Growing brassicas (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radish and turnips) chemical free on the Canadian prairies is challenging as canola is also in this plant family. If you have canola fields near your garden and you are growing brassicas, then whatever insect or disease is in the canola will be in your garden as well!
When insects attack our vegetable plants, the plants are under stress so the yields will decrease as the plants are working hard at defending themselves!
These insects are very aggressive and can destroy an entire plant in a short amount of time.
You can buy chemicals to dust the plants but it goes directly on the vegetable you eat!
There is another product on the market called BtK which is a naturally occurring bacteria that can be sprayed on the brassicas. This bacteria will paralyze the gut of any leaf eating caterpillar! The bacteria is specific to family of insects so it will affect all butterflies with leaf eating caterpillars (a cabbage moth is actually a butterfly!). Monarchs have leaf eating caterpillars and BtK will affect them too! BtK is also light and water sensitive so it must be reapplied daily to work properly.
There is a solution to growing broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radish and turnips without the use of any chemicals and that is the use of insect netting.
The plants need to be covered with the netting as soon as they are planted and the netting remains over these vegetables all season long. Initially the netting can be floated over the vegetables but the cabbage moths can still lay eggs through the netting if the plants are touching the netting so it is best to build temporary hoops to hold the netting off the plants.
I searched high and low for a netting available in Canada that would hold up to the harsh prairie winds that my gardens experience here but by the end of the season, the nettings I purchased here would be shredded.
I finally sourced AgFabric which is a heavy weight netting that holds up to strong winds for multiple seasons. I initially imported it for my own fields but am now a distributor in Canada for AgFabric.
If you are looking for a chemical free method to grow brassicas on the Canadian prairies, please check out my online store. The netting is 10’ wide and I cut to custom lengths so it will fit your garden rows. Just be sure to order a bit extra so you can tie off the ends.
This fabric can also be used to protect vegetables from other pests like root maggot (a fly that lays eggs) etc. If you are using it for smaller crops like kale and radish, cut it in half to cover. The 10’ width is needed for the larger brassicas like cabbage and Brussels sprouts.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the fabric! I also now also offer shade cloth for greenhouses, chicken coops and even dog runs as well as bird netting to protect berries and fruit from birds.
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