Brassica Biters and BT

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DonShirer Westbrook, CT(Zone 6a) Jan 09, 2008

Some garden biters really chewed up my cabbage and broccoli leaves last year.
I mentioned this to an organic gardener I met at a luncheon and he recommended applying BT (he thought the initials meant Bacterial something or other).

I have looked through several catalogs and tried searching DG for BT but didn't find anything useful.
Can anyone clue me in on the correct name, or suggest some other remedy so I can actually harvest some of those vegetables this year?

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LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL(Zone 5b) Jan 09, 2008

Bacillus thuringiensis

Bonide sells it as Thuricide

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tucsonjill Lincoln, NE(Zone 5a) Jan 09, 2008

Hi Don,
You're looking for Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. It's a pretty effective organic control, with different subspecies which are effective against different problems. For your brassica biters, I think you'd be looking for the kurstaki, or Btk, strain. It's supposed to be effective against many types of leaf-chewing caterpillars. What it does is produce a toxin that attaches to the gut wall of the caterpillar, destroying it and ultimately poisoning the caterpililar. It may take several days to completely kill the insect.

Hope that helps!

ref: Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver

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doccat5 Fredericksburg, VA(Zone 7b) Jan 09, 2008

It's also sold under the name Dipel. :)

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paracelsus Elmira, NY(Zone 6a) Jan 09, 2008

It might not have been caterpillars, though; it might have been slugs. One year slugs really decimated by brassicas. Did you see what it was that was eating them? If not, I'll bet it was slugs, because they come out at night. If it is, Slug-Go works pretty good.

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DonShirer Westbrook, CT(Zone 6a) Jan 10, 2008

Thanks all for the info. I'll definitely try it.

Para: I've haven't seen any evidence for slugs, but I'll keep an eye out.

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