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Thes week, oi 'ave been watching mainly caterpillars.

Specifically, the dreaded Cabbage White. To protect my experimental tobacco bed, I planted a row of nasturtiums near to them as a sacrifice planting. The nasturtiums haven't been touched. Nor, thankfully, has the tobacco.

What HAS been got at is the very large horseradish which is growing in a container on the opposite side of the tobacco. They absolutely love it, and I'm not overbothered as horseradish will survive any attack short of a nuclear explosion.

Has anyone else noticed this? It could be very useful, unless it's a flash in the pan.

Mike

I've never seen what did it but my horseradish leaves have often been eaten. Made of stern stuff these CW grubs aren't they

Hadn't noticed that, I plant nasturiums to divert them but there is also lots of horseradish around our allotments and it is rare that our brassicas are attacked by the cabbage white, but I bring on my seedlings at work which is much more urban, hardly a blade of grass around, but this year my seedlings suffered attack after attack by catapillars. So perhaps I should have a pot of horseradish at work.

Are cabbage whites likely to eat tobacco which isn't a brassica?

I don't have any brassicas in veg patch yet so no problems for the moment, and can't see any caterpillars on my nasturtiums either.

I hadn't the foggiest if they did or not, MMM - but I was taking no chances. The butterflies certainly land on the tobacco and have a look around - those leaves are pretty big - but not a single egg has been deposited on it.

Mike