whiteflies.
Worm deterrent citrus spray: Worms, caterpillars don’t like the taste of citrus; its bitter chemicals run the caterpillars off. To make a citrus spray, grind up the rinds and seeds of any citrus fruit (oranges, lemons, limes or grapefruit). Soak overnight in two cups of water. Strain out the pulp; add two teaspoons liquid soap to mix.
Alternate these natural pesticides daily for one week and then continue applying weekly the below soapy water insect spray:
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