I have lost one brussels sprout and three broccoli plants either to squirrels or birds. Which ever it is it kept digging them up and snapped a few stems during daylight hours. I'm betting on the squirrels, I swear I am going to go on a squirrel massacre one of these days! I did finally spread a lot of really hot cayenne pepper powder around and it seemed to have deterred it, knock on wood.
The other bad is cabbage butterfly caterpillars. They have been having a field day eating away. The dumb part is I ordered Bt concentrate with one of my spring seed orders and never used it. So after the caterpillars had done some serious damage to a few plants I finally sprayed. It was my first time using Bt, it is supposed to be really good stuff and is non toxic and organic.
This photo and the one below are the ugly although not overly ugly. The photo above is what most of the remaining 11 broccoli plants look like. I will keep up my Bt spraying and hopefully they will not look like swiss cheese soon.
Here is an ugly brussels sprout plant. I found last year that the cabbage butterfly caterpillars particularly like brussels sprouts. I will keep up my spraying on theses as well.
Now for the good, The Romanesco broccoli are starting to come into their prime. I planted these a month after planting the broccoli this spring after reading that they are less cold tolerant. In retrospect delaying planting will give me a nice harvest in between the first and second crop of broccoli. In behind the romanesco are the second crop of broccoli, late planted brussels sprouts as well as a bunch of weeds.
Here is a close up of the head forming on the Romanesco broccoli. This particular one is about the size of a tennis ball and the other one is about half that size. I am guessing they will be ready for harvest in two weeks.I am almost done updating, all that is left now is the root crops!
The romanesco broccoli is really such a pretty plant. The patterning of the head is so unusual. I have seen these in seed catalogs but never grown them. You will have to report back on how it tastes.
ReplyDeleteThe "bad" do indeed look pretty pathetic! Luckily you seem to have put a stop to both the squirrels (hopefully!) and the cabbage worms.
KitsapFG - Pathetic is putting it lightly. I guess you can't win them all. I am hoping the badly eaten broccoli plant comes back at least. I will definitely update on the romanesco taste, I am looking forward to trying it.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan, that romanesco broccoli looks amazing. I have some seeds for it, but grew purple broccoli instead. Maybe next season I'll put one or two in. My planting is all out of whack anyway given I am not taking much notice of planting seasons! Hope the others recover
ReplyDeleteRomanesco is art! Beautiful. Brassicas are such gorgeous plants that everything loves them. I hope they leave some for you.
ReplyDeleteOh some years I curse the squirrels (and the chipmunks). They love to dig things up. This year it was my sunflowers. Hopefully that is all they got. I always wonder what they are hunting for in the soil. I'm guessing this year for us it is slugs. Which would be good if they didn't kill the plants.
ReplyDeleteAgree about squirrels, frustrating.
ReplyDeleteYour romanesco cauliflower is beautiful. Mine, not so pretty. I harvested it today and I'll cook it (I think). I'll have to try the BT. I had a lot of shredded crops from the worms too.
ReplyDeleteHey Dan! the romanesco broccoli looks fabulous. I'll be waiting to see pictures of the meal when you cook it ;)
ReplyDeleteI have used BT in my hydro reservoirs, but never as a foliar. Does is work as a foliar? What is the shelf life?
ReplyDeleteI really like the look of that Romanesco broccoli. I am going to pick some up because of your pictures.
Red - The stuff I am using is Bacillus thuringiensis and you do spray it on the foliage. As far as I know it works almost like salmonella in humans. I will update on how it works in a few weeks. The shelf life I'm not sure of but it makes me think I should not have it in the shed.
ReplyDeleteThe Romanesco broc is a piece of art. Bellissimo !
ReplyDelete