When to spray - and when not to

[hoodat]

I have a nice row of Chinese broccoli growing and almost ready to cut the first shoots. For several weeks now I have been seeing the kind of damage you see in the picture. The first thought of most would be to run for the sprayer but I remembered my Grandmas old garden saying,"Before you do anything hide and watch". On close observation I noticed a few odd things. I could find eggs from both cabbage butterflies and moths but the few actual caterpillars I saw were very tiny. The percentage of chewed sections didn't change from one week to the next. There was always some damage but it didn't increase. The chewed portions of the leaf showed scar tissue at the edges that would indicate that the cat doing the damage was not there any more and the plant had healed the edge of the chewed part. What happened to it? I was sure it hadn't lasted long enough to reach maturity or I'd have seen larger ones than the tiny ones I could find. Keeping an eye out I figured out what was going on. The first thing I noticed was that the yellowjackets seemed very interested in those plants. The eggs were hatching and the tiny cats were beginning to do their dirty work. At that point they were too small to interest the yellowjackets but they were keeping an eye on them. As soon as they reached a certain size a yellowjacket had them for breakfast. That was why the percentage of damage wasn't increasing. The new leaf growth was more than keeping up with the damage the little cats did. There was more than enough healthy leaf surface to keep the plants healthy and growing.
Spraying is always the last resort for me. I'll sometimes even sacrifice a crop to avoid spraying and losing my garden balance. Since the plants were more than holding their own with the aid of the yellowjackets and the flower shoots, not the leaves, were the part I wanted in my wok I decided to just leave the balance alone, not get out the spray nozzle.
Kailaan shoots with oyster sauce - YUM!

 

[lesa]

Excellent observation! I am determined to grow organically- but there were a few moments fighting those cucumber beetles, I was tempted!! I look forward to gardening in a location that will allow a few guinea hen. I understand they do a good job! Enjoy your garden harvest!