White Cabbage Moths

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. When we were little, we started walking barefooted up and down our long, gravel driveway in February so when warm days came, our feet would be tough enough to easily forego shoes when we were outside playing. My father had to catch a white butterfly in the spring before he could let his feet breath freely. What he probably was looking for was a pest of our Brassica crops – the imported white cabbage moth. Although there is a native white checkered butterfly, it’s a minor pests of garden grown Brassicas. But those imported white cabbage moths will eat your crop to the ground if you don’t control them -- start scouting for them early. They arrived in the 1840’s and quickly became a major pest of these important vegetables. Native or imported, Daddy got credit for either one.