A staple of traditional Southern cuisine , collard Green River ( Brassica oleracea — acephala mathematical group ) are favorites among gardeners in the American South . Like nearly all one-year garden vegetables , succulent collard greens attract insects , include destructive pests such asflea beetles , aphids and collard loopers . If your collard putting green are under insect plan of attack , turn to all - innate solutions first . The ingredient to control and even eradicate harmful pest may be found right in your kitchen .
Handling Cutworms
Cutworms tip on every vegetable in your garden , especially vernal and untoughened plants . commence by make your garden less hospitable to the cutworms . all the way aside all bushed leave , grass and weeds that provide hiding places for cutworms . Then spread Zea mays meal around your collards and other plants . cutworm fete on edible corn meal — instead of your plants — but ca n’t put up it . In a few days , the undigested meal kills the worms .
Wrangling Aphids
Aphids take in the sap from industrial plant , causing the leaves to shrink and become flat . Because the collard plant is mostly leave , an infestation of aphid is particularly troublesome . A strong blast of water from the hose will shift aphids and prevent an infestation if catch up with shortly enough . If aphids do attack your collards , dissolve 1 ounce of soap scrap in 1 quart of water in a sprayer and mix well . Spray straight on the aphids . The soap must adjoin the insects to be effectual . Repeat every seven to 10 days , as want .
Battling Flea Beetles
Both grownup flea beetles and beetles at the larvae level eat holes through the leaves of collard leafy vegetable . Deprive the beetle of a habitat by clearing all garden debris from around your plant . Then sprinkle woodwind instrument ashes around each plant to repel the beetle . If the collards are already invade , puree 15 garlic cloves with 1 dry pint of water in a blender . Strain the mixture into a spray bottle , then spray the leaf thoroughly . Target the larvae , which are most susceptible to the spray . Repeat every few days as needed .
Corraling Collard Loopers
Collard or cabbage loopers look like fleeceable inchworms . As the name suggests , they are specially draw to plant of the Brassica or gelt family line . Left unchallenged , loopers can destroy an entire crop . To combat collard loopers , handpick the offenders and drop them in a bucket of soapy piss . you could also spray them with the garlic spray as you would for flea beetles . Whenever spraying any variety of pesticide , even these natural remedies , wear gloves , protective clothing and protective eyewear .
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