Friday, June 17, 2011

And off we grow!

Today we will talk about (1) mammoth sunflower growth and (2) cabbage worms.

Let's start with the fun stuff.

Here are the sunflowers on June 6.  {{Remember?}}


Here are the sunflowers on June 16. 



In case you are wondering, the sunflower was...


a whopping 43 inches tall, as of June 16. 


We have been measuring them and they are growing about an inch per day.  Goodness!

psssst... are you wondering why we have siding missing from the side of the house? My Dear husband is replacing some of it.  Yes, he really can do everything!


Moving on.

We are also battling cabbage worms.

Something is eating our cabbage.  I am 100% sure that it is cabbage worms... because I finally saw them with my own eyes.

After doing a bit of research and speaking to a local Master Gardener, I decided to use the following plan to rid my garden of cabbage worms.

Step 1.  Spray off any worms and eggs with powerful spray from a garden hose.
Step 2.  Create a solution of flour and water.


Step 3.  Sprinkle flour and water on the plants.




Step 4.  Repeat.  Daily.  Without fail.

Supposedly, the worms eat the flour and it causes them to expand and die.  I sure hope so. 

How do you get rid of cabbage worms?


This post is part of the KinderGARDENS series.
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12 comments:

Jess said...

Bacterial warfare against cabbage worms! Bacillus thuringiensis. Google it. Same principle, they eat it and die.

Melissa said...

Wow...we can't get Sunflowers to last more than 2 days once planted outside. Someone always eats them.

Cathryn said...

We pick them off and feed them to the chickens. Mine are from those cute little white cabbage moths, so I try to kill them too! putting a net over the cabbage before the moth lays the eggs can help.

The author said...

If I have cabbage worms, I don't know they are there. I don't grow cabbages (although I'm falling in love with the way they look), so I'm no help! It looks like your sunflowers are doing better than ours!

Kirsten said...

i've been admiring cute little moths all over our garden for a couple of weeks now, and rescuing them when they got trapped in our netting. and then today my neighbor informed me that they were cabbage moths.

(!!!!!!!)

they went from cute little fluttery friend to dangerous garden fiend. ARGH! guess i'll be mixing up some flour as well.

Michele said...

LOVE the sunflower comparison pics. Yours are way ahead of ours. That looks like a great, protected spot for them.

Shayne said...

Fantastic sunflower pictures! Love how tall they are getting. It's amazing how fast they grow, almost as if you could sit and watch them get bigger.

We don't grow cabbage, so no cabbage worms. But I feel your pain. It's terribly frustrating to try and grow something and have a little varmint come along and want (more than) his or her share...

faith buss said...

I've never had cabbage, so I don't know.... But I did discover flea beetles on my eggplant this evening and spread diatomaceous earth on the leaves. Wonder if that would help with the worms?

Sunflowers are beautiful! It'll be so exciting when they bloom!

Mama Bean said...

I'm worried about cabbage worms as well! Will try the flour and water remedy :) Someone told me to salt and pepper them, so i'll be trying that, too! Oh the things us gardeners do for our plant children...

Kindra said...

I love your sunflowers. Every week I say we are going to plant ours and we don't get around to it. :(

Holly said...

Wow! Those are some serious sunflowers! Mine are still only a few inches tall (and I'm on full offensive against the birds that keep trying to eat them)! I'm definitely envious (and hoping that my girls get to see their little sunflowers grow up)!

Kelly said...

The sunflowers are cool, but I think your human measuring stick is much cuter. :)