I have about 5 collard green plants in my garden. On only one of them
something is completely eating all of the leaves. Though maybe 15 feet away
there are more collard green plants and they are fine, no signs at all of any
problems.
On the one the leaves are completly eaten to the stems.

I do not see any type of bugs on them at all.
What should I look for and or do.

Any ideas
Thank you

DXer wrote:
I have about 5 collard green plants in my garden. On only one of them
something is completely eating all of the leaves. Though maybe 15 feet away
there are more collard green plants and they are fine, no signs at all of any
problems.
On the one the leaves are completly eaten to the stems.

I do not see any type of bugs on them at all.
What should I look for and or do.

Any ideas
Thank you

Look for cabbage loopers. Nuke'em with Sevin dust.

Snip off what's left of the damaged stems. Look under the remaining leaves
for bugs, and especially for a coating of grey eggs. If you see the grey
stuff, it's usually NOT on all the leaves. If it's just on a few, cut those
leaves off and put them in your trash can. If many leaves are effected, take
a bowl of soapy water out to the garden. Dip your hands in it and rub the
eggs off the leaves. Wear cheap surgical gloves if you don't like the idea
of touching the eggs. When done, rinse the soap off the plants.

The cabbage family, including collards, contains stuff that may increase
your resistance to various cancers. It's goofy to spray them with chemicals
which may CAUSE cancer or other disorders.

Finally, if your other 4 plants are unaffected by whatever pest is eating
the 5th, you might just want to chalk it up to luck. 20% loss isn't that
bad. And, many bugs are only a problem for a short time each season. Put
some minimal effort into annoying them and they may be gone shortly, anyway.

"DXer" wrote in message
...
I have about 5 collard green plants in my garden. On only one of them
something is completely eating all of the leaves. Though maybe 15 feet
away
there are more collard green plants and they are fine, no signs at all of
any
problems.
On the one the leaves are completly eaten to the stems.

I do not see any type of bugs on them at all.
What should I look for and or do.

Any ideas
Thank you

Thanks for the reply, looks like i might have to use Sevin.
I was also wondering if there was something I could plant next to the collard
greens that might prevent this bug.

Craig

DXer wrote:
Thanks for the reply, looks like i might have to use Sevin.
I was also wondering if there was something I could plant next to the collard
greens that might prevent this bug.

Craig

Some people claim that marigolds planted around the perimeter of your
garden will attract japanese beetles and other chewing and sucking
insects away from your desirable plants. Personally, I've never had any
luck with this.

Yes I have marigolds around the garden and it might work to some degree, but
this problem is more severe I think then some marigolds are going to help.
I did some searching on cabbage loopers and found that Bt is very good at
getting rid of them. And it is non toxic to humans. I am trying to keep the
chemicals out of the garden and so far it has worked well except this year and
this problem.
So I think I will try the Bt and spray the collards and brocolli with it and
see what happens. Everything I have read is very positive about Bt.

Craig

Some people claim that marigolds planted around the perimeter of your
garden will attract japanese beetles and other chewing and sucking
insects away from your desirable plants. Personally, I've never had any
luck with this.