How to process cabbage from caterpillars and slugs: folk remedies

It is not only people who love to eat delicious vegetables grown at their summer cottage, but also pests. It can be very difficult to get rid of them, and poisoning with heavy chemistry is fraught with health. Then folk recipes come to the rescue. They will help not only get rid of pests, but also preserve the beneficial properties of the vegetable. Let's figure out how to process cabbage if caterpillars have appeared on it.

How to process cabbage from caterpillars: folk remedies

Caterpillars are very voracious, gnaw numerous holes in the leaves and the head itself. The products of their vital activity start the processes of decay in the vegetable, after which it cannot be eaten.

For the extermination of caterpillars on cabbage, hot peppers, decoctions of herbs and tomato tops, eggshells, chicken droppings, lime are used.

Some gardeners advise planting fragrant plants near cabbage: cloves, marigolds, garlic, sage, calendula, etc. The pungent odor will scare off butterflies that lay eggs, from which larvae will subsequently appear.

Some summer residents build birdhouses to attract birds to the site, which will destroy pests.

Spraying with an infusion of wood ash and tar soap

Wood ash is an alkali that most garden pests do not like very much. The soap in the recipe creates a slippery surface that prevents the caterpillars from moving, being trapped and killed.

Dissolve 2 tbsp in 10 liters of water. ash, mix and leave for 24 hours to infuse. The next day, filter, add 3 tbsp. l. tar soap and stir until smooth. With the help of a spray bottle, cabbage leaves and heads of cabbage are processed.

Important! Processing should be carried out immediately after larvae are found. Once the caterpillars are large, it will be much more difficult to get rid of them.

Baking soda

Soda solution is used immediately after preparation. The method is effective as soda acts as an antiseptic. It is used both at the stage of soaking the seeds and for processing already ripe heads. Once on the ground, such a solution will not harm the vegetable, but, on the contrary, will act as fertilizer.

For 5 liters of water, you will need 10 tbsp. l. soda. The solution is quickly and vigorously stirred until complete dissolution. Spray all the leaves of the vegetable on both sides.

Read also:

How to get rid of caterpillars on dill: pest control methods

How to get rid of caterpillars on pepper

What to do if caterpillars are bred in tomatoes - ways to fight the pest

Vinegar solution

Another effective method of dealing with caterpillars is a vinegar solution. In 10 liters of water, dilute 0.5 tbsp. table 9% vinegar. The resulting mixture is used to treat the lower and upper leaves of the cabbage, avoiding contact with the ground. It is recommended to carry out such processing no more than 1 time in 10 days.

Important! All solutions are effective only at the time of preparation. They are used immediately and are not stored until next processing.

Sugar syrup

Here sugar acts not as a poisonous substance capable of exterminating caterpillars, but as a bait for insects, for example, wasps. They will flock to vegetables sprinkled with syrup and destroy pests.

Alternatively, you can use old, water-diluted jam.

How to handle slugs

Slug is another pest that can be found on cabbage heads and leaves. Simply removing it from a vegetable can be problematic.Most slugs go hunting at night, as they cannot stand the heat and the scorching sun.

Important! Mollusks love coolness and moisture, so their appearance can be provoked not only by prolonged rainy weather, but also by excessive watering of the crop.

• To combat slugs, the same methods are used as with caterpillars. Ash, soda and vinegar are detrimental to them. But there are still some foods that slugs cannot tolerate, and they can be found in almost every home: coffee and ammonia. Shellfish smells unpleasant.
• To treat cabbage from slugs, a strong drink is brewed with instant coffee and, when it cools down, cabbage leaves are sprayed with it. For small mollusks, such a procedure will be disastrous, and adults will become disoriented. Coffee repels not only slugs, but also a cabbage fly.
• Ammonia, or ammonia, helps to ward off shellfish from the beds. To prepare the solution, it is necessary to dissolve 40 ml of ammonia in 10 liters of water. Spray the leaves from a spray bottle twice. The interval between the first and second time should be no more than 15 minutes. And what to do if slugs are also wound up on peppers, read this article.

Important! All procedures for processing vegetables from pests are carried out in dry weather in the morning or in the evening so that the culture does not suffer from the scorching sun. If it rains, the procedure is repeated.

Conclusion

Growing your own vegetables without chemicals is a difficult and painstaking process that requires a lot of effort. If you pay due attention not only to pest control, but also to prevent their appearance in the beds - to remove rotten leaves in time, remove weeds, carefully loosen the soil in dry weather - a bountiful harvest will be ensured.