Butterfly Netting Brassica Crop Protection Netting Insect Garden Mesh Netting 5mm x 7mm Heavy Duty Soft Flexible - Many (8m x 5m)

Product Information

Cover your crops – use a very fine mesh netting to protect plants from pests such as flea beetle, egg-laying moths and butterflies (which produce caterpillars) and birds. These net cloches allow sunlight and water to pass through while preventing pests from getting in Although the 7mm mesh netting is small enough to keep out the cabbage white butterfly, it will also exclude a number of bees and other beneficial insects which help with pollination. For protecting vegetables that require pollination we would recommend removing the net during the flowering period or that you chose a larger mesh netting such as our 20mm x 20mm diamond mesh bird netting. The butterflies will be more likely to lay their eggs on the nasturtiums and the caterpillars will destroy the nasturtiums rather than your brassicas. Inspect leaves regularly and remove eggs/caterpillars Trim off excess netting using the scissors, leaving a 2-3″ skirt all around. Fold this under and secure it with staples to the base of the cages. Finally, fire in a few pins along the top support rail to prevent any movement of the netting.

When left in place for the whole of the growing cycle, the final outcome from using butterfly netting can be a much healthier and larger crop. Soft Mesh Butterfly Netting issoft to the touch but definitely hard on butterflies, this butterfly netting is the ideal material to keep your home grown vegetables - and brassicas in particular - caterpillar-free. Ok, so the first job is to decide how big you want your brassica cage to be, I made mine brassica cage 3.5meters x 0.9 meters, but in hindsight, I wish I had made four smaller ones rather than two big ones; they are a little challenging to move about so smaller is better. If you are growing cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower or other brassica plants, it is a really good idea to protect them before cabbage white butterflies start laying their eggs!

Mixed results

Soft to the touch but definitely hard on butterflies, this netting is the ideal material to keep your home-grown vegetables and brassicas in particular caterpillar-free. Insect netting is a very fine mesh that prevents insects and butterflies entering, and is suitable for susceptible crops in the brassica family like brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage. Make sure the brassica net is propped up by hoops that are as high as the plants will get so that the net can stay there for the whole season. You can also prop the netting up with bamboo canes topped with jars. For broccoli, cavolo nero, red russian kale, and sprouts, 1.5m tall is about right. For cabbages, cauliflower, romanesco, turnips/swede and curly kale, 60-70cm would be fine. Choose mesh netting as pictured for best protection. Plant nasturtiums as a sacrificial crop nearby

The cabbage white larvae in particular can make the leaves of a healthy brassica crop look like a lace doily in no time. Using either a soft butterfly netting, which is easy to drape over frames, or our rigid plastic mesh butterfly netting will help your say goodbye to skeletal leaves. A Brassica cage should ideally be at least 2 feet (60 cm) high to provide sufficient space for the plants to grow and to protect them from pests. However, for taller Brassica varieties, such as kale or Brussels sprouts, a height of 3-4 feet (90-120 cm) may be necessary to accommodate their vertical growth. The cage should be tall enough for adequate airflow and easy access for maintenance and harvesting. You'll frustrate the cabbage white butterflies’ season after season with this anti butterfly netting as the 100% polyethylene construction gives a long-life expectancy. Butterfly netting provides protection for crops often eaten by caterpillars. The mesh size of butterfly netting is too small for butterflies to enter and lay their eggs on the crops. This in itself is not a problem, but when the caterpillars emerge they can devastate a crop. The netting is lightweight and can be suspended on a structure of garden canes or hoops. If using canes, it is worth protecting the caps that touch the net to ensure that these do not damage the mesh.Keep butterflies away from your brassicas and other vegetables, meaning you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour.