Here’s a quick checklist for you to follow when you plant out this spring. Have a read now to make sure you have all the bits and bobs you will need, and then refer back to it when your plants arrive so that you can keep your plants will be kept fairly safe from pests in those early days!
Advice for specific plants:
Brassicas – kale, cauliflower, cabbages, broccoli, swede, turnip
- Put a brassica collar around the base of stems to help protect against cabbage root fly (you can cut a 10cm disc out of cardboard and use this)
- Cover with mesh netting to protect against pigeons (VERY important for gardens where pigeons are abundant!) and cabbage butterflies which will be laying eggs in the next month or so.
Mustard Leaves – mizuna, wild rocket, frills mustard
- Cover with mesh netting to help protect against flea beetle
Carrots
- Cover with light horticultural fleece to help protect against carrot fly
Advice for ALL plants:
- If rabbits are a problem, be sure to surround your veg patch with a chicken wire fence – 50cm tall, staked in with bambo canes should do the trick
- Slug & Snail defences – set beer traps, keep plots tidy to minimise ‘hiding’ places, use copper tape around pots, grit around plants
- Dot marigolds & tagetes in amongst veggies to help protect against aphid infestations later in the summer