Cabbage Worms

Cabbage worms aren't worms at all! They're caterpillars and they absolutely LOVE cabbage and other brassicas.

You'll often see these critters all up in your cruciferous when your plants are livin' / laughin' / lovin'. These caterpillars love taking advantage of the abundance as your brassica production comes into full-swing.

We'll delve into some info about cabbage worms so we can better understand these critters, and then look at some ways you can get rid of cabbage worms in your garden.

When to Watch Out For Cabbage Worms

Here in the low desert of Arizona, that's the winter cool season. in more maderate climates, shoulder seasons are the best time for brassicaceae and their leaf-loving cabbage worms.

Further North (in the Northern Hemisphere) where winters are harsh, brassicas and cabbage worms are both a Summer happening.

Whenever you encounter them, cabbage worms can be a neisance to any hopeful gardener looking to, you know, actually harvest a crop...

How to Control Cabbage Worms

Let's look at a few of the most effective organic options you have for cabbage worm control in your garden.

Trichogramma Kills Cabbage Worms

Trichogramma sp. is a minute endoparisitoid wasp.

These are tiny, much smaller even than a fruit fly. They don't sting and don't bite humans.

DIY Raised Bed Plans

Build Yours Today!

What they do is parasitize over 200 species of moth and caterpillar eggs.

For cabbage worms, trichogramma lay their eggs inside the cabbage worm eggs, where the wasps hatch and consume the cabbage worm. This results in more trichogramma and less cabbage worms.

Birds Eat Cabbage Worms

A lot of birds really like eating cabbage worms. Be careful not to eliminate all the food that would entice more birds into your garden - they need to eat too!

There are a ton of benefits of having birds in your garden, and balancing cabbage worm populations is just one of them.

Get You Some Chickens

Chickens love cabbage worms!

They'll gladly pluck these juicy morsels off your leaves for you - though they might take a chicken tax on some tasty greens, too.

Not sure if it's worth letting chickens in your garden, but if you have experience with this we'd love to hear from you in the comments!

I've also heard that quail and ducks make great garden pest pluckers, and may be better about not eating your hard-grown veggies than chickens.

Looking for ways to control other garden pests naturally? Check out the full guide here.