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The tasty cauliflower is a must in the vegetable garden for many hobby gardeners. Unfortunately, it is also high on the menu for pests and cauliflower leaves are often eaten. Read here who has a particularly big appetite for cabbage and what you can do about it.

In a nutshell

  • Cauliflower leaves are eaten by various pests
  • Pests sometimes difficult to recognize (size, hidden in the cauliflower)
  • Prevention is often more effective than control

cauliflower

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. Botrytis) is a cultivar of cabbage. While with other types of cabbage the leaves are eaten, with this variety the closely spaced flower sprouts are eaten. Cauliflower is therefore a flowering vegetable. In addition to the ivory heads, there are also purple and yellow-green variants.

Notice: In Austria, cauliflower is called "Karfiol".

Cauliflower leaves nibbled: The most common culprits

Cabbages are popular foods for animals and insects. If the leaves of the cauliflower are eaten, larvae and caterpillars are particularly likely. Below is a list of the most common pests. How to recognize and fight them.

Large Cabbage White (Pieris brassica)

pest and damage

  • Pest: caterpillars of the butterfly
  • Pitting to skeletal damage on the leaves
  • Egg clutches on the underside of the leaf
Cabbage white caterpillars (Pieris brassica)

Appear

  • First generation moths at the end of April
  • 2nd caterpillar generation from July to September

Look

  • Butterflies: yellowish-white, black front border, wingspan about two inches
  • Caterpillars: up to four centimeters long, yellowish with black spots

measures

  • protective nets
  • collect
  • Apply plant broth (e.g. tansy or wormwood)

hares and rabbits

damage picture

  • Hearts or parts of leaves are eaten
  • prefer young plants
Rabbit eats cabbage leaves

Appear

  • throughout the season

Fight

  • no special measures

Lesser Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)

pest and damage

  • Pest: caterpillars of the butterfly
  • Cauliflower Leaves: Pitting
  • Feeding on the flowers possible
  • individually laid eggs on the leaves
Cabbage white caterpillar (pieris rapae)

Appear

  • Caterpillar feeding from the end of May

Look

  • Butterfly: Butterflies, white wings with a black dot
  • Caterpillars: up to 25 millimeters long, light to dull green; fine, velvety hairs

measures

  • protective nets
  • collect
  • Apply plant broth (e.g. tansy or wormwood)

Cabbage midge (Contarinia nasturtii)

pest and damage

  • Pest: larvae of the midge
  • Twists, corking and/or deformities on the leaves
  • Heartlessness (destruction of the growing point); increased formation of side shoots
  • Damage to the flower: damage to the main and lateral axes; crippled, scabbed heads
Damage to cabbage heartworm (Contarinia nasturtii)
Source: Rasbak, Draaihartigheid bij bloemkool (Contarinia nasturtii damage on cauliflower), Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Look

  • Larvae: up to two millimeters in size, transparent to yellowish. footless
  • Mosquitoes: up to 2 millimeters in size, reddish-brown, barely visible to the naked eye

Appear

  • Mosquitoes appear from the beginning of May
  • Egg-laying at temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius
  • Larvae hatch after three to five days
  • develop particularly well during humid weather periods
  • up to five generations per year
  • Pest infestation throughout the season

measures

  • Adjust crop rotation
  • sheltered locations
  • Sticky traps against flying mosquitoes (pheromone trap)
  • Cultural protection nets (mesh thickness less than one millimeter)

Kohler flea (Phyllotreta undulata)

damage picture

  • tracks left by the beetles
  • Scrape damage: mostly round holes, later extensive
  • prefers seedlings and young plants

Appear

  • from the end of April until the summer
  • Feeding begins at a temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius
  • 2nd generation from June/July
Kohler flea (Phyllotreta undulata)
Source: This image is created by user Wim Rubers at waarneming.nl, a source of nature observations in the Netherlands., Phyllotreta undulata, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY 3.0

Look

  • beetles up to three millimeters in size
  • shiny black
  • sometimes with thick yellow stripes down the back
  • Jumping movements up to 40 centimeters possible

countermeasures

  • cause unrest (e.g. by regularly sweeping over the plants), beetles flee and often cannot find their way back
  • Keep soil moist (bugs prefer drought)
  • Loosen soil surface (bugs do not like rough soil)

Cabbage Owl (Mamestra brassicae)

pest and damage

  • Owl moth caterpillar feeding
  • strong signs of feeding on leaves, flowers are also eaten
  • Caterpillar droppings pollution

Appear

  • flies in two generations
  • The first moth generation hatches from May to July
  • first generation of caterpillars from Mail until the end of July
  • second generation of caterpillars from mid-August to the end of October
Cabbage moth caterpillar (Mamestra brassicae) on a cabbage leaf
Source: Danilo.penic, M.brassicae2, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Look

  • Moth: Grey-brown wings, wavy pattern on the forewings, wingspan four to five centimetres
  • Caterpillars: up to five centimeters long, greenish at first, later brown, light yellow stripe on the sides

Fight

  • cultural protection networks
  • collect

Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella)

damage picture

  • leaf feeding of the larvae
  • scraping damage on the underside of the leaf (window damage)
  • partly also pitting
  • with heavy infestation skeleton feeding
  • Pollution of flowers by caterpillar droppings

Appear

  • throughout the season
  • Late April / early May moths of the first generation
  • first generation of caterpillars from the end of May (eats three to four weeks)
  • second moth generation from mid-July, third from August
  • third caterpillar generation overwinters in the ground as a pupa
Diamondback moth caterpillar (Plutella xylostella)
Source: Rasbak, Koolmot zijkant Plutella xylostella op boerenkool (Curly kale), Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Look

  • Cabbage moth: dark brown moth with yellowish wavy stripes on the wings; Wingspan about 1.5 centimeters
  • Larvae: pale green with black spots, slightly hairy, can develop cocooned threads (roping up and down)

Fight

  • Nets against moths
  • Caterpillars: Collect

Cabbage whitefly (Aleyrodes proletella)

damage picture

  • sits sucking at the underside of cauliflower leaves
  • Entire swarms fly up when the plant is touched
  • ring or circular oviposition on the underside of the leaf
  • honeydew
  • attracts sooty mold fungi
  • remove the ability of the leaves to photosynthesize

Appear

  • late summer and fall
white bow tie

Look

  • about 1.3 millimeters in size
  • white powdered wings

measures

In the case of cauliflower, control of the so-called "white fly" is usually not necessary. However, if the infestation is very severe, you should react.

Mealy cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae)

damage picture

  • Suction damage, especially on young leaves
  • Loss of green color (whitening), deformation (curling of leaves)
  • heartlessness possible
  • Aphid excretions at infested sites (honeydew)

Appear

  • throughout the season
  • preferred: warm and dry weather
  • up to ten generations possible
  • Population peaks: July/August and September/October
Mealy cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae) on oilseed rape
Source: Rasbak, Melige koolluis op koolzaad, Brevicoryne brassicae on rapeseed, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Look

  • green-gray or blue-white powdered aphids

measure

  • Use of parasitic wasps (natural predators)

Tip: Splashing water down when the aphids are on the leaves can also help against the aphids.

birds

Among the birds, wood pigeons in particular eat the cauliflower leaves. Crows, sparrows and blackbirds are also cauliflower eaters.

Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)

damage picture

  • eroded edges of cauliflower leaves
  • small pieces of leaf on the ground

Appear

  • throughout the season
  • preferred feeding on young plants

measure

  • bird protection nets

frequently asked Questions

Can I also fight the pests with insecticides?

If you want to resort to chemicals, you should find out which agents are approved for home and small gardens.

Does a mixed culture help against the pests?

Yes, but the pests then often attack other types of vegetables, which are also eaten.

Can individual pests also destroy the entire cabbage?

In the case of a heavy infestation, this is quite possible. Therefore, you should recognize a pest infestation quickly so that you can take countermeasures.

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Vegetable garden