Cabbage moth (cabbage cluster caterpillar)
Groups of green caterpillars with a reddish brown head web the heart leaves together and eat the growing point and the young head.
Crops it attacks
Where the damage shows
When to act
Twice a week from transplanting, check 20 plants at 5 spots for the flat green egg masses under the leaves and for clusters of larvae webbed in the heart. Act when 1 in 10 plants carries a cluster, since a group of larvae can strip a plant in days.
What to spray
- ChlorantraniliproleIRAC 28ShopeeLazada
- Bacillus thuringiensis kurstakiIRAC 11AShopeeLazada
- FlubendiamideIRAC 28ShopeeLazada
- Cartap hydrochlorideIRAC 14ShopeeLazada
- ChlorfenapyrIRAC 13ShopeeLazada
- Chlorfenapyr plus spinosadIRAC 13 plus 5ShopeeLazada
- PyridalylIRAC UNShopeeLazada
- AzadirachtinIRAC UNShopeeLazada
- CyantraniliproleIRAC 28ShopeeLazada
- MalathionIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- CypermethrinIRAC 3AShopeeLazada
- ProfenofosIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
Active ingredients only, never brands. The IRAC group tells how it works: switch to a different group next time, so the pest does not learn to survive it. Spray only when the damage is worth the cost, and only with products registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for your crop. Follow the label. The Shopee and Lazada links only show who sells something with that active ingredient, not a recommendation of any seller or product.
How to prevent it
- Crush egg masses under the leaves and pull off webbed clusters of larvae by hand.
- Raise seedlings under fine net and plant only clean seedlings.
- Plant the whole block at one time, and plow under old stalks and leaves right after harvest.
- Rotate crucifers with a crop of another family, and clear crucifer weeds around the field.
- A border row of mustard draws the moths. Check it often and destroy it once it fills with larvae.
Natural enemies and biological help
- Bt sprays kill young larvae and spare the wasps that control diamondback moth in the same field.
- Spiders, predatory wasps and birds pick off the larvae. Fewer broad sprays leave more of them.
Where this comes from
Not sure it is this one?
Many pests look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.