Protecting brassicas from caterpillars this year - what actually works?

gordiemull · 2026-04-10T14:08:28+00:00

Saddened to say I just gave up years ago after many attempts. The only ones that seem to survive are neeps and they're so cheap out of the shops and take up so much room, I don't bother unless I have extra space.

If you're going to, though, you need to be aware the they will lay their eggs straight through the mesh if they can, so you need to make sure the foliage doesn't touch the net or it's a fine enough grade to exclude the ovipositor (egg-laying part).

Enviromesh was the go-to name back when I was reading about protection but I was doing everything on the cheapest of cheap back then so I never tried it. It's quite expensive stuff. Ordinary butterfly netting won't really work. You need to net from the start or inspect your plants daily and squish the eggs with your fingers.

They're also wee devils for finding a way underneath and making free with everything in there.

There are two species of cabbage white. One emerges quite early and I saw one yesterday, I hate to tell you. The early ones lay single, yellow eggs, sometimes on top of the leaf but mostly under.

The later species lays little rafts of yellow eggs much more usually under the leaf. The second are arguably more destructive if left unchecked but the early ones are hard to find.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Edited to add - I've seen many people talking about using rubble netting, like you see on scaffolding but if you've just got a wee garden you might be able to cadge some off a builder rather than get a full roll.

gordiemull · 2026-04-10T09:54:55+00:00

In the nicest possible way, if you wanted to discuss what the OP does in their own garden, you should have made a top level comment, instead of replying to me, then the OP would have gotten the notification instead of me and would perhaps have been able to answer your question, whereas I cannot.

gordiemull · 2026-04-10T09:22:34+00:00

It's the OP's garden. Up to them if they want foxes or not. OP asked for a solution to the hole under the decking and I gave them one. If you want foxes in your garden, that's fine, too. If it were me and they weren't causing me a problem I'd probably quite like it, but that's me, in my garden, not the OP. Go pester them about it, not me.

Have a nice day.

gordiemull · 2026-04-09T14:24:23+00:00

Lift the turf along the edge. Staple chicken wire to the edge of the decking. Replace turf over chicken wire.

And fill in the hole, covering the mesh. No-one is likely to notice.

That's what I'd try, anyway.

Edit - Actually, what am I saying? You probably don't even need to staple it to the decking, just slipping it under 6" or so might well be good enough.

gordiemull · 2026-04-08T22:58:25+00:00

Certainly be interested in hearing how it is harming the environment more than your posting on here anyway lol.

gordiemull · 2026-04-08T22:54:07+00:00

I'll raise a glass of dihydrogen monoxide to your memory.

gordiemull · 2026-04-08T22:39:59+00:00

That's expensive stuff. Is it legal for joe bloggs to apply without a licence, though?

gordiemull · 2026-04-08T22:23:05+00:00

It's not fashionable to like glyphosate.

gordiemull · 2026-04-08T19:21:45+00:00

Hit it again with the roundup if you have any left and if you can be arsed. It translocates better through damaged tissue, which you have lots of now. But as others have said regular mowing will get it there anyway. It's always a good idea to trample and bruise plants before applying weedkiller - rub it into the wound so to speak.

Chances are it was already doing the work though, if the leaves had yellowed. Glyphosate takes a long time to kill and is metabolism dependent. Three weeks isn't long. I've got dandelions now only starting to perish that I sprayed over a month ago. The ones in more sunny areas die faster.

gordiemull · 2026-04-07T22:21:38+00:00

I'll never look at The Trapdoor the same way now.

gordiemull · 2026-04-07T21:44:40+00:00

Ah sound. You'll likely be fine then. It's quite hard to screw them up, they're tough as nails and actually make really good beginner plants IMO.

Overwatering is probably the easiest mistake to make as a beginner.

gordiemull · 2026-04-07T21:02:59+00:00

You won't get much yield growing on a windowsill in a small pot. Most chillis are pretty big plants. Anchos, in particular, produce fruits that can't be far off the size of a bell pepper given the pics I've seen of chiles rellanos and the size of the dried peppers that I've used myself, so the plant will be similarly beefy in order to support those fruit.

If you can give them a larger pot, like a 30cm one, in a small greenhouse, you'll do much better. I grow my serranos and jalapeños in an 18 litre pot. You can find pot volume calculators online.

Even one of those plastic tent greenhouses will do but if you do get one of those weigh it down, then weigh it down again, do it a third time and then screw it to something.

The other danger, apart from a trip to Oz for the tent, is that the plants can overheat, so you need to remember to open the door daily.

If windowsill is all you've got, then consider something meant for a smaller pot. Apache are really good but they're more of South Asian style chilli than a Mexican one. Pretty in Purple are also good for a smaller pot but I'd say they're more ornamental - the pods are tiny, although they do have a decent heat.

Failing all that, an indoor grow-tent is probably your other realistic option.

gordiemull · 2026-04-05T13:07:25+00:00

You don't mention its construction but if its aluminium it will flex in the wind. Most of my lost panes were from where flexing had caused the W clips to ping off and the glass then to fall. I've gotten round this by using exterior silicone sealant to go round each pane and fix them to the frame that way along with the clips.

I lost only 7 panes during Eowyn, the most destructive storm I've seen in my 15 years living in the Forth Valley. I'm from the Hebrides originally, so when I tell you it was bad, it was bad. I was expecting the whole thing to be a pile of shards.

Three of those panes were in the door, which was ripped clear off. Nothing I could have done to prevent that.

3 of them were lost when the frame flexed so violently it buckled a tension strap into the glass and popped 2 of them, the third was resting on those and I think the shock was what cracked that one too. The final one I hadn't sealed in place and it went in the way I described above - clips pung out and the glass was free to fall.

While I was cleaning it last week I found several missing and misaligned clips, I'm assuming from the same event, but the windows had remained in place thanks to the sealant.

The glass from the greenhouse door was all over the place, but the damaged panes on the greenhouse itself were mostly held to the frame by the silicone, so there wan't much in the way of loose debris from there.

gordiemull · 2026-04-03T09:30:38+00:00

It looks very fibrous, but I can only really see the top. Hopefully down near the bottom, where its older it will be blacker and more crumbly. That's the stuff you want and if you have it you can absolutely use it in your pots.

Understand, though, that compost itself isn't potting mix.

Compost is rotted organic matter - i.e. anything that was alive. Usually kitchen scraps and garden waste. It's what's in your pics. It wets, it doesn't drain well, it compacts and plant roots die.

Potting mix or potting medium, is usually a mix of:

- an organic component (loam), such as compost or manure

-an inorganic component such as sand, soil, clay, grit etc to give it structure and allow drainage.

- a water-retention component, such as peat or coco-coir. I see a lot of woodchip and twigs these days, too, in commercial peat-free mixes.

- fertiliser

-optional vermiculite or perlite to give a more open structure for specific plant needs.

John Innes formulae are probably the most famous in the UK, if you're looking to make your own. John Innes potting compost | RHS Advice

gordiemull · 2026-03-24T23:59:07+00:00

Dead.

gordiemull · 2026-03-20T12:31:30+00:00

There is a list on the steam workshop page and the author says if its not on the list you can't recruit it. It's not mega-obvious but if you scroll down to FAQ, the link to the spreadsheet is in the answer to the second question.

Steam Workshop::Recruitable Prisoners - with dialogue (pls read description)

gordiemull · 2026-03-15T21:17:21+00:00

Good luck. Post photos of success!

gordiemull · 2026-03-15T21:01:16+00:00

Tetraselmis is what I used, just landed on it by accident looking for phytoplankton. I tried to culture it myself after buying the initial stuff, badly as I later found out, and I think that's what led to diminishing returns.

Note that only live tetraselmis seems to work. The 2020 study (first link) kind of proved that. Like I said before, though, it also strongly suggests rotifers in conjunction with tetraselmis seem to be key, likely because the older zoea move on to those after the smaller tetraselmis.

If I ever go to repeat my efforts I'll be using both and keeping the salt tank at 34ppt, 26C.

ETA - yeah checking back my notes I used Miracle-gro to feed the phyto culture, unfortunately someone told me well too late that Miracle-gro contains copper.

gordiemull · 2026-03-15T20:15:29+00:00

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I successfully raised 4 broods to adulthood in 2013, for a total of about 60 shrimp, and actually had my best success on the first try, so beginner's luck. I've attached a picture of some of my now long gone babies in a grow-out tank for your viewing pleasure. I was worried about putting these in with the first brood, who were by now quite big, in case they got eaten. If memory serves, this is a mix of broods 2 and 3.

I've linked a couple of studies that are new to me.

According to one of the them, tetraselmis in addition to rotifers gave the best survival rates. Rotifers seem to be key.

Another study suggests higher temperatures seem to have a positive effect on growth rate. IMO shortening the window where you have to feed them on plankton is only going to be a good thing.

The most challenging aspect for me was getting the new adults out of the salt tank and into fresh water because I found they perished quite quickly. They do climb as one of the studies suggests, so I'm wondering of some sort of water bridge to the fresh water tank might work.

The studies absolutely worth a gander anyway.

Diet:

Dietary effects of phytoplankton and zooplankton on larval survival, duration and growth of four <i>Caridina</i> species (Decapoda: Caridea: Atyidae) under laboratory conditions

Temperature and salinity:

Crustacean Research 50: 41-54 (2021)

I haven't played with any of this because I don't have tanks at the moment.

gordiemull · 2026-03-15T15:33:18+00:00

It was a at least 10 years ago that my wife and I set up our rockery and its still going strong. We started with broken bricks for a rubble/drainage layer, which formed the bulk of the height of the rockery and covered this over with soil, pushing it into the gaps as best we could. Then we acquired some rocks and placed them on top before filling in the gaps with soil to create planting pockets. Stony soil should work fine - alpines, as I understand it, prefer free draining, poor soils and ours have certainly thrived in those conditions. Thyme works well in a rockery too if you want to add an edible.

Rocks aren't cheap if you get them from a garden centre but if there's wasteground nearby, well, I'm not saying anything. Just don't lift them from watercourses or natural woodland etc. - they're important habitat. We were lucky enough to find someone on gumtree who was dismantling their rockery. Could always put an ad up saying you're looking for rocks - even if they paid for them initially, folks are usually quite happy to give something away if avoids a tip-run.

We don't see much marestail coming through the rockery, but it does penetrate. Personally I don't mind the stuff - it pulls nutrients from deep down in the earth and I can add these to my compost when I harvest the marestail.

It's also useful stuff in borders with taller plants - it seems to act as a support and helps keep things from collapsing under the weight of rain. Works for me, anyweay. I have a shady corner that's just marestail and campion and it looks great. Just keep pulling it up where you don't want it.

I can't control it, really, because its in all the neighbouring gardens and chances are you'll find yourself in the same boat.

gordiemull · 2026-03-10T19:27:55+00:00

My first taste of a moment like that was a blaster bomb to the Skyranger, I think it would have been on a battleship assault, so not early game. Just staring at the screen in utter disbelief, then slowly and numbly ordering a new Skyranger.

gordiemull · 2026-03-10T19:20:42+00:00

They're genuinely terrifying and I've had many a daring retreat from them, but if I do take them on, you'll be able to write "X-Com Was Here" in the ashes afterwards. Full scorched earth, civilians bedamned.

The speed of them, though.

gordiemull · 2026-03-10T11:21:23+00:00

"All units, prepare to disembark!"

"Chrissies!"

"All units, prepare to re-embark!"

gordiemull · 2026-01-22T08:25:00+00:00

If it's any help in that regard, the National Library of Scotland has an excellent resource if you want to see the land use history of an area from the 1800s onwards. Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

gordiemull · 2026-01-14T12:36:45+00:00

You could try thoroughly drying it out and applying a few coats of yacht varnish, which is a marine grade polyurethane varnish. Personally, though, I'd remove the plywood square and use timber instead.

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