The kohlrabi has been planted, it is being lovingly watered, the temperatures are playing along and the harvest could actually start soon. Unfortunately, pests like the cabbage white like to feast on the fresh tubers and a flock of small white flies buzz around the plant. Collect, fight, prevent - what helps?
Cabbage whites, flea beetles, cabbage weevils and whiteflies are annoying pests that infest plant tissue and hinder plant growth.
Cabbage White
Large holes in the kohlrabi leaves and an accumulation of white butterflies in the garden indicate an infestation with the cabbage white butterfly. It lays its eggs on the plants. Later, the caterpillars eat holes in the leaves or burrow into the plant and poison it with their excrement.
Remedy: - Check the underside of leaves for yellow eggs and yellow-green, black-spotted caterpillars
- Collect and crush eggs
- destroy caterpillars
- a vegetable net might help
flea beetles
The young leaves of the kohlrabi are perforated like a sieve, on the leaves there are tiny black or yellow-striped beetles that can jump: this is an infestation with flea beetles. They mainly colonize young plants and inhibit plant growth, especially in dry weather.
Remedy:
- glue boards
cabbage weevil
Hollow, spherical growths on the main root or on the root neck of kohlrabi plants indicate an infestation with the cabbage weevil. The small, gray weevil lays its eggs on the plant stems. The larvae, which feed on the plant tissue, sit in the growths.
Remedy:
- Sort out infested young plants
white flies
Who doesn't know this - you touch the kohlrabi and startle a swarm of white flies. Whiteflies are about 2 mm in size, usually sit on the underside of the leaves and damage the plant by sucking them.
The leaf surfaces are coated with a sticky honeydew. This in turn is a breeding ground for various fungal diseases. Heavy infestation leads to the wilting and death of the kohlrabi plant.
Remedy:
- Spread out fine-meshed vegetable protection nets
- Fertilize the soil and pull weeds regularly (deprives food base)
- Application of chemical agents such as Neudosan AF Blattlausfrei, Natur AF or Neem;
preferably in the morning - try organic means like tobacco brew or a solution of soft soap
tips and tricks
Anise and mugwort - two plants that are disliked by cabbage whites. Planting them to accompany cabbage should keep them safe from infestation.