What’s Eating My Cauliflower? 7 Pests to Look For

Cabbage loopers and worms are moth larvae. The adult form of loopers is a mottled, gray moth with a ‘figure-8’ mark or ‘Y’ on each wing. The eggs are pale green to white, dome-shaped, and appear alone on leaf undersides. The caterpillars are bright green with white stripes and no legs in their mid-section.

The adult form of cabbage worms is a small white butterfly. They sometimes have one or two black spots on the wings. The eggs are similar, but yellow rather than white. The larvae are velvety green and have legs along the body.

Looper larvae tend to crawl like an inchworm, due to the distribution of their legs. Worms crawl more smoothly. Each is about one inch long at maturity. The larval stage of both is the most destructive.

Crop rotation is important for preventing most types of pests in the garden. In the Southeast, plant your cabbage in the fall as they are less active during the cooler months. Row covers help keep moths away, especially at night. Always remove debris from the vegetable garden promptly and keep things neat.

Encourage beneficial insects like parasitic wasps, ladybugs, lacewings, and ground beetles. These eat looper and worm eggs. Nectar rich flowers planted nearby will facilitate this.

Neem oil acts as a deterrent for most egg-laying insects, and it disrupts caterpillar eating. You can also apply Bt, an organic microbial spray that specifically targets caterpillars.

Check your plants often for signs of these pests. If you don’t catch them early they can be quite damaging to your crop. If you see them present on your plants, handpick them and drop them in a bucket of soapy water.

These cabbage pests are tiny, only about two millimeters long. They are soft-bodied and greenish-gray with a waxy coating that makes them look dusty. You’ll find them in clusters on the undersides of leaves, and in leaf curls.

Once they get into your curds it’s difficult to save your cauliflower crop. Keep your garden clean and clear of debris, and always practice crop rotation. Trap crops like nasturtiums and mustard are great for planting nearby. These will attract the aphids away from your vegetables.

Aphids love humidity, so give your cauliflower heads some space for airflow. Beneficial insects like ladybug larvae love to eat these, so keep nectar plants nearby for adults. Row covers are also a help, though not as much as they are with flying insects.

Use blasting with a strong stream of water from a hose as your first defense. If needed, organic sprays like neem oil and insecticidal soaps are effective. Neem oil disrupts their feeding and reproduction; this works best for light infestations. Insecticidal soap and horticultural oils will smother adults if you spray them directly on them.

Products containing Beauveria bassiana, which is a beneficial fungus, can suppress populations. It won’t harm pollinators or other animals around the garden.

You can identify these cauliflower pests by their presence or their damage. The adult beetles are small, about one-eighth of an inch long. They are black or bronze, and some species have yellow markings. They jump like fleas when disturbed.

Rotate your crops every year, and keep your garden tidy. Fall planting is best in the Southeast after they peak. Lightweight row covers are the most effective prevention as they prevent adult beetles from laying eggs. Heavy mulch also makes it harder for beetles to emerge near the plant.

Encourage predators by planting nectar-rich flowers nearby. Beneficial nematodes are also helpful at controlling larvae. Flea beetles prefer radishes and mustards, so you can use these as a trap crop. Just make sure to pull them up and dispose of them away from the garden.

Diatomaceous earth around the base of the plant is helpful for getting rid of larvae in the soil. Insecticidal soap repels and disrupts their feeding. For heavy infestations, pyrethrin is effective, but use it sparingly. This is harmful to beneficial insects.

Cutworms are caterpillars and larvae of a brownish-gray moth. They lay eggs on weeds and in the soil at night, near young plants. The larvae are gray, fat caterpillars that curl into a C shape when disturbed.

Keep weeds and debris to a minimum to give them fewer places to lay their eggs. Diatomaceous earth sprinkled on the ground around the base is an effective deterrent, and plant collars are helpful.

You have to catch cutworms when they are active. Disturbing the soil around your plants will sometimes reveal them in the ground. You may see them in the evening and early morning around the base of your plants. Remove them and drop them in soapy water.

The adults look like small, gray houseflies. They lay their eggs in the spring, in soil that surrounds brassicas. The larvae are the damaging stage and are small and white. They’re about one-quarter of an inch long and legless.

The way to prevent these cauliflower pests is to stop the flies from laying eggs. Fall planting is advantageous for these as they breed in the spring. Rotate crops yearly, to prevent the same pests from rearing their heads in the same spots.

Root maggots like wet soil, so good drainage is a must. Make sure to pull spent brassicas up from the roots and dispose of them away from the garden as they can attract these pests. Row covers are also effective, along with plant collars and mulch.

Beneficial nematodes are effective against these pests. They attack the larvae underground. These have plenty of natural predators like beetles and parasitic wasps.

Slugs are soft-bodied mollusks, snails are similar, but have a shell. They are nocturnal feeders and hide in dark, moist spaces.

Prevent these pests by removing their hiding spots. Dense weeds and leaf litter are common spots for them to hide. Water in the morning. They like moisture, so you want your plants dry in the evening when they feed. Give your plants space to breathe. Dry soil is not hospitable to these mollusks.

Barriers are an effective prevention for these pests. Copper tape around the base of plants will deter them. Diatomaceous earth sprinkled on dry soil is also effective. They don’t like rough textures, so rough mulch will keep them at bay.

Lots of animals eat slugs. Birds, frogs, and some beetles are slug and snail predators. If you have chickens, they typically take care of them. Nemotodes are also good for targeting these pests.

Look out for them after rain, especially in the evening. You can handpick them when you see them. Check your plants regularly at dusk so that you can catch them early. Beer traps and organic slug baits are also effective at eradicating and repelling slugs and snails.